Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Healthcare facilities
Health Center Performance Improvement Toolkit
Offers a framework to support health center performance improvement and health outcomes across seven domains. Includes a guide to self-assessment to help health centers assess their current performance in each domain, describe assess their current performance in each domain, describe future performance goals, and identify how to reach and sustain improved performance. Offers self-assessment tools, including fillable checklists for each domain, progress snapshot worksheets, and example improvement activities.
Additional links: Guide to Self-Assessment, Self-Assessment Tools
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Bureau of Primary Health Care
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Offers a framework to support health center performance improvement and health outcomes across seven domains. Includes a guide to self-assessment to help health centers assess their current performance in each domain, describe assess their current performance in each domain, describe future performance goals, and identify how to reach and sustain improved performance. Offers self-assessment tools, including fillable checklists for each domain, progress snapshot worksheets, and example improvement activities.
Additional links: Guide to Self-Assessment, Self-Assessment Tools
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Bureau of Primary Health Care
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Georgia Counties with Rural, Critical Access, and Rural Emergency Hospitals
Map showing Georgia counties with rural hospitals, Critical Access Hospitals, and Rural Emergency Hospitals.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Georgia State Office of Rural Health
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Map showing Georgia counties with rural hospitals, Critical Access Hospitals, and Rural Emergency Hospitals.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Georgia State Office of Rural Health
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MBQIP 2025 Measure Core Set Information Guide
Provides an overview of the 2025 Core Measure Set adopted by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) for use in the Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP). Offers descriptions, rationales, data elements, data availability, resources, and more for each new and continuing measure.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Quality Improvement Technical Assistance (RQITA) Resource Center
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Provides an overview of the 2025 Core Measure Set adopted by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) for use in the Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP). Offers descriptions, rationales, data elements, data availability, resources, and more for each new and continuing measure.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Quality Improvement Technical Assistance (RQITA) Resource Center
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Current Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP) Measures
Chart outlining the required and optional MBQIP measures. Measures are broken down into two categories, core and additional, and then into five domains: global measures, patient safety, patient engagement, care coordination, and emergency department. MBQIP is a Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) quality improvement grant program for Critical Access Hospitals.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Quality Improvement Technical Assistance (RQITA) Resource Center
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Chart outlining the required and optional MBQIP measures. Measures are broken down into two categories, core and additional, and then into five domains: global measures, patient safety, patient engagement, care coordination, and emergency department. MBQIP is a Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) quality improvement grant program for Critical Access Hospitals.
Date: 09/2025
Sponsoring organization: Rural Quality Improvement Technical Assistance (RQITA) Resource Center
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Rural Health Clinic: 2026 National Patient Safety Goals
Identifies National Patient Safety Goals for the Joint Commission's Rural Health Clinic Accreditation Program. Covers patient identification, medication safety, infection prevention, and more. Effective January 1, 2026.
Additional links: Simplified Version
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: Joint Commission
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Identifies National Patient Safety Goals for the Joint Commission's Rural Health Clinic Accreditation Program. Covers patient identification, medication safety, infection prevention, and more. Effective January 1, 2026.
Additional links: Simplified Version
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: Joint Commission
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Ambulatory Care for Individuals Dually Eligible for Medicare and Medicaid
Compares ambulatory services utilization for more than 5.5 million dual and non-dual Medicaid and Medicare individuals. Describes the rural or urban status of the population studied as well as whether services were utilized in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) or Rural Health Clinic (RHC), among other demographic and service related factors.
Author(s): Joshua M. Liao, Paula Chatterjee, Yueming Zhao, et al.
Citation: Health Affairs Scholar, 3(8)
Date: 08/2025
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Compares ambulatory services utilization for more than 5.5 million dual and non-dual Medicaid and Medicare individuals. Describes the rural or urban status of the population studied as well as whether services were utilized in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) or Rural Health Clinic (RHC), among other demographic and service related factors.
Author(s): Joshua M. Liao, Paula Chatterjee, Yueming Zhao, et al.
