- Telehealth Study Recruiting Veterans Now
- USDA Delivers Immediate Relief to Farmers, Ranchers and Rural Communities Impacted by Recent Disasters
- Submit Nominations for Partnership for Quality Measurement (PQM) Committees
- Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation of the Medicare Program (Executive Order 14192) - Request for Information
- Dr. Mehmet Oz Shares Vision for CMS
- CMS Refocuses on its Core Mission and Preserving the State-Federal Medicaid Partnership
- Social Factors Help Explain Worse Cardiovascular Health among Adults in Rural Vs. Urban Communities
- Reducing Barriers to Participation in Population-Based Total Cost of Care (PB-TCOC) Models and Supporting Primary and Specialty Care Transformation: Request for Input
- Secretary Kennedy Renews Public Health Emergency Declaration to Address National Opioid Crisis
- Secretary Kennedy Renews Public Health Emergency Declaration to Address National Opioid Crisis
- 2025 Marketplace Integrity and Affordability Proposed Rule
- Rural America Faces Growing Shortage of Eye Surgeons
- NRHA Continues Partnership to Advance Rural Oral Health
- Comments Requested on Mobile Crisis Team Services: An Implementation Toolkit Draft
- Q&A: What Are the Challenges and Opportunities of Small-Town Philanthropy?
CRS on Broadband Provisions passed by Congress
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) provides objective policy and legal analysis to committees and members of the U.S. House and Senate. This report provides information on each federal program included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, designed to increase broadband availability for underserved areas of the United States.
ERS on COVID-19 and Rural America
The Economic Research Service (ERS) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture analyzes county-level data on the prevalence of COVID-19 and local employment rates. A second report takes a closer look at the impact on counties where meatpacking accounts for more than 20 percent of employment.
AHRQ Data Request: Improving Rural Health Through Telehealth-Guided Provider-to-Provider Communication.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is seeking published and unpublished scientific information to inform their review of this subject. Key questions in the review include those about the effectiveness of provider-to-provider telehealth and about effective implementation strategies. Submit information to AHRQ’s Evidence-Based Practice Centers Program on or before April 1.
New Public Education Videos in Spanish on COVID-19 and Flu
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has published new videos in Spanish for the COVID-19 and Flu public education campaign. Share these 30- and 60-second videos in Spanish featuring Dr. Eliseo Perez-Stable, Director of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). ¿Son seguras para nosotros las vacunas contra el COVID? FAQ1 30- and 60-second ¿Tienen los latinos mayores de 65 años más riesgos de enfermedades graves por COVID? FAQ2 30– and 60-second.
ACS Guidebook on 2021 Messaging Now Available
The 2021 Messaging Guidebook: Effectively Messaging Cancer Screening During the COVID-19 Pandemic, which is based on American Cancer Society market research findings, is now available. The guidebook serves to assist health systems, cancer centers, healthcare providers, patient navigators, and cancer coalitions in efforts to resume preventive cancer care. The ACS is also sharing the Effectively Messaging Cancer Screening During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Issue Brief which is an abbreviated version of the guidebook. And do not forget, March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month!
Lessons Learned from a Year of Virtual Integrated Behavioral Health
The Health Information Technology, Evaluation and Quality Center (HITEQ) in a new resource highlights promising practices in virtual integrated behavioral health care from community health centers who rapidly transitioned to new mechanisms of care delivery through the shift to telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. These practices are generated from observations in group and individual conversations with health center leaders, primary care association staff, and behavioral health practitioners over a three-month period in Fall 2020. This document is intended to spark adaptation and improvement by providing a brief snapshot into the tremendous creativity and hard work that has characterized health center operations since the start of the pandemic.
NHSC Offers Free DATA 2000 Training
Clinicians working to address the opioid epidemic may be eligible for free training to provide medication-assisted treatment (MAT). This training will help you qualify for some National Health Service Corps (NHSC) programs. If you are already in an NHSC program, you may qualify for enhanced award benefits. NHSC is partnering with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to increase the number of Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000) Waiver-certified clinicians in high-need communities. SAMHSA’s Provider Clinical Support System (PCSS) offers the most effective, evidence-based clinical practices in preventing, identifying, and treating opioid-use disorder (OUD).
Research Finds Little Advancement in Physician Workforce Diversity
University of Pennsylvania researchers have found that notable progress has not happened since 2009, when the Liaison Committee on Medical Education set forth new diversity accreditation guidelines. This is particularly true for Black, Hispanic and American Indian/Native Alaskan (AIAN) physicians. Absolute numbers of Black, Hispanic and AIAN physicians have increased but so have the number of all physicians. Therefore, the percentage of physicians in underrepresented groups has not increased appreciably. Read the Fortune magazine article or check out the research on JAMA Network Open.
At-Home Rapid Test Receives FDA Emergency Use Authorization
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization on Monday for a rapid at-home COVID-19 test that delivers results without the use of an outside laboratory. The QuickVue At-Home COVID-19 Test must be obtained via prescription and can be used by individuals 14 and older, or individuals eight and older as long as an adult collects the nasal swab sample. The test can be prescribed by a healthcare provider for individuals who are within six days of symptom onset.
Hope Is on the Horizon, but Don’t Move Too Soon, Too Fast
Despite the progress, COVID-19 numbers in the U.S. are still alarmingly high. Experts are cautioning that they could quickly climb even higher if Americans let up now, and don’t retain current masking and other precautions for at least several more months, especially as the incidence of variants is on the rise. Dr. Zeke Emanuel, who was a health adviser for the Obama White House and was a member of the Biden Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board, said, “We’re still having on average 2,000 deaths a day. We cannot become inured to that.”