Rural Health Open Door Forum

**Updated December 17, 2012 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will host a National Provider Call on the Implementation of Section 3133 of the Affordable Care Act: Improvement to Medicare DSH Payments on Tuesday, January 8, 2013 from 1:30pm - 3:30pm ET. Please see the full announcement in the Downloads section below for registration information. Thank you.
**Updated December 14, 2012 - Please see the "New Electronic Mailing List to Keep Fee-For-Service Providers Informed" announcement in the Downloads section below.
**Updated November 6, 2012 - The next Rural Health Open Door Forum is scheduled for Thursday, November 8, 2012, from 2:00pm – 3:00pm, ET. If you wish to participate, dial 1-800-837-1935; Conference ID: 47857542. Please see the full participation announcement in the Downloads section below. Thank you for your continued interest in the CMS Open Door Forums.
**Updated September 10, 2012 - The next Rural Health Open Door Forum is scheduled for Tuesday, September 11, 2012, from 2:00pm – 3:00pm, ET. If you wish to participate, dial 1-800-837-1935; Conference ID: 76243249. Please see the full participation announcement in the Downloads section below. Thank you for your continued interest in the CMS Open Door Forums.
**Updated January 25, 2012 - The revised "Swing Bed Services" fact sheet (ICN 006951) is now available in downloadable format (http://www.cms.gov/MLNProducts/downloads/SwingBedFactsheet.pdf). It includes the following information: background, requirements that apply to hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals, and swing bed services payments.
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Rural Health Open Door Forum Overview
The Rural Health ODF addresses Rural Health Clinic (RHC), Critical Access Hospital (CAH) and Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) issues, as well as some inclusion of other questions and concerns that occur in clinical practice pertaining to other CMS payment systems that also extend into these settings. Topics that frequently arise on this forum often deal with payment & billing for services subject to Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) and/or Physician Shortage Area (PSA) status, cost report clarifications, classifications for & qualifications of rural provider types, and the many special provisions being implemented for improving rural health in the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003. Timely announcements and clarifications regarding important rulemaking, quality program initiatives, and other related areas are also included in the Forums.