Rural Health
News by Topic: Hospitals
Dec 26, 2025 - Describes the patient increase hospitals see around December holidays and how rural hospitals respond. Discusses staffing challenges and limited access to specialty care.
Source: KFYR
Dec 20, 2025 - The Tennessee Arts Commission and the Tennessee Hospital Association have created a pilot program to introduce arts-based healing programs in 10 rural hospitals. The program aims to create community-centered spaces to support physical, mental, and emotional health for patients and their families.
Source: News Channel 5
Dec 17, 2025 - Notice from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(CMS) making technical and typographical corrections to the
August 5, 2025, final rule titled "
Medicare Program; Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System for Federal Fiscal Year 2026 and Updates to the IRF Quality Reporting Program."
Source: Federal Register
Dec 12, 2025 - Describes a field trip for nursing students in Kansas to see a Critical Access Hospital as a way to educate the students about rural nursing and promote it as a career path.
Source: University of Kansas Medical Center News
CMS: Medicare Program; Alternative Payment Model Updates and the Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA) Model
Federal Register
Dec 11, 2025 - Notice of a proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updating and revising the Increasing Organ Transplant Access Model (IOTA Model) for Performance Year (PY) 2, which will begin on July 1, 2026. The IOTA Model tests whether performance-based upside risk payments or downside risk payments paid to or owed by participating kidney transplant hospitals increase access to kidney transplants for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) while preserving or enhancing the quality of care and reducing Medicare expenditures. Comments are due by February 9, 2026.
Source: Federal Register
CMS: Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
Federal Register
Dec 11, 2025 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is seeking comments on the following information collections: 1) Hospital Notices: IM/DND; 2) Marketplace Operations; and 3) Affordable Care Act Internal Claims and Appeals and External Review Procedures for Non-grandfathered Group Health Plans and Issuers and Individual Market Issuers. Comments are due by January 12, 2026.
Source: Federal Register
CMS: Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
Federal Register
Dec 8, 2025 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is seeking comments on the following information collections: 1) Medicare Health Outcomes Survey Field Test; and 2) Hospital Notice: Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (MOON). Comments are due by January 7, 2026.
Source: Federal Register
Dec 5, 2025 - Highlights $906 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture funding for rural community development and housing projects in Georgia. Projects include funding for hospital renovations and infrastructure improvements, among other investments.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Dec 1, 2025 - Discusses a call from Texas researchers to investigate outcomes related to hospitals changing to Rural Emergency Hospitals (REH). Describes the goals and rules of the REH program as well as what the loss of inpatient care means for both rural and urban communities in Texas and nationally.
Source: KERA News
Nov 25, 2025 - Notice of final rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) making changes to the Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and the Medicare Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) payment system for calendar year 2026, including changes to the amounts and factors used to determine the payment rates for Medicare services paid under the OPPS and those paid under the ASC payment systems. Among other things, this rule also updates the requirements for the Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting Program, Rural Emergency Hospital Quality Reporting Program, Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality Reporting Program, Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating, and hospitals to make public their standard charge information and enforcement of hospital price transparency. This rule also announces the closure of a teaching hospital and the opportunity to apply for available slots. This rule is effective January 1, 2026. Applications for available resident spots are due by February 19, 2026.
Source: Federal Register