Ambulatory care refers to medical services performed same day on an outpatient basis, without admission to a hospital or other facility, and includes services ranging from wellness and disease management to surgical treatment and rehabilitation. Not much is known, however, about the ambulatory care that rural Medicare patients typically receive. This chartbook from the North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center uses available Medicare claims data to describe costs and common diagnoses for Medicare beneficiaries at rural ambulatory care facilities (excluding private practitioners).
