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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Critical Access Hospitals

A Flexible Solution: How Critical Access Hospitals Reshaped Rural Health
Brief video overview describing how the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 created the Critical Access Hospital designation to reduce rural hospital closures. Discusses the role of the Senate Finance Committee and Federal Office of Rural Health Policy in developing the related policies, the transition of rural hospitals to critical access status, and the creation and impact of the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program (Flex Program).
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Community Impact and Benefit Activities of Critical Access, Other Rural, and Urban Hospitals, 2017
Details a study on Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) economic and healthcare benefit to rural communities. Looks at services provided, economic health of CAHs, and the effect this has on their communities broadly. Compares CAHs to other rural and urban hospitals.
Author(s): Zachariah Croll, John Gale, Jeremy Zuckero
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Medicaid: States' Use and Distribution of Supplemental Payments to Hospitals
Examines the use of disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments given to hospitals with more Medicaid and uninsured patients. Addresses differences in state Medicaid expansion status, uninsured percentage, and uncompensated care in relation to DSH payments. Includes state data on DSH payments and uncompensated care costs by rural/urban hospital location, as well as data on Critical Access Hospital (CAH) and Sole Community Hospital DSH payments by state.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Oregon Critical Access Hospitals
Shows a county-level map of Oregon identifying the locations of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), their names, and the rural or frontier designation of each county.
Date: 07/2019
Sponsoring organization: Oregon Office of Rural Health
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All Texas Rural Hospitals and Clinics
Offers Texas maps showing counties with Critical Access Hospitals, Prospective Payment System Hospitals, and Rural Health Clinics as well as which rural counties offer labor and delivery services.
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: Texas Organization of Rural & Community Hospitals
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Coteau des Prairies (CDP) Health System: Improving Quality of Care
Features a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) in Sisseton, South Dakota that worked with the Small Rural Hospital Transition (SRHT) project on care transitions and quality improvement. Highlights their successes improving finances, internal communication, patient satisfaction, physician documentation, and quality improvement infrastructure.
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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Life 'til the End: Hospice in Rural America
Describes the role of hospice in rural communities. Features a rural Iowa family sharing how hospice helped them care for their father at the end of his life. Also highlights a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) in Wisconsin that provides hospice care, explaining how this service supports the hospital's mission to provide care to the community.
Author(s): Tami Lichtenberg
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Rural Success: High-Performing CAHs Take Action for Antibiotic Stewardship
Highlights antibiotic stewardship program best practices and strategies from Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) based on a series of focus groups. Includes antibiotic stewardship results from a CAH facility survey.
Citation: MBQIP Monthly, 1-3
Date: 06/2019
Sponsoring organization: Stratis Health
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North Dakota Hospital Assessment: 2017 Flex Chartbook
Presents the results of a 2017 survey of North Dakota Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Includes information on hospital characteristics, hospital foundations, relationships with tertiary hospitals, telehealth services, and issues facing CAHs ranked by severity. Covers hospital impacts from the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) program.
Author(s): Robin Besse, Mandi-Leigh Peterson, Lynette Dickson
Date: 05/2019
Sponsoring organization: University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health
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Rural Success: Abrom Kaplan Memorial Hospital, LA
Highlights the success of a Critical Access Hospital in Louisiana in receiving high cleanliness scores and care transitions scores on the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey. Discusses their initiative to reduce C. difficile infections, strategies for communication and cleaning, emergency department transitions, and teamwork recognition.
Citation: MBQIP Monthly, 1-2
Date: 05/2019
Sponsoring organization: Stratis Health
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