Arizona Rural Health Clinic Designation Manual,

August 2008

This is the second version of the Arizona Rural Health Clinic Designation Manual. Since the first manual was published in 2004, seven new rural health clinics received the designation in Arizona and others have designations pending.

The contents of this document will help rural clinics assess whether or not the Rural Health Clinic (RHC) designation is fiscally advantageous. It also provides a step-by-step guide to the application process for the designation. The document is made possible with funding support from the Arizona Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Grant Program located in the Rural Health Office.

Rural Health Clinics have proliferated throughout the country since 1977 when Congress passed the Rural Health Clinic Act. The purpose of the Rural Health Clinics program is to encourage and stabilize the provision of out-patient primary care in underserved rural areas through the use of physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and certifi ed nurse midwives. According to the National Association of Rural Health Clinics, there are currently over 3,000 designated RHC’s in 47 states serving over seven million people. The small number of RHCs in Arizona was in part the result of lack of information about the designation’s existence, but also in part because of the excellent work accomplished by the Arizona Association of Community Health Centers to develop a strong network of CHCs in the state. To find out more about the difference between a CHC and an RHC, please refer to the Arizona Rural Health Resource Manual.

Download Rural Health Clinic Designation Manual

Download Addendum C: Regulatory Guide:
RHC/FQHC Proposed Rule