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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Critical Access Hospitals

Young Rural Healthcare Leaders Share Experiences and Insights
Interviews with four Critical Access Hospital leaders under the age of forty, who share their experiences helping their facilities and communities. They also offer advice to others interested in rural hospital leadership. Interviewees include Benjamin Anderson, CEO of Kearny County Hospital in Lakin, Kansas; Melissa Kelly, CEO and CFO of Pender Community Hospital in Pender, Nebraska; Stephanie Orr, CNO at Steele Memorial Medical Center in Salmon, Idaho; and Adam Willmann, CEO and President of Goodall-Witcher Hospital Authority in Clifton, Texas.
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 01/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Nebraska Network Hospitals & CAHs
Lists the hospital networks for each Critical Access Hospital (CAH) in Nebraska, and the date each hospital received the CAH designation.
Date: 01/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Nebraska Hospital Association
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Reinventing Rural Health Care: A Case Study of Seven Upper Midwest States
Examines the state of rural healthcare in seven states - Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming - and uses the findings to determine the impact of existing federal policies, understand ongoing healthcare challenges, and identify opportunities for improvement in rural healthcare access and delivery. Addresses rightsizing healthcare services to fit community needs, creating rural funding mechanisms, building and supporting the primary care physician workforce, and expanding telemedicine services. Analysis is based on interviews with over 90 national thought leaders and key stakeholders.
Additional links: Infographic, Summary – Rural Health Care: Lessons Learned
Date: 01/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center
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An Interim Evaluation Report of the Innovative Projects Portfolio of the Medicare Flex Grant Program
Provides background on the Flex Program and the Integration of Innovative Health Care Models (Innovative Projects) program area. Evaluates the impact of the Innovative Projects program area across seven participating states, focusing on activities involving the transition to value-based care, telehealth, care coordination, quality improvement, and system delivery in rural communities. Final implementation results are described in Implementation and Early Results of the Flex Program's Innovative Models Program Area: Final Evaluation Report.
Author(s): Sara Kahn-Troster, John Gale, Anush Hansen, Andrew Coburn
Date: 01/2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Transforming Health Care from the Ground Up
Describes two examples of innovation driven by doctors, nurses, administrators, entrepreneurs, and patients involving a major transformation of healthcare delivery. One example was an initiative developed through the University of Mississippi Medical Center where a telehealth network was created to increase patient access to care in rural areas with a focus on Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs).
Author(s): Vijay Govindarajan, Ravi Ramamurti
Citation: Harvard Business Review
Date: 2018
Type: Document
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2018 Nebraska Workforce Report
Examines 2017 healthcare workforce levels throughout Nebraska to identify differences between Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and other hospitals in the state. Provides workforce vacancy and turnover rates across 5 districts in Nebraska, emphasizing healthcare professions such as radiology technologists, nurses, physical and occupational therapists, and others.
Date: 2018
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Nebraska Hospital Association
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The Differential Effects of Rural Health Care Access on Race-Specific Mortality
Investigates the association between race-specific rural mortality and the health infrastructure of rural counties using data from the National Center for Health Statistics Compressed Mortality File (2008-2012); county-level demographic, socioeconomic, and healthcare indicators from Health Resources and Services Administration's Area Health Resource File; and the U.S. Census. Covers the rural public health infrastructure index that indicates the presence or absence of 4 types of healthcare measures: public health employees, Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) or rural referral centers, Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), and emergency departments within counties.
Author(s): Jeralynn Cossman, Wesley James, Julia Kay Wolf
Citation: SSM Population Health, 3, 618-623
Date: 12/2017
Type: Document
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Patients' Experiences in CAHs: HCAHPS Results, 2016
Shares results from the calendar year 2016 Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey, summarizing reporting rates and performance among all U.S. Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Includes detailed tables that allow state-by-state comparison of response rates and overall CAH performance.
Author(s): Megan Lahr, Alex Evenson, Tongtan Chantarat, Michelle Casey
Date: 12/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Physician Supervision Requirements in Critical Access Hospitals and Small Rural Hospitals
Provides background information on Medicare physician supervision requirements, and examines how enforcement of these requirements impacts access to care, quality of care, and staffing needs in Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and small rural hospitals. Findings are based on interviews with CMS officials, hospital association representatives, and CAH administrators in several states.
Date: 12/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Emerging Strategies to Ensure Access to Health Care Services: Frontier Health System
Discusses the challenges of providing care in frontier communities and offers solutions for improving access to and delivery of care. Proposes the creation of a frontier-specific accountable care organization (ACO), the Frontier Health System (FHS), that provides traditional ACO services along with transportation, swing beds, home-based care, expanded visiting nurse services, and more.
Date: 11/2017
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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