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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Critical Access Hospitals

CAH Perspectives on Collection and Use of Demographic and Social Drivers of Health Data
Describes how collecting information about social drivers of health (SDOH) can help hospitals inform treatment and discharge planning decisions and identify local health disparities. Summarizes findings from interviews with nine Critical Access Hospital (CAH) staff regarding their experiences collecting demographic and SDOH data. Highlights themes related to challenges CAH staff face in collecting this data and how CAHs utilize the data they collect.
Author(s): Madeleine Pick, Carson Crane, Megan Lahr
Date: 10/2024
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Frontier Community Health Integration Project (FCHIP) Demonstration Extension Fact Sheet
Provides an overview of the Frontier Community Health Integration Project (FCHIP) Demonstration Extension, which tests new healthcare delivery models in the most sparsely populated rural counties. Identifies participating Critical Access Hospitals and models tested.
Date: 10/2024
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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The Rural Emergency Hospital Model: Year Two Progress Report
Provides an overview of the Rural Emergency Hospital (REH) payment designation, including the growth in REHs through September 1, 2024, factors that contribute to a hospital seeking REH conversion, and the impacts of REH conversion. Outlines concerns identified by REH leaders, facilities considering converting to REH status, and other rural stakeholders related to the REH designation, as well as policy recommendations to address these concerns.
Author(s): Emma Sheffert, Julia Harris, Marilyn Werber Serafini
Date: 10/2024
Sponsoring organization: Bipartisan Policy Center
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Hospital Differences in Adult Inpatient Stays with Healthcare-Associated Infections, 2019 and 2021
Examines the rate of adult inpatient hospital stays involving five healthcare-associated infections (HAI) in 2019 and 2021. Presents data from an analysis of 2019 and 2021 State Inpatient Databases (SID) from public, non-federal acute-care hospitals across 38 states by hospital characteristics, including ownership, rural or urban location, safety-net designation, and Critical Access Hospital designation.
Author(s): Melissa A. Miller, Leyi Lin, David P. Calfee, Amy Gehrke, Alex Bohl
Date: 10/2024
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Medicare Payment Basics: Critical Access Hospitals Payment System
Presents an overview of Medicare payments for Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Compares differences in Medicare payments for CAHs, Sole Community Hospitals, and Medicare-Dependent Hospitals.
Date: 10/2024
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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September 2024 MedPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) September 2024 meeting. Covers Medicare's overall financial situation, cost-sharing for outpatient services at Critical Access Hospitals, and experiences and challenges of measuring the quality of care provided by rural providers.
Additional links: Cost Sharing for Outpatient Services at Critical Access Hospitals - Presentation Slides, Medicare's Measurement of Rural Provider Quality - Presentation Slides
Date: 09/2024
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Workforce Toolkit to Support Critical Access Hospitals and Rural Providers
Toolkit intended to help Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and other rural providers improve workforce recruitment and retention efforts. Provides information on healthcare workforce challenges faced by CAHs. Offers examples of external resources that CAHs may utilize to address their workforce needs across four topics: organizational culture and leadership, leveraging partnerships, emergency medical services workforce, and administrative and support staff workforce.
Date: 09/2024
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Small Rural Hospital and Clinic Finance 101
Provides a manual with introductory information on healthcare facility finances and payment for state Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program personnel, Critical Access Hospital (CAH) staff and board members, small rural prospective payment system (PPS) hospitals, and provider-based rural health clinics (RHC).
Date: 09/2024
Sponsoring organization: National Rural Health Resource Center
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Customer Perceptions of Critical Access Hospitals in Illinois: Insights from User Generated Contents from Google and Yelp
Examines Google and Yelp reviews of the 54 Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) in Illinois. Provides data on quality measures, customer ratings, and general information on Illinois CAHs.
Author(s): Adee Athiyaman
Date: 08/2024
Sponsoring organization: Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs
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Health Care Artificial Intelligence Toolkit
Guide designed to help community health clinics and rural hospitals navigate information regarding artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare. Discusses foundational considerations, governance for AI applications, and steps to assess and mitigate discriminatory impacts of AI systems in healthcare. Includes an AI tool vendor evaluation checklist for community health clinics and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs).
Date: 07/2024
Sponsoring organization: California Telehealth Resource Center
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