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Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Critical Access Hospitals

Post-Acute Care Virtual Summit
Summarizes a May 2020 virtual summit of key stakeholders that examines the state of post-acute care (PAC) in rural America. Discusses issues, challenges, and strategies related to the integration of rural acute and post-acute care. Explores how state Flex Programs can help rural providers address PAC. Includes a collection of PAC best practices.
Date: 2020
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: National Rural Health Resource Center, Stroudwater Associates
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Telehealth Decreases Rural Emergency Department Wait Times for Behavioral Health Patients in a Group of Critical Access Hospitals
Explores impacts of telehealth on behavioral health patients in rural emergency departments (EDs) at 4 Midwestern Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Compares wait time and length of stay (LOS) for 153 patients from 2005-2013 before telehealth implementation and 287 patents from 2015-2017 after telehealth implementation. Provides data on patient demographics, wait time, LOS, behavioral health diagnosis, and total costs of ED visit.
Author(s): Roseanne Moody Fairchild, Shiaw-Fen Ferng-Kuo, Stephanie Laws, Hicham Rahmouni, Daniel Hardesty
Citation: Telemedicine and e-Health, 25(12), 1154-1164
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
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The Value Initiative Members in Action: Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center - Lebanon, N.H
Describes how the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center partners with rural and community hospitals to provide telehealth specialty care services across northern New England through the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Connected Care program. Discusses clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction with the telehealth programs. Examines how telehealth services impact staffing and services offered in small and rural hospitals.
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: American Hospital Association
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Partial Psychiatric Hospitalization Program Availability in Non-Metropolitan and Metropolitan Hospitals Nationally
Describes the purpose of partial psychiatric hospitalization programs (PPHPs), and compares 2016 American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey of Hospitals data on the availability and the characteristics of PPHPs among non-metropolitan and metropolitan hospitals in the U.S.
Author(s): Timothy Williams, Tyrone F. Borders, Lindsey Jasinski
Date: 12/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Rural and Underserved Health Research Center
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R3 Report: National Patient Safety Goal for Suicide Prevention
Establishes safety goals and practices for suicide prevention in Joint Commission-accredited hospitals. This 2019 update highlights specific requirements for accredited Critical Access Hospitals.
Date: 11/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Joint Commission
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Rural Hospitals: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
Describes the conditions facing rural hospitals and their communities contributing to the high rate of rural hospital closure. Discusses state and federal legislation, policies, and programs developed to support rural hospitals. Provides data for 15 Southern states including their state and rural populations, percentage of population uninsured, Medicaid expansion status, percentage at high financial risk, and number of rural hospital closures.
Author(s): Nick Bowman
Date: 11/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Southern Legislative Conference of The Council of State Governments
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Collaborative Solutions to Antibiotic Stewardship in Small Community and Critical Access Hospitals
Examines the issue of antibiotic resistance and the purpose of antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs). Discusses barriers to ASP adoption in small community hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) as well as potential solutions.
Author(s): Jay Bhatt, Brian Smith, Melinda M. Neuhauser, et al.
Citation: Academic Medicine, 94(10), 1419-1421
Date: 10/2019
Type: Document
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Quality Measures for Critical Access Hospital Swing-Bed Patients
Policy brief describing a study to identify quality measures for Critical Access Hospital (CAH) swing-bed patients, focused on outcome and functional status measures. Includes information from key informant interviews on discharge disposition and 30-day follow-up status.
Author(s): Michelle Casey, Ira Moscovice, Henry Stabler
Date: 10/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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Estimate of Federal Payment Reductions to Hospitals Following the ACA: 2010-2029: Estimates and Methodology
Estimates the reduction in Medicare hospital payments due to sequestration from 2010 to 2029, not including reductions enacted under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Demonstrates how other legislative acts and regulatory changes by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reduced federal payments to hospitals over the same period. Highlights how reductions in Medicare payments for bad debt impacted Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs).
Date: 10/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organizations: American Hospital Association, Federation of American Hospitals
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CAH Participation in Flex Financial and Operational Improvement Activities, 2015–2018
Examines patterns of Critical Access Hospital (CAH) participation in activities funded by the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program. Looks at CAHs' participation in financial and operational improvement activities, with information by various hospital characteristics including risk of financial distress.
Author(s): Kathleen Knocke, Kristin Reiter, George H. Pink
Date: 10/2019
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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