The National Quality Forum (NQF) is excited to release the following rural health report: A Core Set of Rural-Relevant Measures and Improving Access to Care. This report highlights the work of the NQF-convened Measure Applications Partnership (MAP) workgroup regarding the best available quality measures and recommendations for improving access for the rural population.

More than 59 million people live in rural areas. Data show that rural residents are more likely to be in poor health and have higher mortality rates for chronic conditions. These prevalent challenges are likely caused in part by poor access to care compared to urban and suburban communities.

To address these challenges, the workgroup identified a core set of best available quality measures that will drive improvement, are meaningful to rural residents, minimize reporting burden and above all can be used by providers across hospital and ambulatory care settings. Similar to other MAP efforts, the core set also promotes alignment between public and private programs.

The workgroup also recommended ways to address the access to care issues. The resulting measure core set and recommendations serve as a key resource to support the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) strategic focus on rural health.