Rural Health Information Hub Latest News

Expanding Diabetes Prevention and Management through Health Center Outreach

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According to the Community Preventive Services Task Force, Community Health Workers (CHWs) may address a broad range of health issues and include interventions that focus on diabetes among members of their community. Interventions are delivered to community groups or individuals at increased risk of type 2 diabetes, primarily through information on improvements in diet, physical activity, and weight. This training, hosted by the National Center for Health in Public Housing, will address diabetes resources for CHWs, explain the roles and competencies of CHWs in diabetes prevention and how CHWs can help patients with diabetes with food insecurity and other social determinants of health via community resources. Learn more and register.

Quarterly Heart Health Office Hours and Other Resources

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The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is celebrating American Heart Month this year by launching a quarterly Heart Health Office Hours. It is a web-based learning series highlighting evidence-based interventions to improve heart health. The inaugural session–Are Hypertension Control Innovations that Maximize Team-Based Care Effective?–on Thursday, Feb. 25 at 3:00 pm, will feature two health centers sharing their experiences implementing team-based care to improve hypertension control. Registration is required. You can also access a suite of resources from NIH’s National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, hypertension toolkits from the CDC, and The Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Control Hypertension that outlines goals and strategies to improve hypertension control. The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) has also provided the following resources: Roadmap Quality Improvement Tool to Improve Blood Pressure Control for African Americans, NACHC SMBP Implementation Toolkit, Million Hearts® national SMBP Forum, and their Hypertension Screening and Control Action Guide.

Telehealth “Passport” Cuts through Licensing Red Tape

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The Federation of State Medical Boards has launched Provider Bridge, a license-portability initiative that will allow certain clinicians to work across state lines. Clinicians can register and receive a digital Provider Bridge Passport, which collects their active licenses, disciplinary history, specialty certifications and DEA registration and NPI numbers. The clinicians can then submit that passport to a health system, hospital or other care provider in need of help. It’s currently limited to physicians and physician assistants, but the Federation plans to expand the program to other healthcare professionals. Read more.

Biden Extends Forbearance on Student Loans

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On his first day in office, President Biden fulfilled his promise to extend forbearance on federal student loans. That means those with Federal student loans do not need to make payments until October 2021. Interest on these loans remains at zero percent during this time. This applies to:

  • All Direct Loans (including those in default)
  • All FFEL Program loans (including those in default)
  • All Federal Perkins Loans (including those in default)
  • Defaulted HEAL loans

President Biden has also indicated that he wants to reform and expand certain elements of federal loans, including parts of Public Service Loan Forgiveness, but those actions will come later.

Walgreens and Uber Partner to Offer Free Rides to Vaccination Sites

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Uber and Walgreens on Tuesday announced they will join forces to offer communities of color free rides to vaccination sites. The pandemic has disproportionately affected Black and Hispanic people, and initial vaccination data already shows that people of color are being vaccinated at lower rates than white people. People of color also tend to have fewer pharmacies per capita and are also less likely to say that they have been vaccinated or know someone who has. Walgreens and Uber’s initiative will “make it easier to connect people with vaccine appointments, and [offer] free transportation to Walgreens vaccine clinics among socially vulnerable communities.” Both companies will work with the National Urban League to offer education programs to address vaccine hesitancy. People will be able to schedule rides via the Uber app once they have a vaccination appointment.

Women Fly to Record High and then Crash to 33-Year Low

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Women in the U.S. hit a milestone in February 2020 when, for the first time in history, they held the majority of non-farm payroll jobs, outnumbering men in the workforce, Axios reports. One year later, women’s labor force participation is at a 33-year low. According to experts, helping mothers get back to work is vital to the health of the U.S. economy. There will be long tail effects that hurt working women and mothers long after the pandemic is over. Read more.

Waived and Suspended Licensing Regulations

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Due to the novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”), additional healthcare practitioners will be needed to treat ill Pennsylvanians. This need may extend beyond the capacity of the professionals currently licensed by Pennsylvania’s health-licensing boards. To increase the available number of practitioners, the Department of State requested a suspension from Gov. Wolf to several provisions that create barriers to temporary licensure. The following list details the suspensions granted by the governor and provides additional information for healthcare professionals on how to obtain temporary licenses.

  • Waiver Allows Some Retired Physicians and Nurses to Administer the COVID-19 Vaccine: The Department of State requested, and the governor approved, a temporary suspension of the renewal and reactivation provisions set forth in 63 P.S. §§ 213, 271.3, 422.10 and 422.25 and 49 Pa. Code §§ 16.15, 21.131, 21.156, , 25.271, to enable physicians and nurses whose Pennsylvania licenses lapsed, expired or were inactive within the last five years to administer COVID-19 vaccines without reactivating or renewing their licenses, provided they meet the specific qualification requirements … Read more
  • Waiver Enables Medical Students to Administer COVID-19 Vaccines: As new COVID-19 cases soar across the Commonwealth and hospitals are stretched to capacity, Pennsylvania has initiated an unprecedented effort to administer COVID-19 vaccinations at record speed. Medical students quickly offered to step in to administer these vaccinations at locations across the Commonwealth. Read more
  • New Waiver Allows Qualified Pennsylvania Vaccinators to Administer COVID-19 Vaccine to 16- and 17-Year-Olds: The overall purpose of this waiver/suspension is to expand the pool of COVID-19 vaccinators to help increase access to COVID-19 vaccinations. This waiver will help to align Pennsylvania’s response efforts with guidance and waivers issued by the federal government, as well as temporarily alter certain state regulations to make it possible for that alignment to occur. The Department requested, and Gov. Wolf approved, a temporary change in the age restriction set forth in 63 P.S. § 390-9.2 and 49 Pa. Code § 27.403 to persons who are “more than 16 years of age.” Read more
  • State Board of Dentistry Identifies Acceptable Alternative to Live Patient Clinical Exam for Dental Hygienist Candidates During COVID-19: The live-patient aspect of the dental hygiene clinical examination shall continue to be temporarily waived. For those candidates who wish to take an alternative exam, the board will now accept the ADEX Manikin Examination for dental hygienists administered by CDCA and CITA in 2021 in lieu of issuing a provisional license to candidates for licensure… Read more