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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Critical Access Hospitals

2018 Rural Hospital and Clinic Financial Summit Report: Key Financial Success Indicators and Strategies
Identifies the indicators of financial success for hospitals and clinics, provides strategies to transition into value-based payment models, and includes success stories from Summit participants and resources necessary for hospitals and clinics. Includes a table showing Critical Access Hospital financial indicators medians for 2016.
Date: 07/2018
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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Together We Can Be Bully Free: CAH and Law Enforcement Address Peer Victimization through School-Based Program
Highlights an anti-bullying program developed by Union General Hospital, a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) in Union Parish, Louisiana. Describes how the hospital and local law enforcement collaborate to teach elementary, middle, and high school students about the negative effects bullying and how to model positive social behavior.
Author(s): Jenn Lukens
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 07/2018
Sponsoring organization: Rural Health Information Hub
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Drug Discount Program: Characteristics of Hospitals Participating and Not Participating in the 340B Program
Analyzes 2016 cost report data to describe and compare characteristics of 340B participating and non-participating hospitals, specifically examining three hospital types: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Sole Community Hospitals (SCHs), and general acute care hospitals. Discusses trends related to decreased charity care and an increase in Medicaid expansion on 340B hospital participation.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 07/2018
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Strengthening the Workforce to Improve Pregnancy Outcomes in Rural Areas
Highlights rural workforce initiatives related to maternity and childbirth services and discusses strategies to improve rural pregnancy outcomes. Features a training program at a Critical Access Hospital in Alaska and a rural OB-GYN residency program in Wisconsin.
Author(s): Allee Mead
Citation: Rural Monitor
Date: 07/2018
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Quality Peer Group Indicators for Critical Access Hospitals
Describes the results of a study to identify Critical Access Hospital (CAH) peer groups for the purposes of analyzing quality performance indicators.
Author(s): Michelle Casey, Ira Moscovice, Peiyin Hung
Date: 07/2018
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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At Presentation Medical Center: Culture Impacts Success
Describes Presentation Medical Center's (PMC) progress as part of the Small Rural Hospital Transition (SRHT) Project, completed in 2017, focused on assessing PMC's finances and operations. PMC is a 25-bed Critical Access Hospital (CAH) located in Rolla, North Dakota.
Date: 07/2018
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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Uvalde Memorial Hospital Strategizes SRHT Implementation
Describes Uvalde Memorial Hospital's (UMH) progress as part of the Small Rural Hospital Transition (SRHT) Project, completed in 2017, that focused on assessing UMH's finances and operations. UMH is a 25-bed county-owned not-for-profit Critical Access Hospital (CAH) located in Uvalde, Texas. Addresses swing bed usage, hospice, population health, cardiac rehabilitation, and staff efficiency.
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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Drug Discount Program: Federal Oversight of Compliance at 340B Contract Pharmacies Needs Improvement
Focuses on the 340B Drug Pricing Program, which allows certain facilities such as Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSHs), Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) to purchase prescription and non-prescription medications at reduced cost. Describes financial arrangements participating facilities have with contract pharmacies, the extent to which they provide discounts on 340B drugs dispensed by contract pharmacies to low-income, uninsured patients, and examines the Health Resources and Services Administration's efforts to ensure compliance with 340B Program requirements at contract pharmacies.
Additional links: Full Report
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: Government Accountability Office
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Availability of Respiratory Care Services in Critical Access and Rural Hospitals
Policy brief describing availability of respiratory therapy and therapists in Critical Access Hospitals and in urban and rural Prospective Payment System hospitals in 2016. Includes statistics with breakdowns by hospital type and rural or urban location.
Author(s): Michelle Casey, Alex Evenson, Ira Moscovice, Zhengtian Wu
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
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MedPAC Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System, June 2018
Evaluates Medicare payment issues and offers recommendations to the U.S. Congress. Includes a chapter on ensuring appropriate access to and use of hospital emergency department (ED) services that provides extensive information on rural access to ED services and identifies examples of rural off-campus emergency departments. Other sections of the report addressing rural concerns focus on post-acute care, quality and value payment programs, and medical device payment policies. Also includes a report on the effects of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program.
Additional links: Fact Sheet
Date: 06/2018
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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