Rural Health
Research Gateway

Rural Hospital Flexibility Program

Completed Projects

Listed by project completion date. You can also view these projects alphabetically.

2008

  • Quality and Financial Status of Critical Access Hospitals: A Preliminary Analysis
    The purpose of this project is to continue to investigate the relationship between Critical Access Hospital financial performance and quality of care. The University of Minnesota and the University of North Carolina will jointly develop hypotheses related to the finance-quality link and statistical models suitable for testing hypotheses.
    Research centers: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center, University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Healthcare financing, Quality, Rural Hospital Flexibility Program
  • Rural Hospital Flexibility Performance Monitoring Project- Grant Years 2003-2008
    Under contract with the federal Office of Rural Health Policy, the Rural Health Research Centers at the Universities of Minnesota, North Carolina, and Southern Maine are cooperatively conducting a performance monitoring project for the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program (Flex Program). The monitoring project will assess the impact of the Flex Program on rural hospitals and communities and the role of states in achieving overall program objectives, including improving access to and the quality of health care services; improving the financial performance of Critical Access Hospitals; and engaging rural communities in health care system development.
    Research centers: Maine Rural Health Research Center, North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center, University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Rural Hospital Flexibility Program
  • Using Program Logic Models to Monitor the Performance of State Flex Programs
    This project will use a program logic model approach to track state program activities and develop tools that allow states to systematically monitor and manage their accomplishments in the context of Flex Program goals.
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topic: Rural Hospital Flexibility Program

2006

  • Community Impact Assessment
    This project will evaluate the impact of the Flex program on local communities. Activities will focus on identifying the ways in which the program could have a measurable effect, as well as the ways in which Flex program coordinators intended to affect community health. A briefing paper that integrates information on scope of services, networking, and quality will be produced. Additionally, case studies will be conducted in six CAH communities.
    Research centers: Maine Rural Health Research Center, North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
    Topics: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Networking and collaboration, Rural Hospital Flexibility Program
  • Development of State Flex Program Logic Models and Related Toolkit
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topic: Rural Hospital Flexibility Program
  • Financial Performance of Critical Access Hospitals, Pre- and Post-Conversion
    Making use of the financial indicators developed by project staff, the focus of this project is a longitudinal analysis of the dimensions and indicators of financial performance. Descriptive analyses are used to capture changes in all dimensions of financial performance pre- and post-conversion.
    Research center: North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
    Topics: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Healthcare financing, Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS), Rural Hospital Flexibility Program
  • State Flex Program Quality Improvement Activities
    Research center: Maine Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Quality, Rural Hospital Flexibility Program

2005

  • Analysis of 2004-2005 State Flex Grant Plans
    This project will analyze state Flex grant applications and related budget and work plan revisions focusing on state activities in the core Flex program areas of networks, quality improvement, and EMS.
    Research centers: Maine Rural Health Research Center, University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Emergency medical services (EMS) and trauma, Networking and collaboration, Quality, Rural Hospital Flexibility Program

2004

  • Critical Access Hospital Access To and Use of Capital
    This project will describe the capital needs of CAHs and their experiences in accessing and using capital, based on data from an e-mail survey of State Flex Coordinators, the TASC listserve, telephone contacts with Flex Coordinators in key states, and Medicare Cost Reports.
    Research center: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Rural Hospital Flexibility Program
  • Evaluating the Financial Impact of Critical Access Hospital Conversion Over Time
    Using Medicare cost report data, this project will analyze changes in several key financial and organizational indicators that may be affected by CAH conversion, and produce annual reports describing the financial status of CAHs.
    Research center: University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
    Topics: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Healthcare financing, Rural Hospital Flexibility Program

2003

2002

2001