2019 Annual Quality Report — Rural Health

A growing body of research suggests that the places we live, work, learn and play have a significant influence on our health. These factors can differ between rural, urban and suburban communities. Researchers have found that rural health disparities — including socioeconomic challenges, behavioral risk factors, lower rates of health insurance coverage and fewer health amenities — can lead to poorer health outcomes for rural residents.

Improving care and improving health requires that stakeholders understand the factors that influence health for individual patients and at the community level. To deliver high-quality, high-value care for rural Missourians, clinicians must continue to adopt evidence-based best practices of care, and create and maintain a culture of quality within their organizations.

The Missouri Hospital Association’s 2019 Annual Quality Report — Rural Health illustrates performance on several clinical measures tracked by rural hospitals. Although these indicators demonstrate progress in quality improvement and harm reduction, the results also signal significant and ongoing variation. As quality programs mature and targeted care improvement systems are inculcated in hospitals’ culture, variation will be reduced.

For this report, the period between baseline and the comparison-year data is five years for infection and safety measures, and three years for readmission measures. The graphs summarize the important progress on quality within readmission, patient safety and rural hospital-acquired infection measures.

VIEW THE RURAL REPORT