Rural Health Open Door Forum

Overview:

The Rural Health Open Door Forum (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.

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National Provider Calls: Medicare Shared Savings Program Application Process — Registration Now Open
Tuesday, April 9; 2:30-4pm ET— Preparing to Apply
Tuesday, April 23; 1:30-3pm ET— Tips on Completing a Successful Application. See Downloads section below for full announcement.

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.

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.

Please see the "New Electronic Mailing List to Keep Fee-For-Service Providers Informed" announcement in the Downloads section below.