| Funding | Seventeen communities each received approximately $11–16 million each to build and strengthen the health information technology infrastructure in each community, use health information technology to drive quality improvement, and test innovative practices. |
| Community-level focus | Of the 17 Beacon communities, 1 was urban, 7 were predominantly rural, and 7 were a mix of both urban and rural localities. Different communities defined themselves in various ways; some Beacon communities attempted to change the entire delivery system in their community, whereas others focused more narrowly. |
| Collaborative governance | To ensure that each Beacon was responsive to the needs of the community, Beacon grantees were required to engage multiple stakeholders in decision-making regarding the goals and interventions that were pursued. Partnerships within the communities were forged and strengthened during the Beacon program. |
| Specific objectives | Each community honed the objectives from their funding proposal into specific, measurable goals that could be achieved during the 2-year project period. |
| Interventions tied to the objectives of each community | Once each community winnowed their objectives down to specific, measurable goals, they received technical assistance to design and implement interventions to work toward those goals. |
| Measuring and reporting performance | Beacon communities were required to report, on a quarterly basis, performance measures of their choosing. The measures were selected to reflect improvements on the objectives of each community. Technical assistance for extracting, aggregating, and reporting the data was provided. |
| Data feedback for quality improvement | Each quarter, the Beacon communities received a feedback report that was based on analysis of Medicare claims data. The feedback report highlighted patterns in utilization and costs, and communities received technical assistance with interpreting the feedback reports and changing their approaches to pursuing their objectives based on the feedback reports. |