Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) – Resources
Selected recent or important resources focusing on Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs).
CY 2025 Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System Final Rule (CMS 1809-FC)
Fact sheet providing an overview of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) final rule regarding updates and changes to the Medicare payments for hospital outpatient and Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) services for calendar year 2025. Summarizes provisions regarding changes to Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) and partial hospital program rate setting; incorporating an add-on payment to the Medicare outpatient hospital all-inclusive rate (AIR) for certain high-cost drugs for people with Medicare who receive care at Indian Health Service (IHS) or tribal hospitals; updates to the Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting (OQR), Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality Reporting (ASCQR), and Rural Emergency Hospital Quality Reporting (REHQR) Programs; a new Conditions of Participation (CoPs) for hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) for obstetrical services; Medicaid and CHIP continuous eligibility; Medicaid clinic services "four walls" exceptions; and more.
Date: 11/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Fact sheet providing an overview of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) final rule regarding updates and changes to the Medicare payments for hospital outpatient and Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) services for calendar year 2025. Summarizes provisions regarding changes to Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) and partial hospital program rate setting; incorporating an add-on payment to the Medicare outpatient hospital all-inclusive rate (AIR) for certain high-cost drugs for people with Medicare who receive care at Indian Health Service (IHS) or tribal hospitals; updates to the Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting (OQR), Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality Reporting (ASCQR), and Rural Emergency Hospital Quality Reporting (REHQR) Programs; a new Conditions of Participation (CoPs) for hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) for obstetrical services; Medicaid and CHIP continuous eligibility; Medicaid clinic services "four walls" exceptions; and more.
Date: 11/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Critical Access Hospital: 2025 National Patient Safety Goals
Identifies National Patient Safety Goals for the Joint Commission's Critical Access Hospital Accreditation Program. Covers patient identification, caregiver communication, medication safety, infection prevention, suicide prevention, healthcare equity, and more. Effective January 1, 2025.
Date: 10/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Joint Commission
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Identifies National Patient Safety Goals for the Joint Commission's Critical Access Hospital Accreditation Program. Covers patient identification, caregiver communication, medication safety, infection prevention, suicide prevention, healthcare equity, and more. Effective January 1, 2025.
Date: 10/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Joint Commission
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CAH Perspectives on Collection and Use of Demographic and Social Drivers of Health Data
Describes how collecting information about social drivers of health (SDOH) can help hospitals inform treatment and discharge planning decisions and identify local health disparities. Summarizes findings from interviews with nine Critical Access Hospital (CAH) staff regarding their experiences collecting demographic and SDOH data. Highlights themes related to challenges CAH staff face in collecting this data and how CAHs utilize the data they collect.
Author(s): Madeleine Pick, Carson Crane, Megan Lahr
Date: 10/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Describes how collecting information about social drivers of health (SDOH) can help hospitals inform treatment and discharge planning decisions and identify local health disparities. Summarizes findings from interviews with nine Critical Access Hospital (CAH) staff regarding their experiences collecting demographic and SDOH data. Highlights themes related to challenges CAH staff face in collecting this data and how CAHs utilize the data they collect.
Author(s): Madeleine Pick, Carson Crane, Megan Lahr
Date: 10/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Frontier Community Health Integration Project (FCHIP) Demonstration Extension Fact Sheet
Provides an overview of the Frontier Community Health Integration Project (FCHIP) Demonstration Extension, which tests new healthcare delivery models in the most sparsely populated rural counties. Identifies participating Critical Access Hospitals and models tested.
Date: 10/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Provides an overview of the Frontier Community Health Integration Project (FCHIP) Demonstration Extension, which tests new healthcare delivery models in the most sparsely populated rural counties. Identifies participating Critical Access Hospitals and models tested.
