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.
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.
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.
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 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.
Author:
National Rural Health Resource Center (The Center)
This four-part series of financial webinars is designed to assist CAH leadership understanding of CAH finances 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.
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.
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 guide has been developed to provide rural hospital executive and management teams with generally accepted best practice concepts in developing the necessary financial strategies to survive the transition from a volume-based to a system based on value.
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.
This update 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.
Read a comparison of CAHs and non-CAHs in terms of their activities and policies regarding charity care, bad debt, billing and collection. Learn the implications of these policies and the opportunities for state Flex Programs to help CAHs manage charity care and bad debt.
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, $1,205,000 (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.
Following the webinar, participants will have gained knowledge regarding new and emerging models of care influencing rural health care providers, as well as improved their ability to recognize and locate resources related to emerging models of care that can inform their office, partners, or rural providers.
MBQIP VKGs provide a networking opportunity for state Flex Programs and subcontractors. Topics for discussion are determined based on MBQIP Data Reports, technical assistance trends and requests.
Flex VKG webinars provide a forum for state Flex Programs to share successes, discuss challenges, and brainstorm strategies for improvement and Flex Program excellence.
