Tools & Resources

Performance Improvement

Health care organization performance measurement and reporting designed to improve patient care, increase population health, and lower per capita cost.

Tools & Resources

Critical Access Hospital Blueprint for Performance Excellence - Achieve performance excellence using a systems-based framework (blueprint) that includes a balanced set of key strategies, initiatives, targets and measures. Developed by the National Rural Health Resource Center. (2013)

Management Methodologies and Value-Based Strategies: An Overview for Rural Health Care Leaders - This Rural Health Value resource offers rural health leaders an overview of eight commonly used management methodologies to help guide change and improve performance, plus additional resources and references for further exploration. (2019)

Using a Strategic Cycling Process to Increase Organizational Effectiveness - Utilize an effective technique to ensure that your strategy adapts to a changing environment, focuses on what is important, and remains effective over time. (2015)

Tools & Resources

Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit - This AHRQ resource, can help organizations reduce the complexity of health care, increase patient understanding of health information, and enhance support for patients of all health literacy levels. (2015)

Quality Improvement Basics: A Collection of Helpful Resources for Rural Health Care Organizations - Stratis Health developed this collection of resources for rural health care organizations to point health care quality professionals to the most helpful introductory resources and provides awareness of the more prominent health care quality organizations, programs and terms. (2019)

TeamSTEPPS - Strategies and Tools to Enhance Performance and Patient Safety - An evidence-based set of teamwork tools, aimed at optimizing patient outcomes by improving communication and teamwork skills among health care professionals. Supported by AHRQ, this curriculum was developed by a panel of experts, incorporating more than 25 years of scientific research that has been conducted on teams and team performance.

UDS Crosswalk to Quality Reporting Programs - From Rural Health Value, this crosswalk highlights alignment between Uniform Data Set (UDS) measures and other quality reporting programs. Intended to help health centers identify which UDS measures are being utilized by other programs such as CMS Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), and the CMS Quality Payment Program (QPP). (2024)

Profiles & Case Studies

A Nine-step Roadmap for Implementing Lean in Rural Hospitals - This case study from the American Hospital Association highlights the work of Harney County Health District in rural Eastern Oregon. (2019)

MBQIP Monthly - Each issue of this monthly newsletter, developed by Stratis Health, highlights quality improvement success stories from critical access hospitals across the country (2016 - 2020)

Sustaining Excellence in Rural Health Care the Baldrige Way-Hill Country Memorial's Story - Summarizes use of the Baldridge Excellence Framework to support performance excellence at a rural hospital in Fredericksburg, Texas (2016)