Small and Rural
A new AHA task force will work to confirm the characteristics of vulnerable rural and urban communities and identify strategies and federal policies to help ensure access to care in these areas. Chaired by Robert Henkel, president and CEO of St. Louis-based Ascension Health, the 30-member Task…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services anticipates that the July update to the Hospital Compare website will include performance data reported voluntarily by critical access hospitals, the agency told AHA, quickly responding to an AHA letter expressing “deep disappointment” that the…
Rural hospital leaders today made their case for regulatory relief from federal policies – like the 96-hour physician certification requirement, direct physician supervision of outpatient therapeutic services and interoperability standards for health information technology – at a briefing on…
Rural hospital leaders made their case for regulatory relief from federal policies – like the 96-hour physician certification requirement, direct physician supervision of outpatient therapeutic services and meaningful use standards for health information technology – at a June 9 briefing on Capitol…
A new AHA TrendWatch report highlights the many challenges to realizing the promise of telehealth for hospitals, health systems and their communities.
The Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation and the Internet held a hearing today on “Advancing Telehealth Through Connectivity.” Witnesses all agreed that telehealth is helping to lower costs and improve outcomes for patients with limited access to medical…
Requiring critical access hospitals that are less than 15 miles from another hospital to revert to the hospital prospective payment system would generate modest savings for Medicare but likely be disruptive to the communities that depend on these hospitals for their health care, according to a…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Friday issued guidance for critical access hospitals and rural health centers with respect to the Physician Quality Reporting System 2013 reporting year and 2015 payment adjustment. Physicians and other eligible professionals must report certain…