By: Emily Black Grey

Hospitals face a pivotal moment in care delivery with rising patient volumes, shrinking physician supply, and increasing operational costs. Integrating Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) into their hospital care models can fill critical gaps, and hospitals should consider legal, regulatory, and operational strategies to ensure compliance and optimize performance.

By: Emily Black Grey

Background: A New Wave of CAH Terminations

Critical Access Hospital (CAH) status is vital to the survival of small, rural hospitals that rely on the enhanced Medicare reimbursement that the program provides. Losing CAH status can mean financial ruin, service reductions, or full hospital closure. The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has begun revoking CAH designations based on new mileage calculations, even where there has been no change to a hospital’s location, the roads, or the terrain. In several recent cases, CMS used simplified mapping tools like Google Maps to reverse its prior decision on CAH status, disregarding prior determinations with re-measured driving distances.