Q&A: RHC location requirements
Q. What requirements must a facility meet to be considered a rural health clinic (RHC)?
A. A clinic must meet two location requirements. It must be located in a nonurbanized area and in a shortage area.
Nonurbanized areas are determined based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau. You can obtain information on whether a location is in an urbanized area from the appropriate CMS Regional Office or the U.S. Census Bureau.
A shortage area is a federally designated area where a shortage of personal health services exists and the designation occurred within the previous four years. Determination that a shortage of personal health services exists is based on many factors; however, only three shortage area designations are considered by CMS for RHC certification:
- Primary care health professional shortage area, either geographic or population group
- Medically underserved area
- Governor-designated and secretary-certified shortage area (this classification does not include a governor’s medically underserved population designation)
For more information on RHC billing and compliance, join Debbie Mackaman, RHIA, CPCO, CCDS, at 12 p.m. (Eastern) Thursday, March 29, for the three-hour RHC virtual workshop or see The Essential Rural Health Clinic Billing and Management Guide.
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