Flex Resources

Fact Sheets

• Rural Acute Care Hospital Boards of Directors: CAHs Lag in Oversight
  Strong governance is essential for small and rural hospitals to confront changing dynamics in finance, reimbursement, quality of care and workforce shortages. This fact sheet featured survey findings from board chairs and chief executive officers (CEOs) at critical access and prospective payment system hospitals (CAH and PPS, respectively).
  Source: South Carolina Rural Health Research Center
• Swing Bed Services
  CMS released a Swing Bed Fact Sheet (revised April 2023). The fact sheet outlines the requirements for hospital and critical access hospital swing bed arrangements.
• Center for Rural Health Fact Sheets

Evidence-Based Strategies for Community Engagement and Community Benefit

• Catholic Health Association of the United States
• American Hospital Association - Association for Community Health Improvement
• Evidence-Based Public Health Programs
• A Community Benefit Reporting Toolkit for Critical Access Hospitals
  A toolkit designed to provide guidance to administrators and staff of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) in collecting and reporting community benefit data to comply with federal and state community benefit reporting requirements.
• Raising Funds for Rural Healthcare
  This manual, from The Rural Health Resource Center Technical Assistance and Services Center (TASC) lays out the basics for establishing a structured process of ongoing philanthropic resource development. The information provided in this manual is targeted at small, rural healthcare entities with limited resources and staff for fund raising. It addresses the main components of a well-structured resource development program. The goal of this manual is for the reader to develop a better understanding of the core areas of resource development: Annual Fund, Capital Campaigns, and Endowment.

Recovery Audit Contracts (RACs) - Contacts & Schedule

• The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has begun Provider Outreach for the Recovery Audit Contracts (RACs).
• The contacts for detailed information about the RAC and provider outreach schedule include:
  • Your State Hospital Association
  • Your CMS Regional Office or email CMS at RAC@cms.hhs.gov

CAH Finance

• Small Rural Hospital and Clinic Finance 101 Guide
  This is a publication of the Technical Assistance and Services Center (TASC), a program of the National Rural Health Resource Center. This manual was developed for use by state Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program personnel as well as staff and boards of critical access hospitals (CAHs). The content is designed to be as non-technical as possible and to provide answers to frequently asked questions regarding CAH finance and financial performance.
• Critical Access Hospital 2012 Financial Leadership Summit Summary
  This is a publication of the Technical Assistance and Services Center (TASC), a program of the National Rural Health Resource Center. On June 7 and 8, 2012, the National Rural Health Resource Center, with funding from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP), brought a small group of CAH financial leaders and experts together in Minneapolis, Minnesota to address issues related to CAH financial performance.

Miscellaneous

• Critical Access Hospital Information
  (General CAH info from RHIhub website)
  Frequently asked questions regarding the Critical Access Hospital Program.
• Communication Toolkit
  Developed by the Center for Rural Health, this online toolkit is designed to help rural healthcare facilities and organizations tell their story through the media and other means.

Links

• Links
  Contains links pertaining to the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program.