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Resources by Topic: Critical Access Hospitals

TEFCA Awareness and Planned Participation Among U.S. Hospitals: 2023
Evaluates survey data to determine non-federal acute care hospitals' awareness of and participation in the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA). Includes comparisons by rural and urban status as well as for Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and non-CAHs, among other factors.
Author(s): Wei Chang, Meghan Hufstader Gabriel, Jordan Everson
Date: 07/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
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MedPAC Data Book: Health Care Spending and the Medicare Program, 2024
Provides an overview of Medicare spending and highlights data on Medicare beneficiary demographics, dual-eligible beneficiaries, quality of care provided through the Medicare program, and other payer liability. Examines settings of care, including rural-specific provider sites, as they relate to spending, access to care, and profit margins. Compares rural and urban beneficiaries and providers throughout. Chart 6-2 addresses rural hospital closures.
Date: 07/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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How a Rural Health System Continues to Provide Essential Obstetric Services
Podcast episode describing how Kittitas Valley Healthcare in rural Washington State worked to continue to provide obstetric services at its Critical Access Hospital (CAH) amid the departure of its full-time obstetric providers. Discusses the involvement of the governing board and recruitment and retention efforts.
Date: 07/2024
Type: Audio
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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CY 2025 Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System Proposed Rule (CMS 1809-P)
Fact sheet providing an overview of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed rule regarding updates and changes to the Medicare payments for hospital outpatient and Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) services for calendar year 2025. Summarizes provisions regarding changes to Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) and partial hospital program rate setting; a proposal to include an add-on payment to the Medicare outpatient hospital all-inclusive rate (AIR) for certain high-cost drugs for people with Medicare who receive care at Indian Health Service (IHS) or tribal hospitals; updates to the Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting (OQR), Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality Reporting (ASCQR), and Rural Emergency Hospital Quality Reporting (REHQR) Programs; a proposal for new Conditions of Participation (CoPs) for hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) for obstetrical services; Medicaid and CHIP continuous eligibility; Medicaid clinic services "four walls" exceptions; and more.
Date: 07/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Screening for Health-Related Social Needs: A Comparison of CAHs and Non-CAHs
Provides an overview of health-related social needs (HRSN) and social determinants of health (SDOH) and the impacts of screening for and collecting data on HRSN and SDOH. Analyzes 2022 American Hospital Association Annual Survey and Information Technology Supplement data to describe the collection of HRSN data among Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Compares the specific HRSNs assessed and programs to address HRSNs among CAHs and non-CAH hospitals. Presents data on the collection of HRSN data by CAHs by health system membership and electronic health record vendor. Describes the use of HRSN data by CAHs that routinely collect and do not routinely collect this data.
Author(s): Madeleine Pick, Carson Crane, Megan Lahr, Robert Barclay
Date: 07/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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2018‐23 Profitability of Rural and Urban Hospitals by Medicare Payment Designation
Examines the profitability of rural and urban hospitals according to special Medicare payment designations, including: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Prospective Payment System (PPS) hospitals, Medicare Dependent Hospitals (MDHs), Sole Community Hospitals (SCHs), Rural Referral Centers (RRCs), and Essential Access Community Hospitals (EAC). Utilizes 2018-2023 data to analyze hospital profitability by rural versus urban status and facility/payment type.
Author(s): Sruthi Malavika Srinivasan, Kristie Thompson, George Pink
Date: 06/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Rural Health Leaders Overcoming Challenges with Alan Morgan, Kathy Kuepers and Steve Tenhouse
Podcast episode featuring two Critical Access Hospital (CAH) executives discussing factors that influence a rural health organization's growth and vitality, replacement facility projects, and building trust and stakeholder engagement. Also highlights a national partnership addressing rural hospital cybersecurity involving the White House, Google, Microsoft, the American Hospital Association, and the National Rural Health Association.
Date: 06/2024
Type: Audio
Sponsoring organization: Impact! Communications, Inc.
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Interoperable Exchange of Patient Health Information Among U.S. Hospitals: 2023
Presents data on the degree to which hospitals engage in the four domains of interoperable exchange - send, receive, find, and integrate - as of 2023 and describes trends between 2018 and 2023. Analyzes the frequency that non-federal acute care hospitals engaged in interoperable exchange by hospital characteristics, including hospital size, system affiliation status, rural or urban location, and Critical Access Hospital (CAH) designation. Describes hospitals' ability to exchange electronic health information with other providers across the care continuum and how clinicians use this information about the point of care.
Author(s): Meghan Hufstader Gabriel, Chelsea Richwine, Catherine Strawley, Wesley Barker, Jordan Everson
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
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Providing Behavioral Health Support for Older Adults
Podcast episode featuring a discussion with leaders of Broaddus Hospital, a Critical Access Hospital in West Virginia, describing how they work to identify and fill the unique mental health needs of older adults in the community, including the development of an intensive outpatient group therapy program for older adults.
Date: 05/2024
Type: Audio
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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State Requirements for Demographic Data Reporting upon Hospital Discharge: An Overview for State Flex Programs
Summarizes results of an environmental scan of state-level policies regarding current state requirements regarding hospitals' collection and reporting of demographic data among 37 of the 45 states participating in the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program. Describes requirements for sex, gender, and sexual orientation data; race, ethnicity, and language data; and other data and reporting, as well as variations in how categories are defined across states. Discusses challenges Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) may face in meeting state requirements.
Author(s): Madeleine Pick, Carson Crane, Megan Lahr
Date: 05/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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