Tag Archives: Health

RUPRI Health Panel member, Jennifer Lundblad, discusses rural hospital innovation

In Health & Hospitals Networks latest publication, Jennifer Lundblad, RUPRI Health Panel Member and president and CEO of Stratis Health, discusses how rural hospitals and rural communities are well-positioned to create innovative population health and wellness programs. “A rural environment lends itself to population health and wellness,” she says. “Providers probably know the patient and their family, they …

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RUPRI Health Center Examines Rural Premium Trends in Health Insurance Marketplace

Health Insurance Marketplaces: Premium Trends in Rural Areas Since 2014, when the Health Insurance Marketplaces (HIMs) authorized by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) were implemented, considerable premium changes have been observed in the marketplaces. This policy brief from the RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis assesses the changes in average HIM …

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RUPRI Health Center Examines Beneficiary Assignment Updates in Medicare ACOs

Medicare Accountable Care Organizations: Beneficiary Assignment Update  This brief updates Brief No. 2014-3 and explains changes in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Accountable Care Organization (ACO) regulations issued in June 2015 pertaining to beneficiary assignment for Medicare Shared Savings Program ACOs. Overall, the regulatory changes are intended to (1) encourage ACOs to …

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Medicaid Payment and Delivery System Reform: Challenges and Opportunities for Rural Health Systems

Medicaid has grown significantly in its importance to rural health systems and communities; a higher proportion (22 percent) of rural residents was enrolled in Medicaid than Medicare (20 percent) in 2014. At the same time, the use of payment and delivery innovations has grown significantly, but varies across the U.S. As a result of expansions …

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RUPRI Leader Keith Mueller Receives Regents Award for Faculty Excellence from the University of Iowa

Keith Mueller, Director of the RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis, Gerhard Hartman Professor and head of the Department of Health Management and Policy, was chosen by the selection committee of the Faculty Senate as one of six members of the University of Iowa faculty to receive a 2016 Regents Award for Faculty Excellence. …

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RHIhub Integrating Health & Human Services in Rural Communities Webinar

April 14, 2016 @ 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm The Rural Health Information Hub and the NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis will introduce a new Rural Services Integration Toolkit designed to help rural communities improve access to health and human services. Developed by NORC on behalf of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP), …

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Rural “Adjacent Possible” Innovation: Systems Thinking for Collective Impact, Beyond the Health Sector

This presentation discusses the four rural considerations which includes our ‘disruptive milieu’, systems thinking: rural advantage, regional rural innovation, and new rural opportunities. Presented by Charles W. Fluharty (President and CEO, Rural Policy Research Institute) to the Iowa Center for Rural Health and Primary Care Advisory Committee on March 7, 2016 in Iowa City, Iowa. …

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Featured RUPRI Leader: Jennifer Lundblad

Jennifer is the President and CEO of Stratis Health, a non-profit based in Minnesota that focuses on collaboration and innovation in health care quality and safety. She has been a member of the RUPRI Health Panel since 2009, in addition to Stratis Health and RURPI partnering on a national Rural Health Value Project that focuses …

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RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis reviews Rural Medicare Advantage Plan Payment in 2015

Payment to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans was fundamentally altered by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA).  This brief finds that while plans operating in both rural and urban areas have experienced a reduction in MA payment, the reduction in rural payment overall has been less significant.  In addition, MA plans have …

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Policy Brief: Medicare Value-Based Payment Reform

Medicare Value-Based Payment Reform: Priorities for Transforming Rural Health Systems View Policy Brief | Related: View Full Report In January 2015, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Burwell announced new goals and timelines for moving Medicare reimbursement from fee-for-service to value-based payment. These payment changes are driving delivery system reforms by making healthcare …

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Medicare Value-based Payment Reform: Priorities for Transforming Rural Health Systems

View Report | Related: View Policy Brief In recognition of unsustainable healthcare cost growth and sub-optimal delivery system performance, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) contains provisions that redesign healthcare payment and delivery. ACA payment change provisions are driving delivery system reform by making healthcare organizations more accountable for patients’ health …

