Suitability of Low-Volume Rural Emergency Departments to New Rural Emergency Hospital Designation.

The Rural Emergency Hospital is a new Medicare payment model available to hospitals with 50 or fewer beds in rural areas. Rural hospitals converting to this model will have emergency department (ED), observation, and outpatient services. However, they cannot provide acute care inpatient services. The reimbursement model provides boosted monthly facility payments and is designed to better support the financial viability of small rural hospitals that do not receive sufficient inpatient volume to offset the costs of providing inpatient services. 1 Medicare Hospital outpatient prospective payment system and ambulatory surgical center payment system final rule (CMS 1772-FC) rural emergency hospitals—new Medicare provider type. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/cy-2023-medicare-hospital-outpatient-prospective-payment-system-and-ambulatory-surgical-center-1Date accessed: November 4, 2022 Google Scholar EDs with low inpatient admission and high transfer rates may be good candidates for Rural Emergency Hospital conversion. Therefore, our exploratory objective was to examine ED care delivery from eligible hospitals to assess their fit with the Rural Emergency Hospital model.