This Health Affairs article from the FORHP-funded Rural Residency Planning and Development (RRPD) Technical Assistance Program discusses approaches rural hospitals may take to address health workforce challenges as they consider converting to the new Rural Emergency Hospital designation. The RRPD-TA program supports graduate medical education (GME) in rural areas and provides resources to RRPD award recipients and other organizations interested in learning more about rural residency program development and GME.

The Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) made this declaration for Florida, South Carolina, and Puerto Rico after determining that the devastation of Hurricane Iain required an urgent response from the federal government.  Recent public health emergencies include COVID-19, Monkeypox, and the opioid epidemic; naming an event as such allows agencies within HHS to bypass the typically lengthy process to make grants, enter into contracts, and rapidly investigate the cause, treatment, or prevention of a disease or disorder. For natural disasters, this means putting personnel from the National Disaster Medical System on the ground in affected areas and collaboration with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and regional coordinators of HHS’s Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, also known as ASPR.  The Rural Health Information Hub has a wealth of information on the challenges specific to rural areas and links to resources for disaster preparedness and response.

The federal resource telehealth.hhs.gov outlines how to build a school telehealth program and prepare students and guardians for attending telehealth appointments.  The guide is also available in Spanish.

Through its Bureau of Health Workforce’s National Center for Health Workforce Analysis, HRSA recently awarded $5 million in funding to nine Health Workforce Research Centers to help decision-makers at the federal, state, and local levels understand health workforce needs. In collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, two of the nine centers have been awarded, specifically, to expand research into public health and behavioral health areas.

New data show the outbreak is slowing; as of Wednesday, September 28, there were there were 25,509 confirmed cases.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to provide updates on trends and resources, recently focusing on reducing stigma.  CDC also recommends health care personnel adhere to recommended infection prevention and control measures and stay up to date on pain management for infected patients.  See Funding and Opportunities below for the CDC’s Monkeypox Vaccine Equity Pilot Program.

The federal agency charged with examining how taxpayer dollars are spent reports on the effects of temporary waivers issued by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) to ease the use of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic.  For beneficiaries of Medicare – the public health insurance that allows access to care for those who are 65 years and older, and younger people with certain disabilities – use of telehealth increased from about 5 million services pre-pandemic to more than 53 million services from April to December 2020.  GAO also found that, while telehealth use increased across all provider specialties, 5 percent of providers delivered over 40 percent of services.  The difference in telehealth use between rural and urban Medicare beneficiaries was slight – 33 percent versus 39 percent respectively.  In considering whether to make these changes permanent, GAO makes three recommendations to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: 1) clarify guidance for billing audio-only telehealth to allow tracking of these visits, 2) require providers to use available place of service codes, and 3) make a comprehensive assessment of the quality of services delivered via telehealth to insure improved outcomes for patients.

The National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) provides another layer of insight into how a new provider type, the Rural Emergency Hospital (REH), will work when it goes into effect at the start of next year.  Eligible hospitals that receive the designation may reduce their risk of closure and receive an additional payment from Medicare – regardless of facility size or volume of patients – to maintain emergency services in rural areas.  As reported here a few weeks ago, the National Conference of State Legislatures is tracking the way states are tailoring REH licensing requirements.  In spring 2023, NASHP will join HRSA in a day-long, in-person peer-to-peer learning opportunity for state officials to develop implementation plans for individual states.  In the near term, the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) will host a webinar on Wednesday, October 12 at 3:00 pm ET to explain the Rural Emergency Hospital and other FORHP-funded activities to support hospitals exploring the REH option.