Date: February 24, 2022
Quality of Skilled Nursing Facilities and Home Health Agencies Serving Rural Medicare Beneficiaries
The Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, Idaho (WWAMI) Rural Health Research Center has released two new policy briefs on the quality of skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and home health agencies (HHAs) serving rural Medicare beneficiaries.
Quality of Skilled Nursing Facilities Serving Rural Medicare Beneficiaries
While overall star ratings and staffing star ratings were not significantly associated with rural-serving status, rural SNFs and rural-serving urban SNFs were significantly less likely to have high quality star ratings compared to non-rural-serving urban SNFs. However, SNFs in isolated small rural communities were more likely to have high survey star ratings compared to non-rural-serving urban SNFs.
Quality of Home Health Agencies Serving Rural Medicare Beneficiaries
Rural-serving urban HHAs were almost twice as likely to have high patient experience star ratings compared to non-rural-serving urban HHAs. HHAs located in large, small, and isolated small rural communities were even more likely to have high patient experience star ratings compared to non-rural-serving urban HHAs, and the likelihood of high ratings increased as rurality increased.
Contact Information:
Tracy Mroz, PhD
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Phone: 206.598.5396
tmroz@uw.edu
Additional Resources of Interest:
- More information about the WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
- More information from the Rural Health Information Hub’s topic guides: Rural Healthcare Quality, Rural Home Health Services, Rural Health Disparities