Administrative Rules of Montana
Department 37 - PUBLIC HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Chapter 37.106 - HEALTH CARE FACILITIES
Subchapter 37.106.2 - Community Benefit and Financial Assistance Standards for Nonprofit Hospitals, Critical Access Hospitals, and Rural Emergency Hospitals
Rule 37.106.202 - DEFINITIONS

(1) "Community benefit" means initiatives and activities undertaken by a nonprofit hospital, critical access hospital, or rural emergency hospital to improve health in the communities it serves. These initiatives and activities should not be of the kind considered to be normal for the day-to-day operation of the hospital or as having benefits to the hospital not in line with recommended patient or population health improvement. Community benefits may include providing free or discounted care to uninsured and low-income patients (i.e., financial assistance), activities to promote and improve population health, prevention activities, programs to support children and families, programs to increase access to care, medical research likely to directly benefit the community in which the nonprofit hospital, critical access hospital, or rural emergency hospital is located, education and training for health care professionals, workforce development, and other activities and contributions associated with the initiatives being undertaken to benefit the community in which the nonprofit hospital, critical access hospital, or rural emergency hospital is located and reported on the annual IRS Form 990 Schedule H.

(2) "Community benefit plan" means the detailed outline of specific initiatives, activities, actions, and/or steps planned to be taken by a nonprofit hospital, critical access hospital, or rural emergency hospital to improve the health of the community(ies) it serves. This plan may include community benefit information contained in the facility's community health needs assessment implementation plan.

(3) "Community benefit policy" is the written policy (i.e., set of principles, guidelines, or rules) that directs how decisions of the nonprofit hospital, critical access hospital, or rural emergency hospital on specific actions to improve the health of the community it serves will be made or carried out.

(4) "Financial assistance" means direct financial assistance to patients. It is commonly understood as the unrecovered costs written off by a provider that results from providing care to individuals who are uninsured or who are otherwise unable to pay for the health care services they receive. Financial assistance was formerly known as charity care.

(5) "Net patient revenue (NPR)" means the aggregate money generated from patient services collected from payors, including private insurance, Medicaid, and Medicare. The calculation for NPR is the total patient revenues minus patient discounts.