Performance Management: Improving and Sustaining Performance in Rural Hospitals

Volume 2, Issue 2 A financially stable hospital is crucial to a community’s health as well as its economy, especially in rural settings. Local hospitals not only provide residents with essential health care services, they are also a major employer and help fuel the local economy. Today, however, many of this country’s 1,600 small rural hospitals struggle to maintain financial stability and respond to the growing demands for health information technology and documented quality outcomes. Historically, these small hospitals have encountered obstacles that are both intrinsic (related to the hospital and its immediate environment), and extrinsic (related to broader reimbursement, policymaking and regulatory issues). Hospital associations and policy makers and researchers have generally focused on the extrinsic factors affecting rural hospital performance, and much less attention has been paid to the intrinsic factors. Opportunities for huge breakthroughs in rural hospital performance lie in effectively managing this intrinsic set of factors. This paper will outline strategies and frameworks for overcoming the intrinsic obstacles and establishing sustainable health systems for the future.