Rural Hospitals Endangered?

Bioethics activities in rural hospitals.

What affects rural beneficiaries use of urban and rural hospitals?

Analysis of the Medicare provider analysis record (MEDPAR) data during fiscal years 1984 through 1989 indicates that the proportion of rural Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized in urban hospitals has remained constant during the prospective payment system (PPS). Much of the use of urban hospitals by rural beneficiaries during this period was to obtain specialized care or surgery, as suggested b...

Financially distressed rural hospitals in four states.

The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 dramatically changed the payment environment for institutional providers of non-acute health services by mandating a shift in Medicare reimbursement of outpatient, home health, and skilled nursing services from the traditional cost-based approaches to prospective payment. Although they were designed to slow health care spending, these Medicare payment reforms, pa...

The changing face of rural Catholic hospitals.

Socioeconomic trends and developments within the U.S. healthcare system have challenged rural hospitals' ability to maintain adequate operating margins and offer needed services. However, some hospitals have fared better in this negative environment than have others. To clarify factors that distinguish the most viable rural Catholic hospitals from the least viable, our study identified a group ...

Future Financial Viability of Rural Hospitals

Policymakers are concerned that some rural hospitals have suffered significant losses under the Balanced Budget Act (BBA) of 1997 and that access to inpatient and emergency care may be at risk. This article projects that the median total profit margin for rural hospitals will fall from 4 percent in 1997 to between 2.5 and 3.7 percent after the BBA, Balanced Budget Refinement Act (BBRA) of 1999,...