Rural Health
Research Gateway

Jennifer P. Lundblad, PhD, MBA

RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis

Phone: 952.853.8523
Fax: 952.853.8503
Email: jlundblad@stratishealth.org

Stratis Health
2901 Metro Drive, Suite 400
Bloomington, MN 55425

Publications - (15)

2022

  • Meeting the Behavioral Health Needs of Farm Families in Times of Economic Distress
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 02/2022
    Economic fluctuations and periods of distress in farming cannot be eliminated, however, their impact on communities and individuals can be mitigated. Strategies for meeting the behavioral health needs of farm families by supporting community-based services, and expanding behavioral health services in rural contexts are highlighted in this work.
  • High-Performing Rural Health System
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 01/2022
    This document updates the RUPRI Health Panel's framework, for a high-performing rural health system, originally published in 2011. It offers a revised vision statement and updates the high-performing rural health system pillars (access, affordability, community health, and quality) and describes an underlying base of equity considerations.

2021

  • Advancing Population Health in Rural Places: Key Lessons and Policy Opportunities
    Report
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 01/2021
    This paper advances policy discussion of population health in rural places, focusing on the role of rural healthcare organizations. Lessons from ongoing programs provide policy considerations. Medicare and Medicaid programs should prioritize staff and infrastructure development, flexibility in covered benefits, and further expansion of telehealth.
  • Characteristics and Challenges of Rural Ambulance Agencies – A Brief Review and Policy Considerations
    Report
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 01/2021
    There are 23,272 ambulance agencies in the U.S., and 73% of those agencies report serving rural areas. This paper examines current rural ambulance agency characteristics and challenges and identifies public policy considerations designed to stabilize rural ambulance agencies.

2020

  • Considerations for Defining Rural Places in Health Policies and Programs
    Report
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 05/2020
    Rural definitions in statute and policy are used to direct resources to underserved people. But changes in population behavior and census processes have led to concern about historic methods of defining rural. This paper identifies key questions, reviews rural definitions, and discusses options for reconsidering rural definitions.

2018

  • Assessing the Unintended Consequences of Health Policy on Rural Populations and Places
    Report
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 12/2018
    This paper explores the unintended consequences of health policy through an analysis of policy actions that have affected, or had the potential to affect, rural people, places, and/or providers in ways counteractive to policy intent.
  • Insuring Rural America: Health Insurance Challenges and Opportunities
    Policy Brief
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 07/2018
    This brief discusses a series of policy considerations in three main categories: policies related to rural insurance risk, policies related to provider networks, and policies related to rural payment rates and structures.

2017

  • Rural Long-Term Services and Supports: A Primer
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 11/2017
    This paper provides policymakers and other interested stakeholders a primer on the fundamentals of the rural LTSS system, rural access to and use of LTSS, and the opportunities and limitations of current federal and state LTSS policy for advancing rural health system transformation toward a high-performing rural health delivery system.
  • After Hospital Closure: Pursuing High Performance Rural Health Systems Without Inpatient Care
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 06/2017
    A new paper describing opportunities for rural communities to develop a high performance rural health system after hospital closure, including three case studies that describe real-world transitions from hospital-based locus of care to new models of care delivery in rural places.

2015

  • Medicare Value-Based Payment Reform: Priorities for Transforming Rural Health Systems
    Report
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 11/2015
    As Medicare moves to value-based payment, healthcare groups are made more accountable for patient health. But the changes have been concentrated in urban areas. Policies meant to strengthen rural health systems are complicating payment and delivery system reform in rural areas. This study examines ways to include rural areas in the changes.
  • Care Coordination in Rural Communities Supporting the High Performance Rural Health System
    Report
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 06/2015
    This paper examines care coordination programs and processes that affect rural areas to discover what is happening in rural communities, how various programs and approaches are working, who benefits, and to make policy recommendations that will facilitate care coordination efforts in support of high performance rural health system development.

2012

  • The Current and Future Role and Impact of Medicaid in Rural Health
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 09/2012
    This report outlines and describes the current Medicaid program and its importance to rural America. It also discusses rural implications of program expansion, including whether and how states choose to implement changes.

2011

  • The High Performance Rural Health Care System of the Future
    RUPRI Health Panel: Rural Policy Analysis and Applications
    Date: 09/2011
    This project describes a future rural system that would be built on foundations of affordability, accessibility, community focus, high quality, and patient centeredness.

2010