US · guidance
CMS SOM App. W, Tag C-0870
§485.616(b) Standard: Agreements for Credentialing and Quality Assurance
Each CAH that is a member of a rural health network shall have an agreement with
respect to credentialing and quality assurance with at least--
(1) One hospital that is a member of the network;
(2) One QIO or equivalent entity; or
(3) One other appropriate and qualified entity identified in the State rural health
care plan.
Interpretive Guidelines §485.616(b)
Other qualified entities could include another CAH or any licensed firms, businesses, or
agencies that provide credentialing and QA services. The location for these other
qualified entities is not limited to local entities.
Agreements for QA need to include medical record review as part of the determination of
the quality and medical necessity of medical care at the CAH.
Survey Procedures §485.616(b)
• Review any agreements related to credentialing or quality assurance to determine
the level of assistance to be provided and the responsibilities of the CAH.
• Review policies and procedures to determine how information is to be obtained,
utilized, and how confidentiality of information will be maintained.
History
Rev. 200, Issued: 02-21-20; Effective: 02-21-20, Implementation: 02-21-20
Provenance
- Source
- cms.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-07-22
- Edition
- som-2026-07-22
- Content hash
73906ab67f40425f9b5bb565ff3d6707e938fde500f1c86a6b0079f0ea9144f9
The link goes to the issuing authority’s own document — the one we read to produce this record. Where a source publishes whole titles rather than sections, your browser may need a moment to jump to the provision.
Unofficial copy of government-published law, reproduced from official sources with full provenance. Not an official publication; verify against official sources before relying on it in a filing. Records in the 'guidance' corpus, and only that corpus, are sub-regulatory (interpretive guidelines, survey procedures) and are not binding law. Validity bounds follow each jurisdiction's declared temporalBasis.