Keynote speakers included Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY) and Al Franken (D-MN), co-chairs of the Senate Rural Health Caucus. Senator Barrasso (R-WY) opened the briefing with remarks about how difficult it is for people living in rural communities to access healthcare, stressing the importance of rural hospitals in meeting care needs as well as the economic contribution they make to communities. In addition, he highlighted the different kind of care that rural providers give their patients. “They are going to care for you, they are going to care for your family in ways that you’re never going to find in a big city,” he said. “I think we need to promote rural America and rural medicine as kind of a last great opportunity for people who practice medicine.”

Senator Al Franken (D-MN) reflected upon the importance of rural healthcare in the nation, with 62 million Americans (or 1 in 5) living in rural areas. He discussed his 2015 rural health tour in Minnesota, which included 28 events across six months with patients, providers, and policy makers. The tour shed light on the state of rural healthcare in Minnesota, as well as challenges faced by rural communities across the country, such as shortages of primary care providers, long distances between patients and providers, and lack of access to mental health services.

A panel moderated by NQF’s Chief Scientific Officer Helen Burstin, MD, provided an in-depth look at the NQF report and its recommendations, including the integration of rural healthcare providers into federal public reporting and value-based payment programs in a phased manner. Much of the discussion focused on the need for measures that are more meaningful to rural providers and their patients and families, alignment of measurement efforts, and mandatory versus voluntary participation in Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) quality improvement programs. Franken also discussed HHS’s intent to ensure that quality programs outlined in the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) work for rural providers, and voiced his support of NQF’s work around improving rural healthcare quality.

Panelists included experts in rural health and practitioners in the field who also are members of NQF’s Rural Health Committee:

• Ira Moscovice, PhD, committee chair and professor and division head of Health Policy & Management in the University of Minnesota School of Public Health (NQF Rural Health Committee co-chair)
• Aaron Garman, MD, Medical Director, Coal Country Community Health Centers in Beulah, ND 
• Bruce Landon, MD, MBA, MSc, professor of healthcare policy at Harvard University and professor of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center 
• Dean Bartholomew, MD, Platte Valley Medical Clinic in Saratoga, WY

Drs. Bartholomew and Garman shared insight into their day-to-day work. Highlighting improved quality of cancer screening due to measurement, Bartholomew also called upon policymakers to reduce measurement burden on providers. “We need to simplify and let doctors be doctors and not data administrators.”