Rural Policy Research Institute (RUPRI) Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Current Projects
Assessing the Community Impact of the MMA
This project will measure the community-level impacts of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) and will provide feedback to policymakers regarding the impact of the MMA on its policy targets (providers and beneficiaries), in the context of rural places.
Funder:
Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics:
Health policy,
Legislation and regulation,
Medicare,
Medicare Part D
Do Communities Make a Difference in Access? A National Study
This project will examine the effect of community-level resources on an individual's access to health care, particularly whether urban and rural individuals' access to health care differs, given community differences.
Funder:
Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topic:
Health services
Examining Recent Trends and Variation in Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions-related Hospital Expenditures of Rural Americans with Different Health Insurance Coverage and Status
This study documents the national time-trend and regional variation of rural Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions (ACSC)-related hospital expenditures by patient insurance coverage/status. The study will also compare the pattern of difference in the ACSC-related expenditures of rural patients with different insurance coverage/status by patient demographic and economic characteristics as well as hospital characteristics.
Funder:
Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics:
Chronic diseases and conditions,
Health care financing,
Health insurance and the uninsured,
Health services
Examining the Applicability of the AHRQ's Inpatient Quality Indicators to Rural Hospitals and the Implications of the Relationship Between the Indicators and Financial Measures for Medicare Payment Policies
This study will investigate how the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's inpatient quality indicators can be applied to rural hospitals and will explore the application of those indicators in answering relevant policy questions.
Funder:
Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics:
Health care financing,
Health policy,
Hospitals and clinics,
Quality
Expanding Rural Health Insurance Coverage: How Do Insurance Reform Strategies Stack Up?
This purpose of this study is to inform policymakers about the current state of health insurance coverage in rural America, and to assess how specific reform strategies may differentially affect rural residents. Using a combination of analytic strategies, we will provide policymakers and rural health advocates with the necessary tools to develop reform strategies that meet the needs of rural residents.
Funder:
Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics:
Health insurance and the uninsured,
Health policy
Impact of Medicare Advantage Plan Concentration on Choices and Competition in Rural Areas
This project focuses on the analysis of Medicare Advantage (MA) plan choices for rural beneficiaries and what the concentration of plan choices in rural areas may mean in the context of how rural beneficiaries are making their choices. Using measures of concentration from the economics literature, this project will explore the relationship between market concentration in MA plans and the generosity of MA plans, and how it varies by the location of residence of Medicare beneficiaries.
Funder:
Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics:
Medicare,
Medicare Advantage (MA)
Rural Provider Participation in a Statewide Health Information Project
Nebraska has recently constructed a communication infrastructure that links all the hospitals in the state with broadband, high-speed systems (using T1 lines to the Critical Access Hospitals). That infrastructure is considered to be the backbone for a statewide health information network being designed by a coalition of organizations. The aim of this project is to delineate reasons for rural providers to participate in the coalition by assessing the associated costs and benefits.
Funder:
Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics:
Health information technology,
Hospitals and clinics,
Networking and collaboration
