Rural Health Open Door Forum

**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 September 7, 2012 - Please join us for the first in a series of monthly conference calls for an update on Affordable Care Act (ACA) implementation efforts that impact doctors, nurses, hospitals and other providers of health care. The monthly “ACA Implementation Update for Providers” will review recent announcements from HHS and its agencies, explore one or two topics with senior HHS officials and provide an opportunity for you to ask questions and share feedback.
These update calls will be held on the second Thursday of the month at 2pm ET. The call is closed to the press – but all stakeholder and interested parties are welcome to attend. Our first call will be on September 13th at 2pm ET.
WHAT:                                Affordable Care Act Implementation Update for Clinicians, Hospitals and other Healthcare Providers
TOPIC:                                 Medicaid Expansion
DATE:                                   September 13th at 2pm ET
DIAL IN:                               1-888-455-2963 Passcode: 2954962
For those who are not able to join on the 13th at 2pm – a recording will be available after the call for 30 days by calling 800-570-8799 (no passcode needed).
The next ACA Implementation Update for Providers is currently scheduled for Oct 11th at 2pm ET.
**Updated August 3, 2012 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will hold a National Provider Call on the new Medicare covered preventive services on August 15, 2012, from 2:00pm-3:30pm, ET. Please see the Downloads section below for the announcement with full registration & participation instructions.
**Updated July 20, 2012 - Correction made to the July 24, 2012 Rural Health ODF announcement, which listed the date of the call incorrectly as July 12th. The next Rural Health Open Door Forum is scheduled for Tuesday, July 24, 2012, from 2:00pm - 3:00pm, ET.
**Updated July 19, 2012 - The next Rural Health Open Door Forum is scheduled for Tuesday, July 24, 2012, from 2:00pm – 3:00pm, ET. If you wish to participate, dial 1-800-837-1935; Conference ID: 76250369. Please see the full participation announcement in the Downloads section below. Thank you for your continued interest in the CMS Open Door Forums.
**Updated July 6, 2012 - On Tuesday, July 31, 2012, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will host a National Provider Call, where subject matter experts will provide an overview and updates to the Shared Savings Program application and Advance Payment Model application processes for the January 1, 2013 Shared Savings Program start date. In order to receive call-in information, you must register for the call on the CMS Upcoming National Provider Calls web page. Registration will close at 12pm on the day of the call or when available space has been filled; no exceptions will be made, so please register early. See Downloads section below for further information, including how to register.
**Updated June 11, 2012 - The proposed agenda for the next Rural Health Open Door Forum scheduled for Tuesday, June 12, 2012 from 2:00pm – 3:00PM ET is as follows: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Updates. If you wish to participate, dial 1-800-837-1935 Conference ID: 52260523. 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.