Official websites use .gov
A
.gov website belongs to an official government
organization in the United States.
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A
lock (
) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to
the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official,
secure websites.
The Rural Hospital Flexibility Program (Flex) The Rural Veterans Health Access Program
93.241
The Rural Hospital Flexibility Program (Flex) enables state designated entities to support critical access hospitals in quality improvement, quality reporting, performance improvement, and benchmarking; to assist facilities seeking designation as critical access hospitals; and to create a program to establish or expand the provision of rural emergency medical services. Flex Program objectives include quality, operational, financial, and population health improvement with the goal of supporting access to necessary health care services in rural communities. State Flex programs will act as resources and focal points for these activities within their respective states. The Rural Veterans Health Access Program provides funding to states to coordinate activities to provide rural veterans access to services for needed mental health care via the use of networks, electronic communication and telehealth networks. The program targets states with high percentages of veterans to the total population.
This chart shows obligations for the program by fiscal year. All data for this chart was provided by the
administering agency and sourced from SAM.gov, USASpending.gov, and Treasury.gov.
For more information on each of these data sources, please see the
About the data page.
Accomplishments for the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program: In 2020, 1282 Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) participated in the Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Program (MBQIP), to report on quality measures aligned with those collected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Quality measures quantify health care processes, outcomes, patient perceptions, and organizational structure and systems to guide decisions about improvements to health care services. MBQIP provides the opportunity for rural hospitals to evaluate their quality data and compare outcomes with that of hospitals with similar characteristics (such as small bed size, limited resources, and health services). 61.1% of CAHs reported improvement in core MBQIP measures and 35.2% of CAHs reported improvement in additional MBQIP measures.
Grantee accomplishments for the Rural Veterans Health Access Program include: initiating Veteran’s Administration telehealth visits at community-based healthcare provider sites establishing a coalition to increases access to care for veterans in rural areas; and the creation of a new Project ECHO line specific for veteran-related health issues, that launched in 2020.
Accomplishments for the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program: In 2021, 1353 Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) participated in the Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Program (MBQIP), to report on quality measures aligned with those collected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Quality measures quantify health care processes, outcomes, patient perceptions, and organizational structure and systems to guide decisions about improvements to health care services. MBQIP provides the opportunity for rural hospitals to evaluate their quality data and compare outcomes with that of hospitals with similar characteristics (such as small bed size, limited resources, and health services). 71% of CAHs reported improvement in core MBQIP measures and 55% of CAHs reported improvement in additional MBQIP measures. CAHs also participate in financial improvement initiatives through the Flex program, and 54% of CAHs reported improvement in targeted operations in 2021.
Grantee accomplishments for the Rural Veterans Health Access Program include: creating programs that aims to build Veteran participation in healthcare and wellbeing activities by promoting connectedness and help seeking; and providing seed funding to organizations with Critical Access Hospitals.
Accomplishments for the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program: In 2022, 1360 Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) participated in the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program. Part of the Flex Program is the Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP), where CAHs report on quality measures aligned with those collected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Quality measures quantify health care processes, outcomes, patient perceptions, and organizational structure and systems to guide decisions about improvements to health care services. MBQIP provides the opportunity for rural hospitals to evaluate their quality data and compare outcomes with that of hospitals with similar characteristics (such as small bed size, limited resources, and health services). 75% of CAHs reported improvement in core MBQIP measures and 45% of CAHs reported improvement in additional MBQIP measures. CAHs also participate in financial improvement initiatives through the Flex program, and 42% of CAHs reported improvement in targeted operations in 2022.
Grantee accomplishments for the Rural Veterans Health Access Program include: Developing program activitied to improve Veteran access to healthcare services and better coordination of care.
Single Audit Applies (2 CFR Part 200 Subpart F):
For additional information on single audit requirements for this program, review the current Compliance Supplement.
OMB is working with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and agency offices of inspectors general to include links to relevant oversight reports. This section will be updated once this information is made available.
