Rural healthcare is under threat nationwide: 170 rural hospitals have closed since 2005, and hundreds more are at risk. To preserve vital services and healthcare access, leaders say a wide range of actions and strategies are needed, Becker’s reports.
Among them are services becoming more virtual, more preventive and more centered around the home. In addition, CMS payment reform is critical to prevent further hospital closures and adequate reimbursement from commercial payers must be addressed. On the workforce shortage front, initiatives to incentivize a new generation of clinicians in rural care are needed, as well as the removal of practice barriers for advanced practice nurses, leaders say.
Meanwhile, the American Hospital Association is urging Congress to pass the Rural Hospital Support Act. The bill was first introduced in 2021 to modify and extend “certain payment adjustments for rural hospitals under Medicare’s inpatient prospective payment system.” If passed, the AHA said it would provide “greater financial stability” for Medicare-dependent hospitals and “leave them better able to serve their communities.” Read more.