Citation: Health Affairs Scholar, 3(8)
Date: 08/2025
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Building Healthier Rural Communities: Economic Development Districts Address Social Determinants of Health
Report outlining social determinants of health (SDOH) in rural areas and how Economic Development Districts (EDD) address them. Highlights workforce, infrastructure, food security, health, disaster preparedness, funding, data, and public-private partnerships. Includes a case study from an EDD in North Carolina and highlights the role of hospitals in the community.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Economic Development District Community of Practice, National Association of Development Organizations
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Report outlining social determinants of health (SDOH) in rural areas and how Economic Development Districts (EDD) address them. Highlights workforce, infrastructure, food security, health, disaster preparedness, funding, data, and public-private partnerships. Includes a case study from an EDD in North Carolina and highlights the role of hospitals in the community.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organizations: Economic Development District Community of Practice, National Association of Development Organizations
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2025 Indiana State Rural Health Report
Examines the state of rural health in Indiana and provides data on the health of rural citizens. Focuses on access, healthcare workforce shortages, health insurance, healthcare facilities availability, mobile health, telehealth services, maternal and infant health, mental health, substance use, and rural health finances and funding.
Author(s): Amnah Anwar, Kasia Hamman, Anureet Sandhu, et al.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: Indiana Rural Health Association
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Examines the state of rural health in Indiana and provides data on the health of rural citizens. Focuses on access, healthcare workforce shortages, health insurance, healthcare facilities availability, mobile health, telehealth services, maternal and infant health, mental health, substance use, and rural health finances and funding.
Author(s): Amnah Anwar, Kasia Hamman, Anureet Sandhu, et al.
Date: 08/2025
Sponsoring organization: Indiana Rural Health Association
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Prescribed Medications for Patients with Amphetamine-Type Stimulant Use Disorder Seen in Rural-Serving Pacific Northwest Primary Care Clinics
Examines the frequency in which patients living in the rural Pacific Northwest with amphetamine-type stimulant use disorder (AT-StUD) received medications for AT-StUD in primary care clinics. Utilizes 2017-2021 electronic health record (EHR) data to analyze patients who have received prescriptions according to demographics, mental health status, and health behaviors.
Author(s): Megan J. Yerton, Connor J. McCabe, Matthew D. Iles-Shih, Judith I. Tsui, Kevin A. Hallgren
Citation: Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, 20, 67
Date: 08/2025
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Examines the frequency in which patients living in the rural Pacific Northwest with amphetamine-type stimulant use disorder (AT-StUD) received medications for AT-StUD in primary care clinics. Utilizes 2017-2021 electronic health record (EHR) data to analyze patients who have received prescriptions according to demographics, mental health status, and health behaviors.
Author(s): Megan J. Yerton, Connor J. McCabe, Matthew D. Iles-Shih, Judith I. Tsui, Kevin A. Hallgren
Citation: Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, 20, 67
Date: 08/2025
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Trends in Hospital Administrative Costs: Urban–Rural Disparities, Barriers, and Reduction Strategies
Compares Medicare cost report data from 2011 and 2022 for over 4,400 rural and urban short-term acute care hospitals to identify shifts in administrative and general (A&G) spending. Discusses 3 themes related to cost growth, barriers in reporting, and strategies to manage and reduce costs. Describes implications for hospital policy.
Author(s): Lauree Handlon, Kit Simpson, Larry Leaming, Dunc Williams
Citation: Health Affairs Scholar, 3(8)
Date: 08/2025
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Compares Medicare cost report data from 2011 and 2022 for over 4,400 rural and urban short-term acute care hospitals to identify shifts in administrative and general (A&G) spending. Discusses 3 themes related to cost growth, barriers in reporting, and strategies to manage and reduce costs. Describes implications for hospital policy.
Author(s): Lauree Handlon, Kit Simpson, Larry Leaming, Dunc Williams
Citation: Health Affairs Scholar, 3(8)
Date: 08/2025
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