Rural Health Policy - Community Development

Community Development

Rural Hospitals must reach out to their communities to seek widespread involvement in health system planning and decision-making. Involvement leads to more informed citizens and greater community support for local health care providers as they consider critical access hospital conversion.

Tools

HRSA in My Neighborhood: Information on HRSA grant awards, grantees, health professional shortage areas, and much more!
This program allows you to make a map or create a report with data that includes information on HRSA awarded grant data, HRSA supported health care service delivery sites, Health Professional Shortage Areas, or Medically Underserved Areas and Populations.

The Economic Impact of the Critical Access Hospital Program on Illinois Communities
The Illinois CAH Network has contracted with Northern Illinois University to analyze the economic impact of the CAHs on their communities. This report presents the study findings.

CMS Fact Sheets

Rural California Fact Sheet
This document is a fact sheet for rural California. The fact sheet states California's definition of rural, the California rural geography and population, socioeconomic indicators, health conditions, and health insurance utilization.

The 2006 Report to the Secretary of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services & the PDF Version
This report is the culmination of research over the past year. This year's topics are access to pharmaceuticals and pharmacy services in rural areas; health information technology in rural areas; and family caregiver support of the rural elderly.

Wisconsin Rural County Profiles (Not a U.S. Government Web Site)
This web site, from the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health, provides information on county demographics and economic profiles, hospitals located in each county, ambulance providers serving each county, service area profiles for the CAHs in each county, economic impact analysis of the healthcare industry in each county, Healthiest Wisconsin 2010 Data Package, Public Health Departments, and the WIC Projects in each county.

Nevada Rural and Frontier Health Data Book
The Nevada Rural and Frontier Data Book - 2004 Edition contains a wide range of current information on population health and the health care delivery system in rural and frontier regions of Nevada. This document comes from the Nevada Center for Education and Health.

Hospital Utilization, Changing Demographics, and Implications for Rural Helath Care Services
This document from the Iowa Bureau of Rural Health and Primary Care provides a preliminary investigation of Iowa hospital capacity and utilization as well as a visual representation of the basic demographic conditions and trends that exist in Iowa counties and townships.

CAH Communication Toolkit (Not a U.S. Government Web Site)
The CAH Communication Toolkit, developed by the Nebraska Hospital Association, will assist hospitals in discussions about the critical access hospital program with employees, trustees, the community and the media. Note: You will have to modify to fit new CAH guidelines.

Community Service Needs Assessments
This document, developed for the Wisconsin Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, is a compilation of questions used by interviewers to determine respondent perceptions of local services in telephone surveys.

Strategic Planning This set of process tools, developed by the Center for Rural Health, University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, are for use when working with rural communities on their needs assessments and strategic planning.

Rural Landscape Model Econometric Model

User Manual
This manual was prepared for the Washington State Department of Health, Office of Community and Rural Health, to accompany a software tool to help rural communities understand and quantify the relationships between rural health care and rural economies.
Worksheets
This Microsoft Excel template provides worksheets for data collection using the Econometric Model.
Workbook
This Microsoft Excel workbook allows for interactive modeling between local health care system characteristics, population characteristics and economic impacts, with IMPLAN data loaded for Washington State counties.

Resources

Rural Health Works (Not a U.S. Government Web Site)
This site, developed and maintained by Oklahoma State University, introduces you to a program to help your community understand the role of heath care services in the overall economy.

Critical Access Hospitals and Community Development (Not a U.S. Government Web Site)
This chapter of the Rural Hospital Flexibility Program Tracking Project Year 2 Reports looks at community Development activities in CAHs and State Flex Programs.