The NOSORH Primary Care Committee (PCC), originally called the RHC Committee, demonstrates a unique collaborative approach, blending SORH staff members and a wide variety of partners ranging from rural research centers to consultants to the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP)! Working in this collaborative spirit, partners come together to work toward the common goal. NOSORH appreciates this blend of insight as we keep an eye to the rural healthcare landscape and keeping an eye out for things to come.
The PCC has a history of leaning into the tough challenges facing rural healthcare providers, learning what’s happening on the ground in RHCs and other provider types, and looking for solutions and resources that ultimately help rural communities be more well. Many challenges faced by rural primary care providers are multi-faceted, requiring multi-faceted consideration leading to multi-faceted solutions.
PCC is currently learning about the different perspectives of the “RHC Modernization Act” language that was approved in Section 130 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. This legislation implemented a set of major changes in the methodology and payment rates for RHC reimbursement by CMS. Based on the type of RHC, the current language will have wide ranging impact.
The NARHC Rural Health Clinics Modernization Policy Explained webinar walks through the legislative language, providing context and outlining the “triple threat” the RHC program faced.
Lilypad developed a set of utilization, cost, and reimbursement analyses specifically for RHCs and CAHs with advisory support from Jonathan Pantenburg, Principal at Stroudwater Associates, and John Gale, Director of Policy Engagement at the Maine Rural Health Research Center. Click here to download the analysis from the Lilypad website.
If you are a SORH and have interest in rural primary care and/or RHCs, would like to explore technical assistance, r if other assistance is needed, please contact Tammy Norville (tammyn@nosorh.org). The committee meets the third Monday of every other month at 2:00 pm ET. The next meeting is scheduled for April 19.
