- How the State, Tribes and Federal Government Are Working to Curb SD's Syphilis Epidemic
- Rural Children Struggle to Access Hospital Services, Say Researchers
- USDA Rural Development Seeks Input to Improve Access to Grants and Help More Communities Thrive
- Outlining the Intersection between Health Care and Missing and Murdered Indigenous People
- Biden-Harris Administration Announces Critical More Than $1.5 Billion State and Tribal Opioid Response Funding Opportunities
- RPHARM Program Fulfills Need for Rural Pharmacists
- Farmers Don't Do Mental Health
- A Pilot Program in Rural Vermont Hopes to Build a Blueprint for Substance Abuse Recovery
- Rural Telehealth Extension Reintroduced in Congress
- Students From Across the State Emphasized the Need for Mental Health Resources in Rural Alaska During a Conference
- The South Was the Center of Rural Population Growth Last Year
- How HHS SUD Confidentiality Regulations Will Impact Rural Providers
- VA Announces Expansion of "Close to Me" Cancer Program as Part of the Cancer Moonshot, Bringing Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Closer to Thousands of Veterans
- Navajo Psychiatrist Bridges Gaps Between Native American Culture and Behavioral Health Care
- Biden-Harris Administration Releases National Strategy for Suicide Prevention and First-Ever Federal Action Plan
Online Grocery Purchasing for Pennsylvania SNAP Recipients Now Available, Retailers Encouraged to Join Program
The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) announced that the system changes necessary to implement the pilot program that lets recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) purchase groceries online through participating retailers have been completed, and online grocery purchasing is now active at approved retailers.
The Future of Rural Value-Based Health Care and Surge Capacity
Healthcare service demands consequent to the COVID-19 pandemic have challenged preconceived rural value-based priorities such as inpatient-care reduction and just-in-time inventories. Thus, rural healthcare organizations may struggle with conflicting demands for surge-ready healthcare infrastructure and value-oriented business processes. This Rural Health Value commentary outlines questions for consideration about the future of rural value-based care and payment.
Link: https://ruralhealthvalue.org/files/Future%20of%20Rural%20VBC%20and%20Surge.pdf
Top resources on the Rural Health Value website:
- Value-Based Care Assessment – Assess capacity and capabilities to deliver value-based care. Receive an eight-category readiness report.
- Physician Engagement – Score current engagement and build effective relationships to create a shared vision for a successful future.
- Board and Community Engagement – Hold value-based care discussions as part of strategic planning and performance measurement.
- Social Determinants of Health – Learn and encourage rural leaders/care teams to address issues to improve their community’s health.
Contact information:
Keith J. Mueller, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigator, keith-mueller@uiowa.edu
Rural Health Value helps create high performance rural health systems by building and offering an actionable knowledge base through research, practice, and collaboration. Visit www.ruralhealthvalue.org.
Developed with funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $250,000 with 0% financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the authors(s) do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.
The Federal Reserve Wants to Hear from You
In early April, the Federal Reserve System conducted a survey to better understand the range of challenges facing underresourced and low-income communities as an effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings are available in Perspectives from Main Street: The Impact of COVID-19 on Communities and the Entities Serving Them and helped us understand how this crisis is impacting organizations, like yours, supporting community needs.
We are committed to fielding this survey every eight weeks to report on how the effects of COVID-19 are changing within communities over time. Please help us by taking this survey today.
The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete. If you have received the invitation to complete the survey from another Federal Reserve entity, please only take the survey once. If you are an organization whose members work in low-income communities, we encourage you to forward the survey link to others who have unique knowledge of what is happening in their communities.
Please use this link to access the survey.
CARES Act Provider Relief Fund Frequently Asked Questions
HHS released new FAQs on June 2, 2020 related to the Provider Relief Fund distributions. The FAQs are attached and available at the link below. One on page 5 expands on the definition of allowable expenses and determination of lost revenue. There are new FAQs scattered throughout the FAQ document. See ww.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/…
NRHA launches Rural COVID-19 Technical Assistance Center
Individuals in rural communities often face barriers to health stemming from economic factors, environmental differences, and feelings of isolation. The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a generational challenge and exacerbated these concerns, revealing a critical need for rapid response efforts. With the support of a generous grant of $200,000 from CoBank, the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) is helping rural health care providers overcome barriers they face through the creation of the Rural COVID-19 Technical Assistance Center.
