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Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Hospitals – Models and Innovations

These stories feature model programs and successful rural projects that can serve as a source of ideas and provide lessons others have learned. Some of the projects or programs may no longer be active. Read about the criteria and evidence-base for programs included.

Effective Examples

Updated/reviewed February 2024

  • Need: To develop sustainable, community-wide prevention methods for cardiovascular diseases in order to change behaviors and healthcare outcomes in rural Maine.
  • Intervention: Local community groups and Franklin Memorial Hospital staff studied mortality and hospitalization rates for 40 years in this rural, low-income area of Farmington to seek intervention methods that could address cardiovascular diseases.
  • Results: A decline in cardiovascular-related mortality rates and improved prevention methods for hypertension, high cholesterol, and smoking.

Other Project Examples

Updated/reviewed October 2024

  • Need: To help hospitals in rural Idaho and Wyoming see how their prices compare to others in the region.
  • Intervention: The Hospital Cooperative (THC) completes an annual charge comparative, which lists the highest, lowest, average, and median price for a specific charge.
  • Results: THC has offered these reports since 2010.

Updated/reviewed October 2024

  • Need: Critical Access Hospitals in Idaho were not able to afford a fixed MRI system.
  • Intervention: The hospitals partnered to purchase a mobile MRI unit to travel among facilities.
  • Results: The MRI unit went into service in 2012, providing hundreds of scans per month and traveling among six member hospitals in rural Idaho.

Added July 2024

  • Need: To provide blood transfusions in the ambulance on the way to a hospital.
  • Intervention: The Montana Interfacility Blood Network includes 48 healthcare facilities that stock blood and allow ambulances to pick up units of blood while transporting a patient.
  • Results: Since its launch, the network has helped at least three patients.
funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed April 2024

  • Need: To increase access and quality of care for patients in rural Maine.
  • Intervention: Community hospitals and Federally Qualified Health Centers in Maine formed the Community Care Partnership of Maine Accountable Care Organization (CCPM ACO).
  • Results: CCPM serves about 120,000 patients in Maine. In addition, it has implemented shared savings arrangements/contracts with different Medicare Advantage and other private health payers.

Updated/reviewed November 2023

  • Need: To improve people's health in a rural 16-county region in Illinois.
  • Intervention: A coalition of local health departments and healthcare facilities coordinates regional efforts, which are implemented locally by health community coalitions.
  • Results: HSIDN has created toolkits, developed resource guides, and provided wellness trainings, among other initiatives.
funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

Updated/reviewed April 2023

  • Need: To help ensure the viability of and improve quality at 9 rural, independent hospitals serving 11 Utah counties.
  • Intervention: A network organization was created to allow member hospitals to communicate, network, and undertake projects together.
  • Results: Members take advantage of cost savings, education, and networking opportunities through group projects and programs.
funded by the Health Resources Services Administration

Updated/reviewed January 2020

  • Need: Rural areas in Mississippi often lack adequate access to specialty healthcare services such as emergency medicine, stroke neurology, pediatric specialists and psychiatrists.
  • Intervention: The University of Mississippi Medical Center created the Center for Telehealth to deliver quality specialty services through telehealth video conferencing and remote monitoring tools to the underserved areas of Mississippi.
  • Results: The program has been successfully implemented throughout many of the state's rural hospitals and has reduced transfers and geographic barriers for patients.
Last Updated: 10/31/2024