Christine Schultz, MBA, RN

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released its FY 2027 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) final rule. 

The final rule updates Medicare payment policies and rates for acute care hospitals, finalizes a new mandatory joint replacement payment model, modifies various quality and interoperability programs, and finalizes several policies affecting rural providers. CMS projects that acute care hospitals will experience an overall increase of approximately $2.9 billion in FY 2027 hospital payments, including operating and capital payments and the effects of new technology add-on payment changes, changes in uncompensated care payments, and the statutory expiration of the MDH program and the temporary low-volume hospital adjustment on January 1, 2027. 

French Lick, Ind. (June 30, 2026) — The Indiana Rural Health Association (IRHA) has named Scott K. Douglas, M.D., Montgomery County Health Officer and retired family physician, recipient of the 2026 Doc Hollywood Award, sponsored by InterSystems, a provider of data management solutions for industries with complex challenges.

April 5, 2024 — Healthy Start Communities that C.A.R.E. (HSCC) partnered with the National Healthy Start Association (NHSA) and received funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to participate in the Food and Nutrition (FAN) program for Better Health Leadership Training Institute.