Research
Current Projects
Clinical-Community Linkages in Non-Metropolitan and Metropolitan Hospitals: COVID-19 Impacts and Trends
This study will examine trends in partnerships between hospitals and public health departments and other community linkages in both non-metropolitan and metropolitan hospitals with a particular focus on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy
Lead Researcher: Whitney E. Zahnd, PhD
Differences in Rural and Urban Hospital Cost Structures: Evidence and Implications
The project will compare fixed-to-variable cost ratios in U.S. rural and urban hospitals. We hypothesize that rural hospitals will realize proportionally greater fixed costs than urban hospitals, suggesting important hospital payment system implications.
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy
Lead Researcher: Tim McBride, PhD
How Does Participation in Medicare Accountable Care Organizations Affect Rural Hospital Financial Outcomes?
This project will examine the impact of Medicare Accountable Care Organizations' (ACOs') participation on rural hospitals' financial outcomes. Findings from this project will provide policy-relevant information on how ACO participation affects rural hospitals' financial bottom lines, contributing to further program design.
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy
Lead Researcher: Xi Zhu, PhD
Medicare Advantage Plan Growth in Rural America: Opportunities for Beneficiaries?
County Medicare Advantage enrollment data and plan characteristic data will be used to create a model accounting for the availability of plans offering benefits addressing social determinants of health. Analyses will compare rural and urban counties, and examine county characteristics to explore potential equitable opportunities for rural beneficiaries because of geography and other factors.
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy
Lead Researcher: Keith Mueller, PhD
Rural Premiums, Issuer Participation, and Enrollment in Health Insurance Marketplaces: An Updated Analysis
The project will describe variations in Health Insurance Marketplace plan design and availability, total and net-of-subsidy premium trends, and enrollment over time between rural and urban areas and identify associations between these factors and several key policy differences and changes, controlling for economic and demographic variation.
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy
Lead Researcher: Tim McBride, PhD
Rural-based Accountable Care Organizations Accepting Downside Risk
The RUPRI Center will update its studies of rural provider participation in accountable care organizations, including differences between those who exit the program, those who remain, and those who enter. In particular, this project will address participation decisions made after a rule change in July 2019 that requires conversion to two-sided risk.
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy
Lead Researcher: Keith Mueller, PhD
Rural-Urban Differences in Performance of Clinicians Participating in MIPS
This project will use quantitative methods to compare MIPS performance and reported measures for clinicians working in rural and urban areas, overall, and by practice size; evaluate differences in spending per beneficiary, overall, and stratified by drugs and medical services for rural and urban clinicians participating in MIPS; and compare MIPS performance and spending for clinicians serving a large proportion of racial/ethnic minorities in rural and urban areas.
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy
Lead Researcher: Hari Sharma PhD