15 Federal Data Sources
The Data Behind RHT Compass
Every number in RHT Compass traces back to a specific federal data source. We integrate 15 public datasets from CMS, CDC, HRSA, USDA, the Census Bureau, and university research programs — covering 6,663 hospitals, 3,142 counties, 85,000 census tracts, and 16 years of health trend data.
These public sources form three tiers of intelligence. Tier 1 (free) is built entirely from the data documented on this page. Tiers 2 and 3 layer analytics dashboards and first-party hospital data on top.
See All Data Sources
CMS Provider of Services
The official registry of every Medicare-certified hospital in the United States. CMS publishes this file annually with facility-level detail on location, size, and classification.
What We Extract
- Hospital name, address, city, state, ZIP
- Total beds and bed type breakdown
- Ownership type (not-for-profit, for-profit, government)
- Critical Access Hospital (CAH) designation
- Rural vs. urban classification
- CMS Certification Number (CCN)
CMS POS is the foundation for our 691 hospital deserts analysis. Counties with zero hospitals in the POS registry are classified as hospital deserts. See Texas or Georgia for state-level examples.
CMS Healthcare Cost Report Information System
Hospital financial data extracted from Medicare cost report worksheets. These are not tidy CSV files — they are structured as worksheet/line/column combinations that require specialized ETL to transform into usable financial metrics.
What We Extract
- Total revenue and net patient revenue
- Total operating expenses
- Operating margin and total margin
- Occupancy rate
- Days cash on hand
- Current ratio (liquidity)
- Available beds and patient days
HCRIS financial data appears in the Financial Health section of every state page. See Georgia's financial summary for an example of how we present margins, occupancy, and liquidity metrics.
County Health Rankings
An annual assessment of health outcomes and health factors for every county in the United States, produced by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. The Rankings measure how healthy residents are and what influences their health.
What We Extract
- Life expectancy and premature death rates
- Diabetes and obesity prevalence
- Uninsured rate
- Food insecurity rate
- Broadband access percentage
- Housing cost burden
- Population aged 65 and over
- Primary care physician ratio
Note: RWJF announced in 2025 that it is ending funding for County Health Rankings after the 2025 release. RHT Compass has archived all 16 years of historical data to preserve this resource for long-term trend analysis.
CHR data powers the County Health Snapshot on every state page. Explore Mississippi's county health metrics as an example of 16-year trend data in action.
CDC Social Vulnerability Index
A county-level index measuring social vulnerability across four themes, published by the CDC Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). The SVI identifies communities that may need support during public health emergencies or chronic health challenges.
What We Extract
- Overall SVI score (0-1 scale, higher = more vulnerable)
- Theme 1: Socioeconomic status
- Theme 2: Household characteristics and disability
- Theme 3: Racial and ethnic minority status
- Theme 4: Housing type and transportation
- Per-theme percentile rankings
SVI scores are cross-referenced with hospital desert data to identify the most vulnerable communities. Counties that are both hospital deserts and in the top SVI quartile represent the highest-priority access gaps. See the hospital deserts page for the full analysis.
Community Benefit Insight
Aggregated data from IRS Form 990 Schedule H filings for tax-exempt hospitals. Community Benefit Insight compiles charity care spending, community health improvement activities, and financial assistance policies from annual nonprofit hospital tax filings.
What We Extract
- Total charity care spending
- Community health improvement expenditures
- Community benefit as a percentage of total expenses
- Financial assistance policy details
- Community health needs assessment status
Community benefit data is available on state pages for hospitals with IRS 990 filings. See North Carolina's community benefit data as an example.
UNC Sheps Center Rural Hospital Closures
The definitive tracker of rural hospital closures in the United States, maintained by the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina. Tracks every rural hospital that has closed, converted, or merged since 2005.
What We Extract
- Hospital name and location
- Date of closure
- Closure type (complete closure, converted to other use, merged)
- Bed count at time of closure
- County and state
See detailed closure data for every state on our 195 closures since 2005 page, or explore Georgia's closures as an example.
HRSA Health Professional Shortage Area Designations
Federal designations identifying geographic areas, populations, and facilities with shortages of primary care, dental, or mental health providers. HPSA designations are a key input for federal grant eligibility, loan repayment programs, and workforce planning.
What We Extract
- Designation type (geographic, population, facility)
- Discipline (primary care, dental health, mental health)
- HPSA score (higher = greater shortage severity)
- Designated population served
- Designation status and date
- County and state mapping
HPSA designations are displayed on every state page under the County Health section. Explore Alabama's HPSA data to see primary care, dental, and mental health shortage designations.
Rural Health Transformation Award (CFDA 93.798)
The federal Rural Health Transformation Program, authorized under CFDA 93.798, allocates $10 billion per year from FY2026 through FY2030 to strengthen rural health infrastructure, expand access, and support workforce development across all 50 states.
What We Extract
- State-level award allocations
- Lead recipient agency per state
- Award ID and performance period
- Total program funding ($10B/year)
Every state page shows its RHT Transformation Award allocation. See Georgia's $219M/year RHT award for an example.
HRSA Federal Rural Health Grants
Active federal grants supporting rural health programs, sourced from the HRSA data warehouse and USAspending.gov. Covers the major HRSA rural health grant programs including Flex, SHIP, Delta, Network, Outreach, Telehealth, EMS, and RCORP.