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National Rural Health Day- Live Webcast: Featuring Dr Keith Mueller – Rural Health Delivery System Reform

November 19, 2015 November 19th, 2015 is the 5th Annual National Rural Health Day! The Rural Assistance Center is pleased to partner with the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health for a series of live National Rural Health Day events that celebrate the power of rural. Join Dr. Keith Mueller, Director of the Department of …

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Dr. Tim McBride, RUPRI Health Panel Member, to lead Center for Health Economics and Policy – Washington University 

View Full Article Washington University in St. Louis has announced the launch of the Center for Health Economics and Policy (CHEP), to be housed in the Institute for Public Health. The goal of the new center is to improve population health in America by encouraging health policy and economics research and dissemination. The center will …

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Accountable Care Communities in Rural: Laying the Groundwork in Humboldt County, CA – 2015

This joint paper was authored by members of both the Health and Human Services Panel in June 2015. The paper presents a case for the viability of Accountable Care Community (ACC) models in rural communities, including in rural Humboldt County, California. Accountable Care Communities reflect a unified approach to improving the health and reducing the …

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SOAR as a Collective Impact Model: Lessons for Rural Health and Human Services

This presentation discusses the SOAR Program of work and the goals with each step. It also touches base on prioritizing and the framework for regional rural innovation. Presented by Charles W. Fluharty (President and CEO, Rural Policy Research Institute) to National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services on May 27, 2015 at Natural …

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Transitioning to a High Performance Rural Health System

This presentation discusses how hospitals should respond and why response should be other than incremental adjustment. It will touch base on change and how it creates opportunities as well as threats. Presented by Keith J. Mueller, PhD (Director, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis) and Charles W. Fluharty, M. Div. (President, Rural Policy Research …

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Thinking Bigger About Smaller Places: “Adjacent Possible” Design Thinking and Collective Impact Investing for Healthier Rural People and Communities

This presentation recalibrate the rural/urban paradigm and dialogue as well as challenging the hegemony of the urban metaphor in a disruptive milieu. Presented by Charles W. Fluharty (President and CEO, Rural Policy Research Institute) to the Transforming Safety and Health in the Heartland Conference in Ankeny, Iowa on November 19, 2014. View Presentation

Advancing the Transition to a High-Performance Rural Health System. RUPRI Health Panel. November 2014.

In Advancing the Transition to a High-Performance Rural Health System, the RUPRI Health Panel discusses strategies and options for creating a pathway to a transformed, high-performing rural health system. This paper builds on the RUPRI Health Panel’s earlier paper that conceptually defined the core elements of a high-performance rural health system. We have also incorporated …

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Access to Rural Health Care – Literature Review and New Synthesis

This report reviews important access definitions and frameworks from the literature. The review serves as a concept map to create a unique synthesis of perspectives that may be used by researches and policy makers to design or clarify access to health care providers. Prepared in August 2014 by the RUPRI Health Panel: A. Clinton MacKinney, …

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Rural Health Strategies for a Value-Based Future

This presentation touches on rural health context as well as transfer of financial risk. It will also discuss redefine, redesign and a toolbox for value. Presented by A. Clinton MacKinney (Deputy Director and Assistant Professor, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis) at the ASHNHA Conference in Anchorage, Alaska on April 22, 2014. View Presentation

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010: Impacts on Rural People, Places, and Providers: 2010 First and 2014 Second Look

These two policy documents from 2010 and 2014 take a first and second look at the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 and how it contributes to reshaping the health care delivery landscape, particularly in rural areas. Prepared in September 2010 and April 2014 by the RUPRI Health Panel: Andrew …

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Transitioning to a Value-Based Health Care Future

This presentation discusses the climate of change in health care, payment policies and price reduction threats. It will also touch base on the Affordable Care Act. Presented by A. Clinton MacKinney (Deputy Director and Assistant Professor, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis) at the Improving Health in a Climate of Change NACo in San …

