A study from the Economic Research Service (ERS) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) found that, out of 310 counties with high and persistent poverty in 2019, 86 percent were rural. Nearly half of rural residents who identify as Black or African American and American Indian or Alaska Native lived in these persistent poverty counties; by comparison, 20 percent of poor Hispanics and 12 percent of rural non-Hispanic Whites resided in those counties.
Small Rural Hospital Blueprint for Performance Excellence and Value Published
With the assistance of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) and Stratis Health, the National Rural Health Resource Center’s Technical Assistance and Services Center (TASC) is excited to share their new Small Rural Hospital Blueprint for Performance Excellence and Value.
For nearly a decade, the U.S. health care industry has been undergoing profound change in payment and service delivery; and growing increasingly complex. The past year has layered several additional opportunities and challenges including the need for pandemic and emergency preparedness, massive growth in the acceptance and use of telehealth, spotlighting of social needs as a core component of health, and the systemic and persistent disparities facing people of color. Small rural hospitals face the challenge of being successful in fee-for-service payment systems while preparing for and entering into value-based payment arrangements, at a time of financial stress and uncertainty.
The Blueprint is intended to be a tool to assist rural hospital leaders in implementing a comprehensive systems approach to achieving organizational excellence. It contains an outline of the key inter-linked components of the Baldrige Framework, along with critical success factors relevant to small rural hospitals. Challenges and strategies are also addressed.
New Study Places U.S. at Bottom of Health System Rankings
The U.S. health system trails far behind health systems in 10 peer countries when it comes to affordability, administrative efficiency, equity and health care outcomes, according to the Commonwealth Fund’s latest international rankings of high-income countries. Unique in measuring and comparing patient and clinician experiences across nations, Mirror, Mirror 2021 shows that in the U.S., an individual’s chance of getting good health care depends to a large extent on income — more so than in any other wealthy country. The U.S., which spends the most per person on health care, has ranked last in every edition of the report since 2004. And the U.S. has fallen even further behind on certain measures, especially health outcomes linked to primary care access and equity in care delivery. Read the report to get the complete health system rankings and discover what the U.S. could learn from other nations to improve health care for all Americans.
New Data: Â Oral Health Care in Children with Special Needs
Contemporary Pediatrics reported that data from the 2016-18 National Survey of Children’s Health showed 84% of children with special health care needs had received a preventive dental visit in the past year, compared with 78% of those who did not have special health care needs. While the study found that children with special health care needs did receive preventive care more often than children with special needs, also found children with special health care needs had higher rates of oral health problems.
New Report: The Rural Emergency Hospital and Value-Based Care
The Rural Health Value team recently released a brief to help prepare stakeholders to respond to requests for public comment on REH proposed rules and to outline considerations related to REH conversation for local rural leaders.
The Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) and Value-Based Care
Created by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, the REH is a new hospital designation to be effective January 1, 2023. An REH will be a rural hospital providing outpatient services (including emergency and observation services), but not providing inpatient care services. Medicare REH payment will be primarily fee-for-service. However, REHs may potentially have a role in value-based care by ensuring access to health care, or as a component of a regional health system participating in value-based care models. Anticipated REH proposed rules offer an important opportunity for stakeholder input and this brief outlines issues for consideration.
Oral Health Care Report Published for People with Special Health Care Needs
The Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD) Best Practices Committee has shared an updated best practice approach report, “Oral Health Care of People with Special Health Care Needs.”
New Directions for Mental Health Workforce
The COVID-19 pandemic is causing enormous damage to individuals that struggle with their mental health across the globe. This is happening both directly through the trauma of loss, increased levels of fear and anxiety, and the yet not fully known causes of longer-term effects from virus. A new report focuses on and brings insight to the changes that need to occur within the mental health workforce and the patients they serve. This report discusses potential ideas for changes in primary care settings, trainings and development opportunities and the increased need for investment in the field that must occur to meet the growing demands for mental health assistance.
Household Rental Debt During COVID-19: Update for August 2021
With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s national eviction moratorium set to expire on July 31, 2021, new research estimates that nearly 2 million U.S. renter households will owe over $15 billion in back rent and utilities by August 2021 because of job loss or involuntary part-time work during the COVID-19 pandemic. The report updates forecasts from our March 2021 report with employment data through June and includes breakouts for each state.
These are estimates of rental debt prior to the distribution of emergency rental assistance. The estimates can help shed light on the extent to which rental assistance distributed thus far has addressed the needs of the most financially distressed households.
Read the report.
Oral Health Care of People with Special Health Care Needs
The Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD) Best Practices Committee shared an updated Best Practice Approach Report, “Oral Health Care of People with Special Health Care Needs.” This report is the result of efforts by the ASTDD Best Practices Committee to identify and provide information on developing successful practices that address people with special health care needs.
Status of Cancer Annual Report to the Nation Released
The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer was recently released and contains some good and bad news. The good news – mortality rates for lung cancer in the United States rapidly declined from 2001 to 2018. Among the bad news- age-standardized oral and pharyngeal cancer incidence rates increased during that period and pharyngeal mortality rates also increased for men but dropped slightly for women. The incidence of most smoking-related cancers (lung, larynx, bladder) has been declining in the U.S. largely due to the declining prevalence of smoking.