North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center

Current Projects

Community and Financial Experience of Medicare Dependent Hospitals in Comparison to Other Rural Hospitals
This research will investigate the community and financial experience of Medicare Dependent Hospitals in comparison with other rural hospitals. Analysis of the financial experience will include comparison of the long-term profitability of MDHs to other rural hospitals, estimation of the potential profitability consequences of eliminating the payment classification, and estimation of the potential consequences of maintaining the payment classification but failing to update the base year from which costs are trended forward.
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Hospitals and clinics, Medicare, Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS)

Comprehensive Study of Swing Bed Use in Rural Hospitals
This project will comprehensively address questions about how swing beds are used by rural hospitals. Questions to be answered include whether decision about use are driven by patient need, community resources, hospital operational concerns or some combination of these factors; the cost implications of swing bed use in critical access hospitals to the Medicare program; and whether patients served in swing beds differ in meaningful ways from those in skilled nursing facilities.
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Hospitals and clinics, Medicare, Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS)

Patterns of Care in Small Rural Areas: Implications for New Models of Care Provision and Payment such as Bundled Payments and Accountable Care Organizations
This study will describe usual patterns of care in rural areas to determine whether rural areas are part of a single service area, or whether smaller communities utilize services from a variety of larger hubs. The results of this analysis will inform a thought piece on how the concepts of bundled payments and Accountable Care Organizations might play out in small rural areas and whether small rural communities can be assigned to a single service area without major disruption of current patterns of care.
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Health policy, Health services

Use of Rural Health Clinics by Medicare Beneficiaries
Determination of Medicare beneficiaries’ utilization of available RHCs and development of a descriptive profile of Medicare beneficiaries who utilize RHCs including both geographic and diagnostic elements and a comparison to Medicare beneficiaries who utilize FQHCs.
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Medicare, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)

Topics Centers Researchers Other Resources Search		North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center Current Projects Community and Financial Experience of Medicare Dependent Hospitals in Comparison to Other Rural Hospitals This research will investigate the community and financial experience of Medicare Dependent Hospitals in comparison with other rural hospitals. Analysis of the financial experience will include comparison of the long-term profitability of MDHs to other rural hospitals, estimation of the potential profitability consequences of eliminating the payment classification, and estimation of the potential consequences of maintaining the payment classification but failing to update the base year from which costs are trended forward. Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) Topics: Hospitals and clinics, Medicare, Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS) Comprehensive Study of Swing Bed Use in Rural Hospitals This project will comprehensively address questions about how swing beds are used by rural hospitals. Questions to be answered include whether decision about use are driven by patient need, community resources, hospital operational concerns or some combination of these factors; the cost implications of swing bed use in critical access hospitals to the Medicare program; and whether patients served in swing beds differ in meaningful ways from those in skilled nursing facilities. Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) Topics: Hospitals and clinics, Medicare, Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS) Patterns of Care in Small Rural Areas: Implications for New Models of Care Provision and Payment such as Bundled Payments and Accountable Care Organizations This study will describe usual patterns of care in rural areas to determine whether rural areas are part of a single service area, or whether smaller communities utilize services from a variety of larger hubs. The results of this analysis will inform a thought piece on how the concepts of bundled payments and Accountable Care Organizations might play out in small rural areas and whether small rural communities can be assigned to a single service area without major disruption of current patterns of care. Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) Topics: Health policy, Health services Use of Rural Health Clinics by Medicare Beneficiaries Determination of Medicare beneficiaries’ utilization of available RHCs and development of a descriptive profile of Medicare beneficiaries who utilize RHCs including both geographic and diagnostic elements and a comparison to Medicare beneficiaries who utilize FQHCs. Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) Topics: Medicare, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)