Rural Referral Centers (RRC)
Rural hospitals which meet the criteria of an RPC have their prospective rate determined on the basis of the urban, rather then the rural adjusted standardized amounts, as adjusted by the applicable DRG weighting factor and the hospital’s area wage index. Favorable exceptions and adjustments to the standardized prospective payment amounts are taken into account with RRCs, including payment based upon the urban, rather than rural, prospective payment rates as adjusted by the applicable DRG weighting factor and the rural area index. To retain /RRC status a hospital must meet or exceed a certain level of case-mix index-it is this calculation that is subject to fraud and abuse.