Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and rural prospective payment system (PPS) hospitals provide essential healthcare services for nearly 54 million people in the U.S., including nine million Medicare beneficiaries. In general, rural hospitals are uniquely different from their urban counterparts in terms of economics, healthcare staff shortages, and types of care they provide. Providing these hospitals with rural-relevant quality measures and an opportunity to assess and address their organizational safety culture can help promote transformational change and improve patient safety and quality of care.
Our Progress
Through consultative relationships, technical support, training and educational conferences, OFMQ works with rural hospitals to integrate quality improvement processes into their culture and strategic plan. OFMQ is strategically aligned with organizations committed to rural health issues: Rural Health Association of Oklahoma, Inc., Oklahoma State University Office of Rural Health and the OSU Cooperative Extension Program. This partnership produces the annual Rural Hospital Conference, which brings together rural health professionals for extensive learning and networking.
Resources and Links:
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture
Access more information, tools and resources on ROSC on MedQIC, the national quality improvement web site.