This project will evaluate how vulnerable rural hospitals are to changes in Medicare payments for outpatient services, skilled nursing services, and home health care services. In the second part of the project, we will conduct a survey of rural hospitals that are particularly vulnerable to the new prospective payment systems. We will ask hospital administrators how they plan to respond to the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 and evaluate how those responses will affect access to care in rural communities.

Publications

• Rural Hospitals' Ability to Finance Inpatient, Skilled Nursing, and Home Health Care
  University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 10/2001
  This study surveys 448 rural hospitals to see how they are restructuring in light of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.