The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently published a new fact sheet summarizing the Medicare rules and regulations for Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs).  This latest version includes the revised CAH location requirement relative to other facilities to include areas with only secondary roads available and the requirement to inform the patient or the representative of their rights before starting or ending care and establish a grievance process.

 This month, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released the updated certification criteria for Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs), a model designed to ensure access to coordinated comprehensive behavioral health care. This new document follows from a draft version of SAMHSA released in December. SAMHSA also posted a summary of changes between the new criteria and the previous version and deadlines for implementation of the updated criteria. Currently, there are over 500 CCBHCs operating across the country, including some CCBHCs in rural areas.