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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Healthcare Quality – Organizations

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Lead federal agency focused on improving the safety and quality of the nation's healthcare system. Invests in research to understand how to make healthcare safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable, and affordable. Develops resources, tools, and data to help healthcare professionals, policymakers, and consumers make informed health decisions.
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American Health Quality Association (AHQA)
A charitable, educational, nonprofit national membership association dedicated to healthcare quality through community-based, independent quality evaluation and improvement programs.
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American Hospital Association (AHA)
Represents and serves all types of hospitals, healthcare networks, patients, and communities.
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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
Operates the Medicare and Medicaid programs - two national healthcare programs that benefit millions of Americans. Part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Website includes access to research, statistics, and data related to these programs.
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Commonwealth Fund
Supports independent research on health and social issues and makes grants to improve healthcare practice and policy. Dedicated to helping people become more informed about their healthcare and improving care for vulnerable populations such as children, elderly people, low-income families, minority Americans, and the uninsured.
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Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP)
Coordinates activities related to rural healthcare within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Part of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Focuses on matters affecting rural hospitals and healthcare, coordinating activities within the department that relate to rural healthcare, and maintaining a national information clearinghouse.
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Flex Monitoring Team
Performance monitoring project for the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program (Flex Program) conducted by the Rural Health Research Centers at the Universities of Minnesota, North Carolina, and Southern Maine. The monitoring project is assessing the impact of the Flex Program on Critical Access Hospitals and their communities and the role of states in achieving overall program objectives.
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Health and Medicine Division (HMD), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Works to advance and disseminate scientific knowledge to improve human health. Formerly named the Institute of Medicine (IOM).
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Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
Drives health improvement by advancing the quality and value of healthcare. Provides conferences, seminars, and programs that may be implemented and measured to help facilitate improvement of healthcare quality. Offers a knowledge center with tools and information related to all aspects of healthcare quality which may require free registration to access.
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Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP)
Seeks to understand the causes of medication errors and provide time critical, error reduction strategies to the healthcare community, policymakers, and the public.
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Joint Commission
Works to improve safety and quality of care provided to the public through healthcare accreditation and related services that support performance improvement in healthcare organizations. Evaluates and accredits more than 22,000 healthcare organizations and programs in the United States.
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Leapfrog Group
Composed of public and private organizations that provide healthcare benefits. Works with medical experts throughout the U.S. to identify problems and propose solutions that will improve hospital systems that could break down and harm patients. Collects, analyzes, and reports on healthcare safety, quality, and resource use data for consumers and healthcare providers.
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National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ)
An organization that promotes the continuous improvement of quality in healthcare by providing educational and development opportunities for professionals at all management levels and within all healthcare settings.
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National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)
Works with large employers, policymakers, doctors, patients, and health plans to improve healthcare quality. Provides recognition standards for patient-centered medical homes, and accreditation, certification, distinction, and other recognition programs.
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National Institute for Children's Healthcare Quality (NICHQ)
An education and research organization dedicated solely to improving the quality of healthcare provided to children.
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National Quality Forum (NQF)
Works to improve healthcare outcomes, safety, equity, and affordability through multistakeholder consensus on quality measurement and improvement standards and practices.
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National Rural Health Association (NRHA)
Promotes leadership on rural health issues through advocacy, communications, education, and research. Consists of individual and organizational members who share a common interest in rural health.
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National Rural Health Resource Center (NRHRC)
Provides technical assistance and information resources addressing the transition to value and population health, collaboration and partnership, performance improvement, health information technology, and workforce. Rural Health Innovations (RHI), a subsidiary of the National Rural Health Resource Center, enhances the health of rural communities by providing products and services with a focus on excellence and innovation.
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Partnership for Quality Measurement (PQM)
Works to review and endorse quality measures through a consensus-based process. Assists the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in setting priorities for healthcare measurement, endorsing evidence-based measures, and building consensus among stakeholders to inform recommendations to CMS.
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Quality Improvement Organization Program (QIO)
A program under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services dedicated to improving quality of care at the local level.
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Rural Health Research Gateway
Provides access to all of the research and findings of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy's (FORHP) Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Centers. Covers current and completed research projects and publications resulting from those projects. Includes information about the research centers and individual researchers.
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Rural Health Value
Formed by a cooperative agreement between the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, the RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis, and Stratis Health, Rural Health Value provides education, information, tools, and resources to help create high performance rural health systems. Formerly called the Rural Health System Analysis and Technical Assistance (RHSATA) program.
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Rural Quality Improvement Technical Assistance (RQITA) Resource Center (RQITA)
Provides technical assistance to Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and other rural healthcare organizations to improve healthcare and quality of care using data, measurement, and improvement activities. Offers information and resources on quality improvement and the Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP).
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Stratis Health
Nonprofit, independent quality improvement organization that collaborates with providers and consumers to improve healthcare.
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Telligen
Works to improve health outcomes nationwide through partnerships with U.S. government health agencies, state Medicaid agencies, health plans, and managed care organizations. Home to Telligen QI Connect, a Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) and Hospital Quality Improvement Contractor (HQIC), and the Rural Quality Improvement Technical Assistance (RQITA) Resource Center, among other programs.
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University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
One of the Rural Health Research Centers currently funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy. Conducts policy-relevant research focused on access to and quality of healthcare and population health outcomes.
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Last Reviewed: 12/19/2022