Date: 10/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
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Hospital Differences in Adult Inpatient Stays with Healthcare-Associated Infections, 2019 and 2021
Examines the rate of adult inpatient hospital stays involving five healthcare-associated infections (HAI) in 2019 and 2021. Presents data from an analysis of 2019 and 2021 State Inpatient Databases (SID) from public, non-federal acute-care hospitals across 38 states by hospital characteristics, including ownership, rural or urban location, safety-net designation, and Critical Access Hospital designation.
Author(s): Melissa A. Miller, Leyi Lin, David P. Calfee, Amy Gehrke, Alex Bohl
Date: 10/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Examines the rate of adult inpatient hospital stays involving five healthcare-associated infections (HAI) in 2019 and 2021. Presents data from an analysis of 2019 and 2021 State Inpatient Databases (SID) from public, non-federal acute-care hospitals across 38 states by hospital characteristics, including ownership, rural or urban location, safety-net designation, and Critical Access Hospital designation.
Author(s): Melissa A. Miller, Leyi Lin, David P. Calfee, Amy Gehrke, Alex Bohl
Date: 10/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
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Medicare Payment Basics: Critical Access Hospitals Payment System
Presents an overview of Medicare payments for Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Compares differences in Medicare payments for CAHs, Sole Community Hospitals, and Medicare-Dependent Hospitals.
Date: 10/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Presents an overview of Medicare payments for Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Compares differences in Medicare payments for CAHs, Sole Community Hospitals, and Medicare-Dependent Hospitals.
Date: 10/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Location of Critical Access Hospitals
U.S. map showing Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Updated quarterly.
Date: 10/2024
Type: Map/Mapping System
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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U.S. map showing Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Updated quarterly.
Date: 10/2024
Type: Map/Mapping System
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Characteristics of Communities Affected by Critical Access Hospital Mergers
Explores the demographic, socioeconomic, health status, and geographic characteristics of communities served by Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) that have merged or been acquired. Compares county and hospital characteristics by CAH merger status between 2010 and 2022.
Author(s): Arrianna Marie Planey
Date: 09/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Explores the demographic, socioeconomic, health status, and geographic characteristics of communities served by Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) that have merged or been acquired. Compares county and hospital characteristics by CAH merger status between 2010 and 2022.
Author(s): Arrianna Marie Planey
Date: 09/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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September 2024 MedPAC Meeting Transcript
Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) September 2024 meeting. Covers Medicare's overall financial situation, cost-sharing for outpatient services at Critical Access Hospitals, and experiences and challenges of measuring the quality of care provided by rural providers.
Additional links: Cost Sharing for Outpatient Services at Critical Access Hospitals - Presentation Slides, Medicare's Measurement of Rural Provider Quality - Presentation Slides
Date: 09/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Transcript from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) September 2024 meeting. Covers Medicare's overall financial situation, cost-sharing for outpatient services at Critical Access Hospitals, and experiences and challenges of measuring the quality of care provided by rural providers.
Additional links: Cost Sharing for Outpatient Services at Critical Access Hospitals - Presentation Slides, Medicare's Measurement of Rural Provider Quality - Presentation Slides
Date: 09/2024
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
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Workforce Toolkit to Support Critical Access Hospitals and Rural Providers
Toolkit intended to help Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and other rural providers improve workforce recruitment and retention efforts. Provides information on healthcare workforce challenges faced by CAHs. Offers examples of external resources that CAHs may utilize to address their workforce needs across four topics: organizational culture and leadership, leveraging partnerships, emergency medical services workforce, and administrative and support staff workforce.
Date: 09/2024
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Toolkit intended to help Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and other rural providers improve workforce recruitment and retention efforts. Provides information on healthcare workforce challenges faced by CAHs. Offers examples of external resources that CAHs may utilize to address their workforce needs across four topics: organizational culture and leadership, leveraging partnerships, emergency medical services workforce, and administrative and support staff workforce.
Date: 09/2024
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Additional resources are available related to this guide. See the full list of resources by topic for:
Last Updated: 11/15/2024