The agency must pay for rural health clinic services, as defined in §440.20(b) of this subchapter, and for other ambulatory services furnished by a rural health clinic, as defined in §440.20(c) of this subchapter, as follows:

(a) For provider clinics, the agency must pay the reasonable cost of rural health clinic services and other ambulatory services on the basis of the cost reimbursement principles in part 413 of this chapter. For purposes of this section, a provider clinic is an integral part of a hospital, skilled nursing facility, or home health agency that is participating in Medicare and is licensed, governed, and supervised with other departments of the facility.

(b) For clinics other than provider clinics that do not offer any ambulatory services other than rural health clinic services, the agency must pay for rural health clinic services at the reasonable cost rate per visit determined by a Medicare carrier under §§405.2426 through 405.2429 of this chapter.

(c) For clinics other than provider clinics that do offer ambulatory services other than rural health clinic services, the agency must pay for the other ambulatory services by one of the following methods:

(1) The agency may pay for other ambulatory services and rural health clinic services at a single rate per visit that is based on the cost of all services furnished by the clinic. The rate must be determined by a Medicare carrier under §§405.2426 through 405.2429 of this chapter.

(2) The agency may pay for other ambulatory services at a rate set for each service by the agency. The rate must not exceed the upper limits in this subpart. The agency must pay for rural health clinic services at the Medicare reimbursement rate per visit, as specified in §405.2426 of this chapter.

(3) The agency may pay for dental services at a rate per visit that is based on the cost of dental services furnished by the clinic. The rate must be determined by a Medicare carrier under §§405.2426 through 405.2429 of this chapter. The agency must pay for ambulatory services other than dental services under paragraph (c) (1) or (2) of this section.

(d) For purposes of paragraph (c) (1) and (3) of this section, “visit” means a face-to-face encounter between a clinic patient and any health professional whose services are reimbursed under the State plan. Encounters with more than one health professional, and multiple encounters with the same health professional, that take place on the same day and at a single location constitute a single visit, except when the patient, after the first encounter, suffers illness or injury requiring additional diagnosis or treatment.

[43 FR 45253, Sept. 29, 1978, as amended at 51 FR 34833, Sept. 30, 1986]