- GAO Seeks New Members for Tribal and Indigenous Advisory Council
- VA: Staff Sergeant Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program Funding Opportunity
- 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
- Comments Requested on Mobile Crisis Team Services: An Implementation Toolkit Draft
Rural ‘Red-Zone’ List Shortens Significantly for First Time in Two Months
By Tim Murphy and Tim Marema
The number of rural counties where the spread of Covid-19 is extremely high fell from 806 two weeks ago to 701 last week. The number of new cases and deaths also declined.
Read more
New Guidance to Improve Care for Infants with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome
Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an informational bulletin outlining the various service and financing options that state Medicaid and CHIP programs can use to improve care for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) and their families. It also highlights Federal resources, tools, and models of care available to assist states, such as the HRSA Rural Health Integration Models for Parents and Children to Thrive (IMPACT) program. Read more here.
Rural-Urban Differences Among Older Adults
Researchers at the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center created a chartbook with characteristics of older adults in rural counties, as well as rural-urban differences across four domains: demographics, socioeconomic characteristics, healthcare access and use, and health characteristics. Read more here.
Rural Versus Urban Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence-Related Emergency Department Visits, 2009-2014
In this study from the Southwest Rural Health Research Center, key findings indicate that emergency department visits for intimate partner violence incidents were higher in rural areas for women aged 15-64. Read more here.
NCSL on State Strategies to Reverse Suicide Trends
The National Conference of State Legislators (NCSL) cites higher rates of suicide in rural areas in its guide covering statistics, risk factors, and effect on specific populations. The report examines state-level initiatives including Mental Health First Aid Training, Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training, and the Zero Suicide framework. Read more here.
2020 IT Attestation
Currently not much has changed from PY2019 to PY2020 for the Promoting Interoperability Program (PIP). Here are the key items for attesting to PY2020:
- You can attest anytime up to March 31, 2021
- The reporting period for both Meaningful Use (MU) and Clinical Quality Measures (CQMs) will be a minimum of any continuous 90-day period in PY2020
- The last reporting period for PY2020 is Oct. 3 – Dec. 31, 2020
- There are no changes under Stage 3 for the MU Objectives
For more information, view the PY2020 Helpful Tips guide that is posted on the Pennsylvania Promoting Interoperability website. Reach out to the program at RA-mahealthit@pa.gov with any questions or issues you might encounter while preparing to attest for PY2020.
National Health Service Corps Report to Congress
The National Health Service Corps Report to Congress for the Year 2018 details program accomplishments of the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), provides updates on Health Professional Shortage Area designations, explains recruitment efforts for NHSC Scholarship and Loan Repayment Programs, provides estimates on number of patients seen by NHSC clinicians, and details short- and long-term retention rates. Features state-by-state data with breakdowns by urban and rural locations.
“CATE” Comes to Town
Last week, Pennsylvania’s new mobile COVID-19 response unit–Community-Accessible Testing and Education or “CATE”–visited Wilkes-Barre through a partnership of several agencies and companies: Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Independence Blue Cross, Latino Connection and the Wright Center for Community Health 
. CATE offers free information, testing and a bag of useful items for any takers, all free. The Latino Connection specializes in helping companies reach the Latino demographic, but CATE is open to all. CATE is visiting sites across the commonwealth, partnering with FQHCs and other local providers who do the testing at each location. More information is available online at www.CATEmobileunit.com
Key Model Predicts 400,000 Coronavirus Deaths in U.S. by January
The model created by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington posted an update this week predicting an additional 224,000 Americans will die by the beginning of next year. Read more.
Drug Companies Issue Joint Pledge on Vaccine Safety
Nine pharmaceutical companies this week issued a rare joint pledge seeking to reassure the public about the safety and efficacy of their potential vaccines for coronavirus. Read more.