A critical access hospital (CAH) is a hospital that is reimbursed by Medicare on a cost basis (i.e., for the reasonable costs of providing inpatient, outpatient, and swing bed services). The reimbursement that CAHs receive is intended to improve their financial performance and thereby reduce hospital closures. CAHs are certified under a different set of Medicare Conditions of Participation (CoP) that are more flexible than the acute care hospital CoPs.
According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), hospitals may be able to qualify as a CAH by the state in which it is located by meeting the following criteria: (click here)
As of December 2007, there are 11 CAHs in Florida (click here)
General CAH Links:
Florida CAH Webpages:
