What Is a Critical Access Hospital and Why They Matter A critical access hospital, or CAH, is a small rural hospital that meets federal criteria to receive cost-based reimbursement from Medicare. These hospitals keep emergency and essential inpatient services available in communities too small to support a full acute-care facility. They provide 24×7 emergency care, […]
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Key CMS Final Rule 2026 Changes for Rural Healthcare The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its CMS final rule 2026 policy changes for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) on October 31, 2025.1 Actual changes go into effect on or after January 1, 2026. Other recent regulatory changes are also finalized. Changes
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What Are RVUs in Healthcare and How Are they Calculated? RVUs stands for Relative Value Units. RVUs in healthcare are non-monetary units used to quantify the value of medical services. RVUs reflect the relative amount of work, practice expense, and malpractice risk used to deliver different procedures or services. Each service or procedure provided is
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How to Maximize Reimbursements for Rural Health Clinics In 2023, hospitals absorbed $130 billion in Medicare and Medicaid underpayments — a roughly 14% annual increase over 2019.1 And underpayments are one reason providers can benefit from knowing how to maximize reimbursements for rural health clinics (RHCs). Why? Because a higher portion of RHC payments come
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Critical Access Hospital Requirements for Care Centers in Transition Critical access hospitals (CAHs) get financial protection and access to government resources to support care in rural areas. Hospitals are only eligible for the CAH designation if they participate in the Medicare program. To earn the CAH designation, facilities also need to meet certain critical access
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Understanding Internet Options for Rural Areas Access to reliable high-speed Internet is missing from too many rural communities. And that limits access to essential healthcare services, which impacts patient care. It also plays a key role in connecting underserved communities to essential other resources and opportunities. But major Internet service providers (ISPs) are expanding to
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The Rural Emergency Hospital Designation: What to Know The rural emergency hospital designation gives rural hospitals a way to stay open when inpatient care becomes unprofitable. Instead of running inpatient units, hospitals can shift to a model that relies on emergency and outpatient services. This arrangement provides more consistent Medicare reimbursements and reduces financial uncertainty.
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Azalea Celebrates National Rural Health Day National Rural Health Day is the third Thursday in November. In 2025, that’s November 20. At Azalea, our mission is to help underserved (aka rural) healthcare providers improve patient care and their profitability. And so we honor and celebrate the National Rural Health Day this year and everyday all
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Webinar: Clinically Integrated Networks and Future Financial Success The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) will impact rural healthcare a lot. And by 2030 CMS is mandating that all Medicare users and most Medicaid users be treated on a value-based care model. It’s a perfect storm of pressures on rural healthcare providers and patients. It’s
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OBBBA Medicaid Impact: Strategies for Rural Healthcare The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) will hurt rural healthcare by hurting rural Medicaid recipients. It’s estimated that the OBBBA Medicaid impact on rural areas will result in up to 2.7 million people losing Medicaid and Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage by 2034.1 While the Rural Health
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