What We Extract
- Grant program name and CFDA number
- Award amount and fiscal year
- Grantee organization name and location
- Performance period (start and end dates)
- Grant eligibility criteria
Grant data is displayed on every state page under Federal Rural Health Funding. Explore West Virginia's grant portfolio as an example.
U.S. Census Bureau
Geographic and demographic reference data from the U.S. Census Bureau, used as the spatial foundation for all county-level analysis in RHT Compass. Provides the authoritative county boundary definitions, FIPS codes, and population estimates that underpin hospital desert identification and density calculations.
What We Extract
- County boundary polygons (for mapping)
- FIPS codes (state + county)
- Population estimates (for density calculations)
- Geocoding reference data
- Land area (for per-square-mile metrics)
Census boundary data enables the hospital desert identification across all 50 states. See 691 hospital deserts for the national analysis.
Area Health Resources Files
The most comprehensive county-level database of health care workforce and facility supply in the United States. Published by HRSA's National Center for Health Workforce Analysis, AHRF aggregates data from over 50 sources into a single county-level file covering providers, facilities, demographics, and Medicare utilization.
What We Extract
- Primary care physicians (MDs + DOs), NPs, PAs, and dentists per county
- Provider-to-population ratios (PCPs per 100K, NP+PA per 100K)
- Hospital beds and beds per 1,000 population
- Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) per county
- Medicare per-capita spending and readmission rates
- Rural-Urban Continuum Codes (RUCC)
AHRF workforce data powers the Healthcare Workforce section on every state page and the provider supply breakdown on county pages. Explore West Virginia's workforce profile as an example.
CDC PLACES: Local Data for Better Health
Census-tract-level estimates for 40+ chronic disease measures, health behaviors, and preventive services across the entire United States. CDC PLACES uses small area estimation methods to produce reliable local estimates where survey data alone would be insufficient, enabling sub-county health analysis.
What We Extract
- Diabetes, obesity, and depression prevalence
- Lack of health insurance (ACCESS2)
- COPD, coronary heart disease, stroke, and hypertension rates
- Smoking, binge drinking, and physical inactivity
- Mental health (frequent mental distress days)
- Disability prevalence and general health status
CDC PLACES indicators are displayed on every state page and individual county pages, showing local prevalence rates for diabetes, obesity, depression, and 13 other chronic conditions. Explore Mississippi's health indicators to see tract-level data aggregated to county.
HRSA Federally Qualified Health Centers
The locations and characteristics of all Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in the United States, sourced from the HRSA GIS Portal. FQHCs are the primary care safety net for underserved populations — they serve patients regardless of ability to pay and are often the only source of primary care in rural communities.
What We Extract
- FQHC site locations (name, address, coordinates)
- Rural vs. urban classification
- Grantee organization name
- Total sites and rural percentage per state
- Geographic distribution relative to hospital deserts
FQHC data appears in the Healthcare Workforce & Access section on every state page. FQHCs are cross-referenced with hospital desert data to identify communities where FQHCs serve as the primary care safety net.
Medically Underserved Areas & Populations
Federal designations identifying geographic areas (MUAs) and population groups (MUPs) with a shortage of personal health services. These designations use the Index of Medical Underservice (IMU), which considers provider-to-population ratios, poverty, elderly population, and infant mortality. MUA/MUP status is a key qualifier for FQHC eligibility and other federal programs.
What We Extract
- MUA vs. MUP designation type
- Index of Medical Underservice (IMU) score
- Designation status (designated, proposed, withdrawn)
- Geographic service area boundaries
- Population characteristics of designated areas
MUA/MUP designations are displayed alongside HPSA data to provide a complete picture of medical underservice. Counties with MUA designations, HPSA shortages, and no hospital represent the most critical access gaps.
USDA Rural-Urban Commuting Area Codes
Census-tract-level classification of rural and urban areas based on commuting patterns, published by the USDA Economic Research Service. RUCA codes provide more granular rural/urban distinctions than county-level classifications — a single county can contain both urban and isolated rural tracts. RHT Compass uses RUCA codes to compute the percentage of each state that is rural vs. isolated rural at the census-tract level.
What We Extract
- Primary RUCA code per census tract (1-10 scale)
- Urban (codes 1-3), large rural (4-6), small rural (7-9), isolated (10) classification
- State-level rural and isolated percentages
- Total tract counts per classification tier
RUCA codes provide more nuanced rural classification than county-level designations. Each state page shows the breakdown of urban, large rural, small rural, and isolated tracts — revealing the true distribution of rurality within states.
How It All Fits Together
RHT Compass cross-references these 15 data sources to build a unified picture of rural health for every state. A single county page connects CMS registry data, cost report financials, AHRF workforce supply, CDC PLACES health indicators, vulnerability scores, shortage designations, FQHC access points, and community benefit spending.
Data Freshness
Public data (Tier 1 and Tier 2) is refreshed annually as federal agencies publish updated files. Most sources release new data in Q1 of each calendar year. CMS cost reports lag 12-18 months behind hospital fiscal year-end.
First-party data (Tier 3) is refreshed on a schedule configured per customer — typically monthly for financial data and quarterly for quality metrics. See the platform overview for details on the three tiers of intelligence.
See This Data in Action
Explore hospital profiles, county health metrics, financial data, and hospital deserts for any state — all built from the sources documented on this page.
RHT Compass is not affiliated with CMS, CDC, HRSA, or any government agency. All data is sourced from publicly available federal datasets. Last updated: 2025.