The WWAMI Rural Health Research Center (RHRC), a multidisciplinary center based in the University of Washington Department of Family Medicine, has been conducting and disseminating policy-relevant rural health research since 1988. WWAMI is an acronym for the states served by the university’s programs: Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho. The WWAMI RHRC recently announced it received a four-year grant extension to continue to study care in rural communities. AHCA/NCAL submitted a letter of support for the grant.
Major WWAMI RHRC goals are to conduct high-quality research on rural health care; to provide expert guidance to local, state, regional, and national policy makers; to build an accessible knowledge base on rural health issues and findings; and to widely disseminate study results in easily understood formats to inform and improve rural health policies. In recent years, the WWAMI RHRC has been conducting research on post-acute care for rural Medicare beneficiaries, including two studies on skilled nursing facility care (post-acute care trajectories for rural beneficiary care and quality of rural-serving SNFs).
Earlier this year AHCA/NCAL agreed to participate in an Expert Work Group for the WWAMI RHRC as part of its recent proposal for a four-year grant extension from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy of Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). An example of a proposed project under consideration would be how often rural beneficiaries receive care from skilled nursing facilities outside of their communities due to lack of local providers or bypass of local providers (e.g., lack of bed availability). Not surprisingly, the WWAMI RHRC recognized that this is an issue of importance to AHCA/NCAL members that may merit investigation, especially in light of the recently finalized minimum staffing requirements and the potential for additional SNF closures in rural areas.
The Expert Workgroup will commence this fall and will include AHCA/NCAL representation. The Workgroup participants will meet with the researchers virtually to discuss the research agenda, offer feedback, and solicit input on potential future research projects of interest.