Rural Health Open Door Forum

The CMS Innovation Center will be hosting a conference call on Tuesday, March 12, 2013 from 3:00pm to 4:00pm ET. CMS Innovation Center Director, Richard Gilfillan, MD, and Karen Murphy, RN, PhD, Director of the State Innovations Group, will provide an overview of the Model Testing, Pre-Testing and Model Design awards as well as additional information on how providers can participate in the State Innovation Models initiative. Please see the Downloads section below for the full announcement with participation instructions. Thank you.
**Updated February 28, 2013 - The next Rural Health Open Door Forum is scheduled for Thursday, March 7, 2013, from 2:00pm – 3:00pm, ET. If you wish to participate, dial 1-800-837-1935; Conference ID: 91724524. Please see the full participation announcement with agenda in the Downloads section below. Thank you for your continued interest in the CMS Open Door Forums.
**Updated February 4, 2013 - Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will host a Rural Health Stakeholder Call on Monday February 4th at 3:30 pm ET to discuss new steps that HHS is taking to help reduce the regulatory burden faced by rural hospitals, clinics and clinicians who play a key role in ensuring access to high-quality health services in rural America. These measures are part of ongoing efforts by President Obama’s White House Rural Council, which is chaired by Secretary Vilsack. Dr. Patrick Conway, Chief Medical Officer at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Director of the CMS Center for Clinical Standards and Quality will also join the call to provide further details about the new regulatory changes and to answer your questions.
If you wish to participate, dial 888-455-2963; passcode: Rural. Please see Downloads section below for full announcement.
**Updated January 28, 2013 - The next Rural Health Open Door Forum is scheduled for Thursday, January 31, 2013, from 2:00pm – 3:00pm, ET. If you wish to participate, dial 1-800-837-1935; Conference ID: 78862773. Please see the full participation announcement in the Downloads section below. Thank you for your continued interest in the CMS Open Door Forums.
**Updated December 14, 2012 - Please see the "New Electronic Mailing List to Keep Fee-For-Service Providers Informed" announcement in the Downloads section below.

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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.

Downloads

Related Links

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

http://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Outreach/OpenDoorForums/ODF_ruralhealth.html

State Innovation Models Conference Call for Providers

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services announced the first recipients of the State Innovation Models initiative. Twenty-five states will be working to design and implement improvements to their health care systems that will bolster health care quality and decrease costs.

Nearly $300 million in awards will support the development of models of care that will transform health care delivery throughout the states. Over $25 million in Model Testing awards will fund 6 states – Arkansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, and Vermont – in implementing their plans for health care delivery transformation. These states will use these funds to test multi-payer payment and service delivery models on a broader scale within their state. An additional 19 states will receive nearly $35 million to develop their State Health Care Innovation Plans that will serve as a guide for comprehensive health care transformation. To learn more about the State Innovation Models initiative and view the 25 awardees, please visit http://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/State-Innovations/.

WHAT: State Innovation Models Initiative Conference Call for Providers

WHEN: Tuesday, March 12, 2013 at 3:00pm-4:00pm ET

WHERE: 1-800-837-1935 | Conference ID: 18153851

No prior registration is necessary. Participants will be required to provide the Conference ID listed above and are strongly encouraged to dial in 10 minutes early to ensure that you are joined into the conference call.

If you are unable to join, the audio recording and transcript will be made available on the CMS Innovation Center’s website following the call.