There are various types of practice opportunities available. These include but are not limited to the following:

Community Health Center & Federally Qualified Health Center

A federally qualified health center (FQHC) is a type of provider defined by the Medicare and Medicaid statutes. FQHCs include all organizations receiving grants under Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act, certain tribal organizations, and FQHC Look-Alikes. Requirements for Indian Health Service funded FQHCs may differ from the requirements for FQHCs receiving Section 330 grants and for FQHC Look-Alikes. There are many benefits of being an FQHC. For FQHCs that are PHS 330 grant recipients, the biggest benefit is the grant funding. For new starts, funding up to $650,000 can be requested. Other benefits include:

• Enhanced Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement


• Medical malpractice coverage through the Federal Tort Claims Act


• Eligibility to purchase prescription and non-prescription medications for outpatients at reduced cost through the 340B Drug Pricing Program


• Access to National Health Service Corps


• Access to the Vaccine for Children program


• Eligibility for various other federal grants and programs

Critical Access Hospital

A Critical Access Hospital (CAH) is a hospital that is certified to receive cost-based reimbursement from Medicare. The reimbursement that CAHs receive is intended to improve their financial performance and thereby reduce hospital closures. Each hospital must review its own situation to determine if CAH status would be advantageous. CAHs are certified under a different set of Medicare Conditions of Participation (CoP) that are more flexible than the acute care hospital CoPs.

How big is Tennessee's smallest Critical Access Hospital? It's not 25 beds. It's not 10 beds. Johnson County Community Hospital in Mountain City, TN is a 2-bed Critical Access Hospital affiliated with Mountain States Health Alliance.

Rural Health Clinic

A Rural Health Clinic (RHC) is a clinic certified to receive special Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement. The purpose of the RHC program is improving access to primary care in underserved rural areas. RHCs are required to use a team approach of physicians and midlevel practitioners such as nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and certified nurse midwives to provide services. The clinic must be staffed at least 50% of the time with a midlevel practitioner. RHCs are required to provide out-patient primary care services and basic laboratory services.

RHCs receive special Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement. Medicare visits are reimbursed based on allowable costs and Medicaid visits are reimbursed under the cost-based method or an alternative Prospective Payment System (PPS). Ordinarily, this will result in an increase in reimbursement. RHCs may see improved patient flow through the utilization of NPs, PAs and CNMs, as well as more efficient clinic operations.

Health Department

Private Practice

Information on the types of practice sites taken from the Rural Assistance Center.