Skip to main content
Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
News by Topic: Healthcare quality

Apr 23, 2026 - The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is seeking nominations to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). Specific areas of expertise being sought include public health, application of science to health policy, and communication of scientific findings to diverse audiences. Nominations are due by May 23, 2026, to be considered for appointment beginning June 2026.
Source: Federal Register
Apr 23, 2026 - Announces the National Rural Health Association's top 20 Critical Access Hospitals as well as 40 hospitals receiving best practice designations for either quality of care or patient perspective of hospital performance. Award winners will be recognized at the NRHA Critical Access Hospital Conference in September.
Source: National Rural Health Association
Apr 22, 2026 - Nominations are being accepted for the Endorsement & Maintenance (E&M), Pre-Rulemaking Measure Review (PRMR), Measure Set Review (MSR), and Scientific Methods Panel (SMP) committees. Eligible committee members include clinicians, healthcare facilities, purchasers, policymakers, researchers, patients, caregivers, and more. E&M committee members review and endorse clinical quality and cost/resource use measures to ensure effectiveness, safety, and that they are evidence-based. PRMR committee members recommend quality and efficiency measures to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid. MSR committee members review measures for continued use in CMS programs and are selected from the PRMR committee. SMP committee members advise on measurement science with a focus on scientific acceptability of clinical quality and cost/resource use measures. Nominations are due June 1, 2026.
Source: Partnership for Quality Measurement
Apr 16, 2026 - Notice from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) making technical corrections to the April 14, 2026, proposed rule. Comments on the proposed rule are due by June 9, 2026.
Source: Federal Register
Apr 14, 2026 - Notice of a proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding changes to the hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) for operating and capital-related costs of acute care hospitals for fiscal year 2027. Contains details of proposed changes related to Medicare graduate medical education (GME) for teaching hospitals; payment policies and the annual payment rates for the Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) for inpatient hospital services provided by long-term care hospitals; and certain quality programs, among other things. Comments are due by April 10, 2026.
Source: Federal Register
Apr 9, 2026 - Notice from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announcing a one-year funding extension for recipients of grants through the fiscal year 2022 Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement Program and the fiscal year 2023 Delta States Network Development Program. Funding for both cohorts is extended from August 1, 2026, through July 31, 2027.
Source: Federal Register
Apr 7, 2026 - Notice of a proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that would update the skilled nursing facility (SNF) prospective payment system (PPS) payment rates for fiscal year 2027. Among other things, this rule includes proposals to update the requirements for the SNF Quality Reporting Program and the SNF Value-Based Purchasing Program. Comments are due by June 1, 2026.
Source: Federal Register
Apr 7, 2026 - Notice of a proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updating the FY 2027 prospective payment rates, outlier threshold, and wage index for Medicare inpatient hospital services provided by inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPF), including psychiatric hospitals and excluded psychiatric units of an acute care hospital or Critical Access Hospital. Among other things, this rule proposes refinement of the IPF PPS outlier policy, implementation of a standardized IPF patient assessment, and the removal of two measures used in the IPF Quality Reporting Program. Comments are due by June 1, 2026.
Source: Federal Register
Apr 6, 2026 - Notice of final rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) revising the Medicare Advantage (Part C), Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit (Part D), Medicare cost plan regulations. Among other things, this rule finalizes revisions related to Star Ratings, marketing and communications, drug coverage, enrollment processes, special needs plans, and other programmatic areas for contract year 2027. These regulations are effective June 1, 2026, and are applicable to coverage beginning January 1, 2027.
Source: Federal Register
Apr 6, 2026 - Notice of a proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updating the hospice wage index, payment rates, and aggregate cap amount for fiscal year 2027. Among other things, this rule proposes conforming regulation text changes to discharge from hospice care regulations; regulation text changes to the face-to-face encounter regulations; and includes requests for information on community palliative care services, the construction of a hospice specific wage index, and the overlap between hospice and medical aid in dying (MAID). This rule also includes an analysis of Medicare non-hospice spending and proposes changes to the Hospice Quality Reporting Program. Comments are due by June 1, 2026.
Source: Federal Register