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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Supporting Hospital Financial Performance
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 CAHs 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 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 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, $1,100,000 (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.
