Free Compliance Checklist

June 17, 2025

Free Compliance Checklist

According to the American Hospital Association (AHA), over 40% of a hospital’s total patient care expenses are attributed to administrative costs, including regulatory burden.

This challenge is especially true for hospital pharmacies. Many do not have the staff, expertise, nor bandwidth needed to keep up with ongoing compliance needs amidst day-to-day patient care activities.

Are you prepared for the recent regulatory updates? Download the CPS Optimizer Quarterly Compliance Action Checklist, which serves as a quick, timely assessment to identify gaps, implement recommended corrective actions, and reduce regulatory risks.

Click Here to Learn More and Download CPS’ Free Compliance Checklist

CDC’s Suicide Prevention Communication Campaign Playbook

June 17, 2025

 

CDC’s Suicide Prevention Communication Campaign Playbook

Closing out Mental Health Awareness Month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a new resource for planning suicide prevention campaigns. The playbook includes:

  • Key Audience:
    • Tools for identifying specific populations at higher risk and their networks of influence.
  • Campaign Development:
    • Steps to design effective strategies, craft meaningful messages, and promote behavior change.
  • Behavior Models:
    • Insights into frameworks like the Health Belief Model and Social Cognitive Theory.
  • Messaging Best Practices:
    • Strategies to emphasize hope and resilience and use culturally relevant language.
  • Evaluation:
    • Tools to measure campaign impact and improve future efforts.

The latest data from the CDC show that rural residents are at a higher risk of suicide than urban residents and that rates of suicide almost doubled between 2000-2020 in rural areas.

Click Here to Read More

RHC & FQHC Care Coordination Services: HCPS Code G0511 Deadline Extended to September 30

June 17, 2025

RHC & FQHC Care Coordination Services: HCPS Code G0511 Deadline Extended to September 30

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) extended the deadline for Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) to report individual CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) and HCPCS (Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System) base and add-on codes for care coordination services instead of reporting HCPCS G0511 to September 30, 2025.

The additional time, extended from July 1, 2025, allows for RHCs and FQHCs to update billing systems following the policy change issued in the CY 2025 Physician Fee Schedule final rule.

Click Here to Learn More

More information on the CY 2025 payment rates for care coordination is available here and here.

Telehealth Policies

June 4, 2025

Telehealth Policies

The Federal government took a range of steps to expedite the adoption and awareness of telehealth, including for Medicare telehealth services and Remote Patient Monitoring.

Click Here to learn about recent Federal legislation and policies related to telehealth

Click Here to Explore Telehealth policies

Online Map and Text Number will Help Families Locate Local Summer Food Programs

June 3, 2025

Online Map and Text Number will Help Families Locate Local Summer Food Programs

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Summer Food Service Program is designed to provide breakfast, lunch, suppers and /or snacks to children living in eligible areas during the summer months and during times of public emergencies, when children do not have access to free or reduced-price meals at school.

An online interactive map is provided to help families in Missouri find out where their children can receive free meals this summer. The map shows sites where children must sit and eat the meal, but the map also shows certain rural sites that are designated as non-congregate multi-day meal pick up sites.

Community organizations serve the meals at schools, churches, parks, swimming pools, YMCA facilities, Boys and Girls Clubs, and other spots where children gather when school is not in session.

The meals are provided to all children that attend the meal service location. Children do not have to register and there is no fee to participate in the program.

The map and more information about the Summer Food Service Program can be found at www.health.mo.gov/sfsp/.

Meals will be served to children age 18 and under. They are also provided to individuals age 18 to 21 that have been determined by a state or local educational agency to be mentally or physically disabled and who participate in an established school program for the mentally or physically disabled and who participate in an established school program for the mentally or physically disabled.

Funding for the Summer Food Service Program is provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

More information about the Summer Food Service Program is available online at www.health.mo.gov/sfsp or by telephone at 888-435-1464 (toll-free). Individuals who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, or have a speech disability can dial 711 or 1-800-735-2966. Community organizations that would like to become sponsors may also email the Summer Food Service Program at sfsp@health.mo.gov or write to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Summer Food Service Program, P.O. Box 570, Jefferson City, MO, 65102 for more information.

In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.

Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.

