CMS to launch new demonstration on improving rural healthcare

Ten critical access hospitals (CAH) have agreed to take part in CMS’ Frontier Community Health Integration Project (FCHIP) Demonstration this August, with the goal of improving care quality and access in remoter areas of the nation. The 10 participating CAHs are located in Montana, Nevada, and North Dakota. The goals of the demonstration are to:

•    Support the CAH and local delivery system in keeping patients within the community who might otherwise be transferred to distant providers
•    Test whether payments for certain services will enhance access to care for patients, increase the integration and coordination of care among providers, and reduce avoidable hospitalizations, admissions, and transfers
•    Test new CAH activities in three service categories: skilled nursing care, telehealth, and ambulance services

“Medicare beneficiaries who live in frontier areas of the country sometimes travel hundreds of miles to see a doctor. This increases the cost of care and can discourage beneficiaries from seeking treatment,” said CMS chief medical officer Patrick Conway, MD, in a press release. “The effort that is beginning today will look at ways to shrink the distance between the Medicare beneficiary and the care they need.”