This report serves as a framework to inform quality in critical access hospitals, assist them in creating sustainable quality infrastructure, moving beyond mere measures, and toward organizational excellence.
Resources
The Center's searchable Resource Library features articles, reports, webinars, podcasts, toolkits, and other materials developed by trusted industry leaders to guide and support rural health stakeholders.

Resource Type
Toolkits
Topics
Programs
74 results found
Document
EMS Community Benefit Pilot Project
Information on the pilot tests for a tool created by The Paramedic Foundation for rural ambulance services, the Community Benefit and Financial Distress Tool.
Interactive
Discharge Instructions
The purpose of this analysis is to compare the rates of patients who reported that they were given information about what to do during their recovery at home, given the rates of readmissions and mortality for acute myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke, heart failure, pneumonia, and hip/knee replacement at multiple levels, including state, county, and hospital type.
Interactive
Social Determinants of Health
This analysis aims to compare health status with social determinants of health by examining the rates of self-reported mental distress given population estimates, poverty rates, population size, and reported excessive drinking at the county level.
This analysis first aims to determine whether an area's poverty rate is related to preventable hospitalizations and readmission rates.
Interactive
Cancer Risk Factors and Rurality
The purpose of this analysis is to compare the incidence of cancer-related to risk factors and geographic characteristics such as access and use of preventative care, uninsured rates, smoking rates, access to broadband internet, race, and rurality for each county and state.
Interactive
Using Claims Data
The purpose of this resource is to provide examples of analyzing claims data. Specifically, the resource offers explanations and videos on using synthetic claims data developed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and instructions on acquiring and using the data.
This assessment aims to determine if there is a difference in the relationship between the percentage of the population that reported they strongly understood discharge instructions and the percentage for the race categories at the county level.
Interactive
Emergency Department Access
This analysis aims to identify wait times and leave percentages across different types of hospitals.
Interactive
Socioeconomic Status and Premature Mortality
This analysis aims to explore the socioeconomic status and health-related outcomes (including diabetes rates, preventable hospital stays, household income, and access to healthy food) in relation to premature mortality.
Interactive
Diabetes Demographics
The purpose of this analysis is to compare diabetes rates and population age for each county and state.
Interactive
Stroke Risk Factors and Rurality
The purpose of this analysis is to compare the incidence of strokes related to risk factors and geographic characteristics such as incidence of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, rate of the population that performs cholesterol screening, use of high cholesterol medicine, uninsured rates, race, and rurality for each county and state.
Interactive
Injury Deaths and Demographics
This analysis aims to identify a potential association between homicides, motor vehicle accidents, and injuries based on poverty rates for each county and state.
Interactive
Uninsured Rates, Behavior, and Mental Health
This analysis aims to compare the rates of poor mental health days by rates of drug overdose, excessive drinking, employment status, and health insurance coverage at the county level.
Interactive
Transportation and Health Status
This analysis aims to determine if there is a relationship between access to transportation and health status.
Interactive
Patient Satisfaction
This analysis aims to compare patient-physician communication rates with heart failure readmission and mortality rates among different types of hospitals.
Toolkit
Analyzing MBQIP Data
Resources to support hospitals interpret Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP) reports and make use of their data.
In this video, one rural ambulance service shares the value realized in reporting and using data to improve organizational culture. They share their enhanced ability to identify improvement opportunities that move the needle on health outcomes for their patients, such as Community Paramedicine and an antibiotic protocol for sepsis.
Learn how one county in Iowa, with three independent ambulance services, completed a multi-year process to address their broken EMS system using Flex Program funding.
This policy brief reports the newly developed taxonomy of rural places based on relevant
population and health-resource characteristics.
population and health-resource characteristics.