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The Impact of Payment Reform on Rural Medicare Advantage Enrollment and Quality

This project examines the implications of changes in Medicare Advantage (MA) payment implemented in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) and in the current Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) demonstration of quality-based bonus payments. This research also focuses on key issues including: how the changes to MA payment, including bonus …

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How to Succeed by Trying: Adapting to Change

This presentation discusses important ways rural hospitals need to think about adapting to the changing policy and demographic landscape. Presented by Keith Mueller (Director, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis) for the Rural Hospital Conference Colorado Hospital Association in Colorado Springs, CO on May 8, 2013. View Presentation

ACOs and Much More: Health Reform Comes to Rural America

This presentation explores the utility of Accountable Care Organizations in a rural context. Presented by Keith Mueller (Director, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis) to the Colorado Rural Hospital Conference in Colorado Springs, CO on May 8, 2013. View Presentation

Impact on Health System Market Changes on Rural Health: ACO, PCMH, VBP Consolidation

This presentation discusses how the rural healthcare landscape is changing and explores emerging implications for rural healthcare providers. Presented by Keith Mueller (Director, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis) for the State Offices of Rural Health – Region D meeting in San Diego, California on May 1, 2013. View Presentation

Rural Emergency Care: Stepping Up to the Challenge

This presentation explores the Rural Emergency Department as a flagship healthcare service provider for rural hospitals, hospital systems, and communities. Presented by A. Clinton MacKinney (Deputy Director and Assistant Professor, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis) on April 26, 2013. View Presentation

Research to Policy and Practice: Sustaining Rural Health Services

This presentation explores how current and emerging research might impact rural health care providers and policy makers in strengthening sustainable models of healthcare provision in rural areas. Presented by Keith Mueller (Director, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis) for the IAHL Roundtable Discussion in Des Moines, Iowa on February 28, 2013. View Presentation

Transforming Health Care in Rural America: Turning Change into Improvements for Rural Residents

This presentation provides analysis of current changes to health care and health care systems that provide services in rural areas. Mueller offers tips for transitioning toward an optimal system that fits within this evolving context. Presented by Keith Mueller (Director, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis) to the Rural Health Leadership Conference in Phoenix, …

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Transferring Risk: The Road to Health Care Value

This presentation discusses to increase health care value for rural communities by exploring how to transfer risk from payers to hospitals and physicians. Presented by A. Clinton MacKinney (Deputy Director and Assistant Professor, RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis) to the Rural Health Leadership Conference February 10-13, 2013. View Presentation

The Current and Future Role and Impact of Medicaid in Rural Health

This brief outlines and describes the current Medicaid program and its importance to rural America. It also discusses rural implications of program expansion, including whether and how states choose to implement changes. View Report This report was written by Health Panel Members Keith Mueller, Andrew Coburn, Jennifer Lundblad, A. Clinton MacKinney, Timothy McBride, Sidney Watson …

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The High Performance Rural Health Care System of the Future

The RUPRI Health Panel offers an aspirational vision, for a highperformance rural health care system. The RUPRI Health Panel envisions rural health care that is affordable andaccessible for rural residents through a sustainable health system thatdelivers high quality, high value services. A high performance rural healthcare system informed by the needs of each unique rural …

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Place-Based Policies and Public Health

Place-Based Policies and Public Health: The Road to Healthy Rural People and Places View Report This joint paper by the RUPRI Health Panel and Human Service Panel examines how effective place-based policies can influence how rural and metropolitan areas develop, how well they function as places to live, work, operate a business, preserve heritage, and …

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Securing High Quality Health Care in Rural America: The Impetus for Change in the Affordable Care Act

View Report The ACA calls for the development of a National Health Care Quality Strategy and Plan (National Quality Strategy) that, by definition, will affect health care that is delivered to millions of Americans who live in rural areas and thousands of health care providers who care for them. The goal of this paper is …

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Rural Policy Research Institute

Rural Policy Research Institute
The University of Iowa
College of Public Health
319-384-3857 | info@rupri.org