To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/ad-3027.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:

  1. mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights 1400 Independence Avenue, SW Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or
  2. fax: (833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or
  3. email: Program.Intake@usda.gov

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

Click Here to Go to Interactive Map

Click Here to Learn More about Summer Food Program

Pregnancy and Postpartum Tobacco Cessation Resources

June 2, 2025

Pregnancy and Postpartum Tobacco Cessation Resources

The Missouri Tobacco Quit Services is proud to offer an opt-in Pregnancy and Postpartum Program that has given new and expectant moms the support they need to stop using tobacco while they are pregnant and help to prevent relapse after giving birth.

Participants receive:

  • Nine telephone coaching sessions (five during pregnancy and four postpartum),
  • A dedicated female Tobacco Cessation Coach,
  • Nicotine replacement therapy with physician consent,
  • A personalized welcome backed,
  • Digital services, including 2-way chat,
  • CASH INCENTIVES for all pregnancy and postpartum completed calls.

Click Here to learn more about Missouri Tobacco Quit Services

New Guidance for Hospital Price Transparency

May 29, 2025

New Guidance for Hospital Price Transparency

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released new guidance on how hospitals should calculate the estimated allowed amount values for their online machine-readable files as part of the Hospital Price Transparency requirements.

Whenever possible, hospitals should:

  • Use electronic remittance data to determine the average dollar amount received over the last 12-month period.
    • If there is no historic data, hospitals should use the expected payment amount, encoded as a dollar figure.
  • Hospitals will no longer be able to use a code of nine number nines to signify that there was not sufficient historic data for that item or service over the last year.

Click Here to View Entire Guidance Document

An Expanded Look at Recent State Developments in CCHP’s Telehealth Policy Finder

May 16, 2025

An Expanded Look at Recent State Developments in CCHP’s Telehealth Policy Finder

The Center for Connected Health Policy (CCHP) closely monitors federal telehealth developments through the Telehealth Policy Finder, which is updated year-round, as CCHP ensures that each state undergoes three rounds of comprehensive policy review annually.

Each fall, CCHP compiles a full snapshot of the telehealth policy landscape in their 50-State Summary Report, covering all 50 states, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This report includes:

  • Medicaid reimbursement status for live video,
  • Store-and-forward,
  • RPM, and
  • Audio-only services, as well as
  • State-level requirements related to patient consent, cross-state licensing, and private payer laws.

To view the most recent version, visit: Fall 2024 State Telehealth Laws and Reimbursement Policies Report.

July 2025 Public Reporting Preview Data Available

May 16, 2025

July 2025 Public Reporting Preview Data Available

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) created the Care Compare website to allow consumers to compare health care providers based on quality and other information and to make more informed choices when choosing a health care provider. Users of the site can compare providers in several categories of care settings.

Today through June 13, 2025, on the CMS Hospital Quality Reporting (HQR) page (https://hqr.cms.gov/hqrng/login), you can preview:

  • Your hospital,
  • Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating, or
  • Inpatient psychiatric facility’s quality data

This information will publicly appear in the July 2025 release on the Compare tool on Medicare.gov and the Provider Data Catalog at data.cms.gov/provider-data/. Medicare beneficiaries and the public can use these tools to view quality measure data for participating hospitals and facilities.

Questions about the information listed?

  • Submit questions to the Inpatient and Outpatient Healthcare Quality Systems Development and Program Support Contract Team via the QualityNet Question and Answer Tool or phone assistance:
    • For inpatient questions call (844) 472-4477 or (866) 800-8765 weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET).
    • For outpatient questions call (866) 800-8756 weekdays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

Requesting a Letter of Support

May 16, 2025

Requesting a Letter of Support

Are you thinking about applying for one of the many federal grants available to rural hospitals to improve the delivery of healthcare in rural areas? While not a guarantee, a strong letter of support can significantly enhance the competitiveness of a grant application, add credibility, and demonstrate commitment to a project, showing it has the backing of relevant stakeholders.

The Missouri Office of Rural Health (MORH) is happy to provide letters of support to our rural health partners, upon request.

To Request a Letter of Support:

  • Please allow a minimum of 5-7 business days for the letter to be written, signed, and returned to you.
  • All requests for letters of support shall be sent to ORHPCinfo@health.mo.gov. Please include:
    • Your abstract or a summary of your planned project
    • Name and address of your organization
    • Name of the project director
    • Contact information to include
    • Full name
    • Email address
    • Phone number
  • If you have submitted a request and have not received a reply within 2 business days, please contact: