Top critical access hospitals announced

By: Donna Douglas | 5/03/21

---

The 20 highest-ranked critical access hospitals (CAHs) in the country, as determined by the Chartis Center for Rural Health, were recently announced by the National Rural Health Association (NRHA). An awards ceremony will be held during NRHA’s Critical Access Hospital Conference in September in Kansas City, Mo.

The determining factors for the Top 20 CAHs were based on the results of the Hospital Strength Index and its eight indices of performance: inpatient market share, outpatient market share, quality, outcomes, patient perspective, cost, charge, and financial efficiency. This elite group of hospitals was selected from the Chartis Center for Rural Health’s 2021 top 100 CAH list, which was released earlier this year.

Forty best practice designations were also given to facilities that achieved success in one of two key areas of performance: 1) quality: a rating of hospital performance based on the percentile rank across rural-relevant process of care measures, and 2) patient perspective: a rating of hospital performance based on the percentile rank across all 10 HCAHPS domains.

“NRHA is committed to ensuring our members have the best information to manage their hospitals,” says Brock Slabach, NRHA membership services senior vice president. “We’re pleased to recognize the accomplishments of these rural hospitals.”

View NRHA's press release for the full list of category winners and designation recipients.