Implementation of the Pennsylvania Rural Health Model (PARHM), a global budget program, aimed to stabilize rural hospitals financially without compromising care quality.
The study analyzed over 17,000 cancer surgery admissions in rural Pennsylvania comparing outcomes before and after PARHM implementation.
No significant changes were observed in short-term surgical outcomes including mortality and readmission rates post-PARHM.
Findings suggest that global budget models alone may be insufficient to improve short-term oncologic surgical outcomes in rural settings.
