Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Critical Access Hospitals

Patient Experience and Function, Fall 2018 Cycle: CDP Report
Evaluates 5 new measures related to patient function and experience of care and supports using them for quality improvement efforts and public reporting. Measures focus on care coordination, particularly following discharge in order to reduce hospital readmissions. Includes Critical Access Hospitals under acute care hospitals, with exclusions for swing bed stays.
Date: 08/2019
Sponsoring organization: National Quality Forum
view details
Addressing Rural Hospital Closures Through Infrastructure Reform
Provides a historical overview of rural Medicare reimbursement and provider designations and discusses their impact on hospital closures. Supports changing the rural health infrastructure to provide more flexibility for rural hospitals and to emphasize primary care and emergency care access.
Author(s): Eleni Salyers
Date: 08/2019
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center
view details
Rural Success: Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital, NH
Highlights the quality improvement efforts of a Critical Access Hospital in rural New Hampshire. Focuses on their Quality Improvement Committee, response times, rounding, care transitions, and transferring practices.
Citation: MBQIP Monthly, 1-2
Date: 08/2019
Sponsoring organization: Stratis Health
view details
A Rural Hospital Guide to Improving Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
A guide for rural hospital leaders, Rural Health Clinics, and their partners to help them understand rural chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) services and adopt best practices for COPD diagnosis, treatment, and long-term care. Addresses rural COPD prevalence and services, clinical diagnosis and treatment, service models, care management, technologies, and community support services. Includes considerations for implementing a pulmonary rehab program, roles and staffing needed, and basic billing and coding.
Date: 08/2019
Sponsoring organizations: National Rural Health Resource Center, Stroudwater Associates, Technical Assistance and Services Center
view details
Mercy Health - Marcum and Wallace Hospital Invests in Swing Bed Program
Highlights the Marcum and Wallace Hospital's work to implement the Small Rural Hospital Transition (SRHT) project recommendations with the goal of expanding the swing bed program to reduce readmission rates. Marcum and Wallace Hospital is a 25-bed Critical Access Hospital in Irvine, Kentucky.
Date: 08/2019
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
view details
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
view details
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
view details
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
view details
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
view details
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
view details