This program could be part of a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) track if you wish to develop one again.

Medicare's rules and regulations, interpretations and implementation constantly change. Since my presentation on this topic at the 2009 ANI, the Medicare program has already issued some final regulations impacting CAHs. We anticipate additional regulations implementing the Stimulus Bill's electronic health records payment provisions, including vitally important clarifications of certain provisions. In addition we anticipate either major health care reform legislation or a significant Medicare bill before the end of this year, possibly both. 2010 is an election year which may bring a variety of proposals that could impact CAHs. And of course, there will be another proposed regulation issued just prior to the 2010 ANI. BKD is committed to staying current on these developments.

We will cover all of these developments in addition to other recent legislative and regulatory matters that create opportunities or pitfalls for CAHs to the extent that time permits. We will also allow plenty of time for participant questions.

Finally, we work with CAHs and other providers and we become aware of regulatory changes implemented in the last few years our client have fortotten about. They were covered at conferences, but clients' the memory of those issues has faded. We regularly assist CAHs resolve compliance issues. The presentation will include those key issues as a reminder to participants that those traps exist for the unwary.

This presentation will be a current Medicare topics update for CAHs. The presentation's specifics cant be listed in detail yet because laws we will cover havent been enacted yet and most of the regulatory changes have not been written yet.