The purpose of this project is to analyze Critical Access Hospital (CAH) inpatient hospitalizations and transfers from CAHs in order to help inform the development of quality indicators for CAHs, especially quality indicators focused on the transfer process. The project will involve analysis of hospital inpatient discharge data from several states with State Inpatient Databases that include hospital identifiers.

Research questions to be addressed include:

• How many and what type of inpatients are being cared for in CAHs? How often do CAHs treat the conditions being addressed by national quality measures?
• How many and what type of patients are being transferred from CAHs to other hospitals as inpatients? How do transfer exclusions affect the number of CAH patients with conditions being addressed by national quality measures?

Publications

• Analysis of CAH Inpatient Hospitalizations and Transfers: Implications for National Quality Measurement and Reporting
  Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
  Date: 10/2006
  This report analyzes critical access hospital inpatient hospitalizations and transfers and assesses the implications for national quality measurement and reporting.