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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Hospitals – Resources

Selected recent or important resources focusing on Rural Hospitals.

Community Benefit Insight
Provides information on community benefit spending for tax-exempt hospitals since 2010. Presents data at the state and individual facility levels. Allows users to compare up to 5 hospitals.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: RTI International
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AHA Rural Health Services Resources and References
A collection of tools and case studies highlighting rural hospital healthcare innovations, including new payment models implemented by hospitals and health systems in rural communities.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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HCUP Summary Trend Tables
Provides a series of data files on monthly hospital utilization data derived from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) State Inpatient Databases (SID) and HCUP State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD) beginning in January 2017. Includes state-by-state data on hospitalizations due to COVID-19, influenza, and other respiratory conditions; normal newborns and deliveries; non-elective stays admitted through emergency departments; and elective inpatient stays. Contains information on urban-rural locations of the hospital and patient residence.
Type: Database
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Strategies to Mitigate Healthcare Personnel Staffing Shortages
CDC guidance to help healthcare facilities mitigate healthcare personnel staffing shortages related to COVID-19.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Care Compare
Provides information on the quality of care, cost, volume of services, and other data for Medicare-certified providers. Includes data on doctors and clinicians, hospitals, nursing homes, home health services, hospice care, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, long-term care hospitals, and dialysis facilities.
Type: Database
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Pennsylvania Rural Health Model
Provides information on a joint CMS and the Pennsylvania Department of Health model designed to improve the financial viability of rural Pennsylvania hospitals and reduce the growth of hospital expenditures across payers, including Medicare. Includes information on participating hospitals and details about the performance period and model targets.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Eligible Hospital / Critical Access Hospital eCQMs
Features updated electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) for Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program and the Medicare and Medicaid Promoting Interoperability programs for reporting in Eligible Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs).
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Small Rural Hospital Improvement Grant Program (SHIP)
Resources for hospitals related to value-based purchasing, Accountable Care Organizations, and payment bundling. Developed for hospitals participating in the Small Rural Hospital Improvement Grant Program (SHIP).
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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State Operations Manual Appendix Z - Emergency Preparedness for All Provider and Certified Supplier Types Interpretive Guidance
Interpretive guidelines clarifying several provisions of the emergency preparedness final rule for Medicare- and Medicaid-participating providers, which affects Rural Health Clinics (RHCs), Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and other rural facilities.
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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The Freestanding Emergency Department Financial Assessment Strategic Tool (FED FAST)
Provides a means to evaluate the financial feasibility of transforming a rural hospital into a rural freestanding emergency department (RFED) in high, medium, and low volume settings.
Type: Tool
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Additional resources are available related to this guide. See the full list of resources by topic for:


Last Updated: 1/26/2024