(a) “Act” means the Mississippi Rural Hospital Flexibility Act of 1998.

(b) “Critical access hospital” means a hospital which has been designated as a critical access hospital by the department in accordance with the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program, as provided for in Section 4201 of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, Public Law 105-33, and which has entered into an agreement with at least one (1) full-service hospital to form a rural health network. The agreement or agreements must include provisions regarding patient referral and transfer, communications and patient transportation. A critical access hospital in a rural health network must also have an agreement for credentialing and quality assurance with at least one (1) hospital that is a member of the rural health network, or with a peer review organization or equivalent entity, or with another appropriate and qualified entity identified in the rural health-care plan for the State of Mississippi.

(c) “Department” means the Department of Health for the State of Mississippi.

(d) “Rural health network” means an organization consisting of at least one (1) critical access hospital and at least one (1) full-service hospital, the members of which have entered into certain agreements regarding patient referral and transfer, the development and use of communications systems and the provision of emergency and nonemergency transportation.

(e) “State rural health-care plan” means Mississippi’s rural health-care plan that (i) provides for the creation of one or more rural health networks, consisting of at least one (1) critical access hospital and at least one (1) full-service hospital, (ii) promotes regionalization of rural health services in Mississippi, and (iii) improves access to hospitals and other health services for rural residents of Mississippi.