In May, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released an eight-page rural health strategy, which outlined the agency’s promises to reduce regulatory barriers to telehealth, improve outreach to providers in these rural communities to ensure that they understand CMS programs, and identify practical solutions that will help better care in these areas.

CMS’ new Rural Health Strategy has five primary objectives: (1) to apply a rural lens to CMS programs and policies; (2) to improve access to care through provider engagement and support; (3) to advance telehealth and telemedicine; (4) to empower patients in rural communities to make decisions about their health care; and (5) to leverage partnerships to achieve the goals of the CMS Rural Health Strategy. 

CMS hopes that through the implementation of this new strategy for rural communities, CMS and its partners will help make health care in rural America accessible, accountable, and affordable – resulting in the highest quality of care. 

The eight-page rural health strategy can be read in full here.