The Pine Ridge (S.D.) Indian Health Service Hospital has regained its Medicare billing privileges after losing them in 2017, according to South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
CMS terminated its provider agreement with the hospital in 2017, citing the facility's failure to meet patient care standards. The hospital addressed the patient safety and quality of care issues, and a CMS survey team determined the hospital was compliant with Medicare standards in November. In May, the Joint Commission awarded the hospital full accreditation.
"Going forward now, all of our visits that we have with our patients are able to be reimbursed, fully reimbursed now," James Driving Hawk, Great Plains Area Director for IHS, told SDPB regarding the hospital regaining its Medicare contract. "So the hospitals will receive that additional revenue and we take it back and invest it into facilities and services."
One planned project is to renovate the emergency department at Pine Ridge IHS, according to the report.