The Technical Assistance Center will focus on two key areas: finance/reimbursement and operations/supplies, including personal protective equipment (PPE) sourcing and distribution, testing and contact tracing, and long-term care collaboration. NRHA will assess and triage needs from across the country to ensure rural communities are equipped with knowledge, connections, and resources throughout the pandemic. This is being accomplished through various partnerships and collaborations with organizations such as Project N95, Project C.U.R.E., Heart4Heroes, and NRHA Platinum Partner Intalere.
“With more than 84,000 COVID-19 cases in rural counties and more than 3,200 rural deaths, the need for rural assistance is growing,” says NRHA CEO Alan Morgan. “Through the generous support of CoBank, NRHA is proud to collaborate with so many dedicated stakeholders to provide technical assistance and critical support to rural health care providers across the country.”
Senate Passes Bill to Amend the Paycheck Protection Program
On June 4, 2020, H.R.7010, the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 was passed in the Senate by unanimous consent. This bill amends the PPP and provides small business recipients with necessary flexibility to receive the forgivable loans they need to keep their businesses open and their employees on their payrolls. Specifically, H.R.7010:
- Increases the loan forgiveness period from eight weeks to 24 weeks;
- Changes the 75/25 payroll / non-payroll requirement for loan forgiveness to 60/40
- Increases the loan repayment period from two to five years;
- Allows payroll tax deferral for PPP recipients; and
- Extends the June 30 rehiring deadline to December 31, 2020.
The full text of this legislation is available at: www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/7010/…. The bill had previously passed the U.S. House of Representatives and was sent to President Trump for his signature. Following its enactment, the SBA will be required to update its loan forgiveness application and process.
Varying Trends In The Financial Viability Of US Rural Hospitals, 2011–17
Health Affairs
The financial viability of rural hospitals has been a matter of serious concern, with ongoing closures affecting rural residents’ access to medical services. We examined the financial viability of 1,004 US rural hospitals that had consistent rural status in 2011–17. The median overall profit margin improved for nonprofit critical access hospitals (from 2.5 percent to 3.2 percent) but declined for other hospitals (from 3.0 percent to 2.6 percent for nonprofit non–critical access hospitals, from 3.2 percent to 0.4 percent for for-profit critical access hospitals, and from 5.7 percent to 1.6 percent for for-profit non–critical access hospitals). Occupancy rate and charge markup were positively associated with overall margins: In 2017 hospitals with low versus high occupancy rates had median overall profit margins of 0.1 percent versus 4.7 percent, and hospitals with low versus high charge markups had median overall margins of 1.8 percent versus 3.5 percent. Rural hospital financial viability deteriorated in states that did not expand eligibility for Medicaid and was lower in the South. Rural hospitals that closed during the study period had a median overall profit margin of −3.2 percent in their final year before closure. Policy makers should compare the incremental cost of providing essential services between hospitals and other settings to balance access and efficiency.
Access the full article here.
Pennsylvania Governor’s Administration Outlines Preliminary Guidance for Phased Reopening of Schools
The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) today said elementary and secondary schools in the state’s yellow and green phases may resume in-person instruction and activities beginning July 1 under a phased reopening approach that first requires schools to develop health and safety plans based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the state Department of Health (DOH).
PDE also released guidance that allows postsecondary institutions and adult basic education programs, effective June 5, to begin in-person instruction immediately following the development of a health and safety plan outlining strategies for safe operations.
The preliminary documents follow Governor Wolf’s Process to Reopen Pennsylvania, which has been updated to reflect the new guidance.
Pennsylvania Governor Renews COVID-19 Disaster Declaration for State Response and Recovery, Stay-at-Home Order Ends June 4
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf today renewed the 90-day disaster declaration he originally signed on March 6 following the announcement of the first two presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in the commonwealth. The declaration was set to expire on June 4.
The emergency disaster declaration provides for increased support to state agencies involved in the continued response to the virus and recovery for the state during reopening.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health’s Department Operations Center at the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency is still active as is the CRCC there.
Also today, Gov. Wolf announced that he would allow the amended stay-at-home order to expire at 11:59 p.m., June 4. The-stay at-home requirements were only in effect for counties in the red phase.
USDA Implements Immediate Measures to Help Rural Residents, Businesses and Communities Affected by COVID-19
WASHINGTON, June 3, 2020 – USDA Rural Development has taken a number of immediate actions to help rural residents, businesses and communities affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Rural Development will keep our customers, partners and stakeholders continuously updated as more actions are taken to better serve rural America.
View the full stakeholder announcement.