Community & Population Health Community support of the local health care system is vital for sustainability and growth. Learn how to create a healthier and more engaged community by working with The Center.
Health Information Technology Consulting As the national knowledge center on rural electronic health record adoption, The Center offers comprehensive services targeted at rural hospitals, rural health clinics and state and national HIT programs.
Leadership Success begins with strong, informed leadership. The Center offers a variety of services, on-site and remotely, to leaders to assess strengths and identify areas of useful performance improvement.
Workforce The Center understands that rural health care facilities face unique workforce challenges. Since 1991, The Center has assisted rural citizens, health professionals, educators and policymakers with design and implementation strategies to assure the availability of quality health care.
Strategic Planning Effective planning is critical for organizational success. Expertly facilitated services conducted by The Center’s staff of national rural health experts will help hospitals and organizations achieve this success.
Performance Improvement The Center offers a complete spectrum of rural health performance improvement services. With support from The Center, clients succeed in aligning people, processes and resources with their mission.
Technical Assistance & Services Center (TASC) TASC provides performance improvement resources to CAHs and state Flex Programs on quality, finance, operations, systems of care and population health.
Small Rural Hospital Improvement Grant Program (SHIP) SHIP provides funding to approximately 1,600 participating hospitals in 46 participating SORHs to help small rural hospitals participate in value-based payment and care delivery models.
Network Technical Assistance (TA) RHI provides technical assistance (TA) to over 60 networks in the Development and Allied Health rural health network grant programs.
Small Rural Hospital Transition (SRHT) Project The Small Rural Hospital Transition (SRHT) Project supports small rural hospitals nationally by providing on-site technical assistance to assist bridging the gaps between the current health care system and the newly emerging health care delivery and payment system.
Associates Program The Associates Program is designed to connect health care organizations and networks with highly qualified rural consultants and technical experts.
Resource Library The Center's Resource Library features webinars, presentations, articles and toolkits developed by trusted industry leaders to guide and support rural health stakeholders.
Events Find information about upcoming webinars, workshops and more hosted by The Center or Rural Health Innovations.
Allied Health Webinars Find recordings and resources from recent technical assistance webinars for Rural Network Allied Health Training grantees.
Health Education and Learning Program (HELP) Webinars Eligible rural hospital leaders and staff can attend a HELP webinar to learn about current financial, operational and quality performance needs that impact their transition to the new health care environment.
Network Development Webinars Find recordings and resources from recent technical assistance webinars for Rural Health Network Development grantees.
Performance Management Group (PMG) Calls Learn from the experience of leading hospital administrators and nationally recognized field experts. PMG calls allow peer-to-peer education focused on preparing rural hospitals for new payment and care delivery models.
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Improving Processes and Efficiencies
Process improvement is one of the most valued concepts used in all industries, including health care and government. It is applied in operations, production and customer service and is key to quality, cost savings and outcomes. State Flex Programs can be the drivers of process improvement in rural health services by understanding and sharing concepts with health care providers and building process improvements into activities. State Flex Program proficiency in the following contribute to excellence in improving processes and efficiencies:
Applying continuous improvements
Understanding and utilizing frameworks
Sharing and using lessons learned and best practices
Quality Improvement in health care continues to be a priority for CMS. The sections of this guide explain general quality improvement principles followed by strategies for implementing quality improvement principles in the daily work of health care providers.
This guide and toolkit offers strategies and resources to help critical access hospital (CAH) staff organize and support efforts to implement best practices for quality improvement. It includes:
The HRSA Quality Toolkit is designed to assist a health care organization with its quality improvement efforts. The toolkit is comprised of tools and resources to support an organization's new or existing quality improvement program.
This document outlines four performance management tools: Balanced Scorecard, Baldrige, Lean and Studer. These tools have been identified as effective methods for managing performance improvement with small rural hospitals.
Learn about the Model for Improvement as the framework to guide improvement work following a Plan-Do-Study-Act model. The Model for Improvement is a simple, yet powerful tool for accelerating improvement.
This guide provides an overview of the five key concepts of Lean thinking as well as steps that should be implemented to create the ideal Lean system and Lean resources for health care organizations.
The first webinar in the three-part educational series for SHIP-eligible hospitals in 2016 covers the Principles of Lean Healthcare, the eight areas of waste and the voice of the customer.
The second webinar in the three-part educational series for SHIP-eligible hospitals in 2016 provides an overview of Value-Stream Mapping, 5S Worksite Organization, A3 Problem Solving and Standard Work.
The final webinar in the three-part educational series for SHIP-eligible hospitals in 2016 covers Lean culture transformation, Lean measurement and metrics, and how to initiate Lean projects or events.
Learn about the process, outcomes and lessons learned from a multi-hospital Lean process improvement initiative involving six CAH and funded by the New Hampshrie Flex Program.
Read an article summarizing a Lean project implemented at one CAH from the fall issue of Penn State Outreach magazine and a final report completed by students detailing their work at Tyrone Hospital.
Discover the impact of value-based reimbursement on CAH processes, learn activities Flex programs can provide to develop efficient CAH business processes, understand the value of continuous improvement of CAH operations and understand how to maximize information technology.
Across the United States, hospitals are asking patients to report on their experience during their inpatient stay. This information is important as hospitals work toward improving their performance.
This project is/was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB1RH24206, Information Services to Rural Hospital Flexibility Program Grantees, $1,100,000 (0% financed with nongovernmental sources). This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.
Networking opportunity for Flex Programs to discuss CAH improvement strategies for immunization measures and use of groups in the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) for supporting MBQIP.
The goal of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) Flex Program Workshop is to provide new or existing Flex Program staff an orientation to the Flex Program. Attendance at this event is open only to state Flex grantees.
