Hospital rating looks at factors such as medical staffing

The first ever rating of hospitals by the National Rural Health Association applied the Hospital Strength Index as part of its comprehensive rating, according to a press release.

NRHA aims to provide hospital executives, trustees and boards of directors an objective method of gauging their performance when compared to peers’ facilities. The metric also holds 56 varying metrics for performances, considered to be the most comprehensive measuring device for this market.

“Now is the time for us to advance the analytics and transparency of the rural health sector,” Said Alan Morgan, chief executive officer of the National Rural Health Association. “We play such a critical role in providing needed care to Americans, yet our challenges are completely different in access while equally complex in delivery as urban hospitals. We celebrate this diversity and these every day challenges and will need new solutions to ensure our sustainability under the Affordable Care Act. NRHA is committed to advancing performance improvement in our hospitals.”

The Hospital Strength Index indicates the series of challenges to running a hospital and includes gauges for Market Strength, Value-based Strength and Financial Strength, which serve as objectives for reforming health.

Running a healthcare facility includes strong healthcare staffing and filling the nursing jobs as that industry is believed to be in the thick of a severe shortage.