Participation Type
Paper
Presentation #1 Title
Development and application of a rubric to compare strategies for improving access to health care in rural communities
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Rural areas are underserved in terms of the availability of and access to health care services. According to Healthy People 2020, access to health care continues to be the most frequently identified rural health priority.
Purpose
The purpose was to develop an efficient approach for standardizing and prioritizing strategies to improve access to health care in rural areas. The rubric provides a quantitative metric of the effectiveness of each strategy in terms of impact and feasibility and allows for comparisons among a range of potential policies and programs to improve health care access.
Framework
We used the Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) cycle to create the rubric. The research team constructed a plan for creating a rubric to measure each strategies’ impact and feasibility. We checked the rubric by applying it to selected access to care improvement strategies evaluated by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). Then members of a rural community Health Care Access Team used the rubric to evaluate the strategies.
Discussion
A rubric is a valuable tool to facilitate assessment and discussion and for assisting community members in determining priorities. After applying the rubric in a community setting, we identified two important tactics: 1) the rubric is best applied to strategies when they are summarized consistently and cohesively; and 2) it is important to involve community stakeholders early in the process of identifying strategies for evaluation. The next step is to apply the rubric to similar strategies in other rural communities to further validate the rubric’s effectiveness.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Kristin Schuller is an Assistant Professor of Health Services Administration at Ohio University and the Program Coordinator for the online Master of Health Administration Program. She earned her Ph.D. and Masters in Health Services Policy & Management from the University of South Carolina. Dr. Schuller completed a post-doctoral research fellowship at Texas A&M’s Health Sciences Center. Her research focuses on initiatives and policies aimed at improving the quality of care delivered in healthcare organizations and access to care in rural areas.
Development and application of a rubric to compare strategies for improving access to health care in rural communities
Rural areas are underserved in terms of the availability of and access to health care services. According to Healthy People 2020, access to health care continues to be the most frequently identified rural health priority.
Purpose
The purpose was to develop an efficient approach for standardizing and prioritizing strategies to improve access to health care in rural areas. The rubric provides a quantitative metric of the effectiveness of each strategy in terms of impact and feasibility and allows for comparisons among a range of potential policies and programs to improve health care access.
Framework
We used the Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) cycle to create the rubric. The research team constructed a plan for creating a rubric to measure each strategies’ impact and feasibility. We checked the rubric by applying it to selected access to care improvement strategies evaluated by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). Then members of a rural community Health Care Access Team used the rubric to evaluate the strategies.
Discussion
A rubric is a valuable tool to facilitate assessment and discussion and for assisting community members in determining priorities. After applying the rubric in a community setting, we identified two important tactics: 1) the rubric is best applied to strategies when they are summarized consistently and cohesively; and 2) it is important to involve community stakeholders early in the process of identifying strategies for evaluation. The next step is to apply the rubric to similar strategies in other rural communities to further validate the rubric’s effectiveness.
