Critical Access Hospital
Davis County Hospital became a Critical Access Hospital in 2002. The decision to become a critical access was driven by the need to continue to provide healthcare to the community and maintain a healthy financial position to provide that care.
What is the Critical Access Hospital Program?
The Critical Access Hospital Program was created by the 1997 federal Balanced Budget Act as a safety net device, to assure Medicare beneficiaries access to health care services in rural areas. It was designed to allow more flexible staffing options relative to community need, simplify billing methods and create incentives to develop local integrated health delivery systems, including acute, primary, emergency and long-term care.
The Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Program was established to aid in the continuation of healthcare services for rural residents.
- Aids in the continuation of health care services for rural residents
- Enables hospitals to be eligible for cost-based Medicare reimbursement for inpatient and outpatient services
- With a signed Memorandum of Agreement, hospitals are eligible to receive enhanced reimbursement from Medicaid and the State Health Benefit Plan
A Critical Access Hospital:
- Can limit services and utilize physician assistants and /or nurse practitioners in an effort to reduce their expenses
- May choose to maintain its current services; however, the hospital must agree to the bed size and annual inpatient length of stay limits
- Provides small, rural hospitals with a range of opportunities for service enhancement, quality of care improvement, and certain economies of scale through network participation
Benefits:
- Receive enhanced Medicare reimbursement for covered in-patient services
- Receive 100% of allowable costs for Medicaid out-patient services
- Retain any Medicaid payment for inpatient services in excess of charges
- Receive 100% of charges for outpatient services by the State Health Benefit Plan and Board of Regents Health Plan
- May enroll with State Health Benefit Plan as their group insurance provider