2003 Research Publications

Browse the full list of research publications from the Rural Health Research Centers.

Products – Freely accessible products include policy briefs, fact sheets, full reports, chartbooks, and interactive data websites.

Journal Articles – Articles in peer-reviewed journals may require a subscription or affiliation with a subscribing library. For these publications, Gateway lists the article citation, a brief summary, a link to additional information and access to the full-text of the article, if available.

Care Across the Continuum: Access to Health Care Services in Rural America
RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Date: 12/2003
This paper proposes that a continuum of care serve as the framework with which to consider rural healthcare policies, focusing on people and on places where people live rather than on the wants of providers and constituencies.
Availability and Use of Health Plan Choices in Rural America: Medicare+Choice, Commercial HMO, and Federal Employees Health Benefit Program Plans
RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Date: 10/2003
This report discusses the availability of Medicare + Choice (M+C), commercial HMO, and Federal Employee Health Benefit Program insurance plans and the potential impact of M+C service delivery area changes on healthcare access in rural areas.
Medicare Physician Payment: Practice Expense
RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Date: 10/2003
This rural policy brief examines the physician practice expense component of Medicare payment, which proportionately results in greater geographic physician payment variation than does the physician work payment. The practice expense adjustment warrants careful validation to demonstrate that the index measures actual geographic cost differences.
Health Insurance Coverage of The Rural and Urban Near Elderly
Maine Rural Health Research Center
Date: 10/2003
This paper reports the results of a study that used data from the 1996-1998 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to address two principal research questions related to health insurance coverage for the rural near elderly.
Survey of Critical Access Hospital (CAH)-Affiliated Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Providers
NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
Date: 09/2003
This survey provides a description of emergency medical services providers in rural communities, particularly those with critical access hospitals.
Rural Hospitals' Strategies for Achieving Compliance With HIPAA Privacy Regulations: Case Studies of Rural Hospitals
NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
Date: 08/2003
Rural hospitals in this study recognized the importance of ensuring the confidentiality of patient health information and have made substantial progress in achieving compliance with HIPAA privacy standards. Each recognized that additional work will be required to effectively secure patient privacy.
The Contribution of Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants to Generalist Care in Underserved Areas of Washington State
Journal Article
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 08/2003
This article uses productivity data from the non-physician clinician (NPC) and physician populations in Washington state to assess the contribution to generalist care made by NPCs, giving special attention to the role of NPCs in rural and underserved areas and the role of women NPCs in the female provider population.
Medicare Issues
RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Date: 08/2003
This document provides an overview of rural policy issues related to Medicare. The presentation was made August 26, 2003 in Casper, Wyoming.
Who Receives Inpatient Charity Care in California?
NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
Date: 08/2003
This policy analysis brief examines the results of a study regarding how California hospitals determine charity care.
Who Is Caring for the Underserved? A Comparison of Primary Care Physicians and Nonphysician Clinicians in California and Washington
Journal Article
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 07/2003
This article compares the geographic distribution and patient populations of physician and nonphysician primary care clinicians. It includes the proportion of clinicians within each discipline practicing in rural areas, health professional shortage areas, and areas with vulnerable populations.
Medicare Home Health Care in Rural America (Full Report)
NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
Date: 06/2003
This study looked at the characteristics of rural Medicare beneficiaries served by urban home health agencies as compared with those served by rural agencies.
Rural Beneficiaries' Projected Drug Coverage Under Three Medicare Prescription Drug Proposals
NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
Date: 06/2003
This study estimates the expected increase in urban and rural Medicare beneficiaries eligible for drug coverage under three Medicare prescription drug proposals. It also gives an estimate of the urban and rural per capita federal payments for drug coverage under the proposals.
Enrollment in FEHBP Plans in Rural America: What Are the Implications for Medicare Reform?
RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Date: 06/2003
This brief explains how the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) is functioning in rural areas. Enrollment patterns into the various options available in the FEHBP, descriptions of choices typically available in rural areas, and location of primary care providers used by plans in a sample of rural communities is presented.
Enrollment in the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP): State and County-Level Enrollment Analysis
RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Date: 05/2003
This analysis details information on Federal Employees Health Benefit Program (FEHBP) enrollment in rural counties, including the number of health insurance plans available and number of enrollees. FEHBP is being considered as a model for involving private insurers in Medicare.
Enrollment in FEHBP Plans in Rural Areas
RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Date: 05/2003
This study of health plan enrollment decisions made by rural retirees and federal workers examines how a Federal Employees Health Benefit Program plan may work when applied to Medicare.
Rural Hospital HIPAA Readiness and Resource Needs
Policy Brief
RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Date: 05/2003
This rural policy brief presents a survey of rural hospitals regarding the extent of their preparation for HIPAA requirements and their need for resources to implement them.
Analysis of Availability of Medicare+Choice, Commercial HMO, and FEHBP Plans in Rural Areas: Implications for Medicare Reform
Policy Brief
RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Date: 03/2003
This rural policy brief examines the viability of introducing private competition into the Medicare program. It discusses the availability of Medicare+Choice1, commercial HMO, and Federal Employees Health Benefits Program plans in rural (nonmetropolitan) counties.
Rural Health Research in Progress in the Rural Health Research Centers Program, 7th edition
Maine Rural Health Research Center
Date: 03/2003
This book provides policy makers with a concise source of rural health services research underway in the Rural Health Research Centers funded by the Office of Rural Health Policy. It provides a context for legislation current and proposed that affects rural health services and populations.
State of the Health Workforce in Rural America: Profiles and Comparisons
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 01/2003
This publication provides an overview of rural healthcare workforce issues. National and state-by-state data on the healthcare workforce, with rural-urban comparisons and interstate comparisons, are included, along with data on rural healthcare facilities.
Medicare Physician Payment
RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Date: 01/2003
This rural policy brief examines how the Resource-Based Relative Value Scale has replaced the 25-year-old Medicare CPR charge system.
An Assessment of Proposals for a Medicare Outpatient Prescription Drug Benefit: The Rural Perspective
RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Date: 01/2003
This policy paper assesses legislative proposals to add an outpatient prescription drug benefit to the Medicare program and their implications for the delivery of services and the welfare of beneficiaries in rural areas.
Designing a Medicare Drug Benefit: Balancing Government-Based and Market-Based Approaches, the Implications for Rural Beneficiaries
NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
Date: 01/2003
This study examines the relationship between various Medicare prescription drug benefit design characteristics and their impact on rural areas based on analysis of competing legislative proposals.
The Characteristics and Roles of Rural Health Clinics in the United States: A Chartbook
Chartbook
Maine Rural Health Research Center
Date: 01/2003
This chartbook reports on a rural health clinics (RHCs) survey. Information was collected on many topics, including their characteristics/operations; their location relative to the underservice problems/rural access needs; their safety net functions; staffing, recruitment, and financial issues; and involvement in training healthcare professionals.
The Effects of the 1997 Balanced Budget Act on Family Practice Residency Training Programs
Journal Article
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Date: 2003
This study assessed the impact of the Balanced Budget Act (BBA) of 1997 on family practice residency training programs in the United States.
Rural-Urban Difference in Health Care Benefits of Community-Based Sample of At-Risk Drinkers
Journal Article
WICHE Center for Rural Mental Health Research
Date: 2003
Compares the cost-containment strategies used by health plans of insured at-risk drinkers residing in rural and urban areas.
2003 Index of Hospital Quality
NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
Date: 2003
Published annually by U.S. News & World Report, this report describes a series of factors regarding ranking of measuring hospital quality.