Rural Health Path to Value Rural Health Innovations offers services to help you climb toward population health and improve the health status of your community.
Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNA) Work with us to set a course toward value-based payment and population health. A thorough assessment of your community's needs is the crucial first step.
Community Health Implementation Planning We can help you to strategically build and carry out a community health implementation plan that addresses the needs identified in your CHNA.
Additional Consulting Services
Network and Partnership Development More is possible when working together. Let us help you build bridges that lead to healthier communities.
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.
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.
Critical access hospital (CAH) financial and operational improvement is one of the primary goals of the Flex Program. Sustainable financial performance of CAHs is essential for both the day to day operation of the facility as well as for needed investments in technology and infrastructure. Recent market forces and dramatic changes in payor reimbursement have resulted in financial challenges for many of the nation’s smallest hospitals. State Flex Program proficiency in the following contribute to excellence in supporting hospital financial performance:
This brief provides a detailed look at outcome measurement issues for State Flex Program (SFP) interventions conducted under Program Area 2: Operational and Financial Improvement (FOI), a mandatory area of SFP activity. It presents a set of short- and intermediate-term FOI measures for common categories of FOI interventions.
This manual was developed for use by staff and boards of small rural hospitals and clinics as well as state Flex Programs. The content is designed to be as non-technical as possible and provide answers to frequently asked questions regarding CAH, small rural hospital and RHC finance and financial performance.
View webinar recordings and supporting materials from a web-based learning collaborative to gain knowledge and understanding about the ways state Flex Programs can support CAHs as they transition to value-based payment and population health.
View webinar recordings and supporting materials from a web-based learning collaborative to provide education to state Flex Programs about the transition to value and how they can help support CAHs regardless of where they are in the transition to value.
This learning collaborative (LC) is intended for Flex Programs with more experience and knowledge of the transition to value. This advanced LC series takes the next step in the discussions of the previous APMs LC and covers more complex topics.
CAHMPAS provides graphs and data, which allow comparison of CAH performance for various measures across user-defined groups such as location, net patient revenue or other factors. Flex Programs are encouraged to explore the nuances of the data and develop strategies to address CAH performance.
This updated guide provides rural hospital executive and management teams with generally accepted best practice concepts in revenue cycle management. It is also designed to assist State Offices of Rural Health directors and Flex Program coordinators.
This four-part financial webinar series is designed to assist CAH leadership understanding of CAH finance as they guide their organization through the transition to value-based health care. Topics are: CAH Basics of Cost-Based Reimbursement, CAH Top 10 Key Financial Indicators, Service Line Planning Concepts for CAHs, and Value-Based Purchasing.
Learn about financial data available to CAHs and updated annually by the FMT. Access resources related to use of the data by Flex Programs and hospitals.
This brief describes the ability of the Financial Distress Index (FD)I model to identify a group of rural hospitals facing an increased closure rate and evaluate the potential impact drivers of the FDI model may have on the percent of hospitals at high risk of financial distress and closure.
An overview of commonly used management methodologies. It describes the area of focus for each, and shares resources and references. The brief introductory information can be used as a guide for rural health leaders to identify potentially useful approaches that are well matched to needs and opportunities of their organization.
This issue brief highlights four strategies rural hospitals are using to improve value. Rural hospitals are a crucial local access point for urgent medical services, primary care, and prevention in their communities. Despite complex challenges, rural hospitals continue to transform and adapt to meet the needs of their populations.
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, $1,560,000 (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.
The goal of the Flex Program Workshop is to provide new or existing Flex Program staff and state office of rural health directors an orientation to the Flex Program. This workshop will cover multiple topics relevant to the Flex Program.
