- Rural Children Struggle to Access Hospital Services, Say Researchers
- 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
- Biden Administration Sets Higher Staffing Mandates. Most Nursing Homes Don't Meet Them.
- Rural Communities Face Primary Care Physician Shortage
HIV and Stigma Resource Guide
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says, “HIV stigma includes negative attitudes and beliefs about people with HIV. It is the prejudice that comes with labeling an individual as part of a group that is believed to be socially unacceptable. HIV discrimination is the act of treating people with HIV differently than those without HIV.” In response to research that has shown how providers with limited stigma reduction education are more likely to exhibit stigmatizing behavior towards their patients, the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) has created Talking Points: The Resource Guide for Facilitating Stigma Conversations. This “microsite” also includes videos, tools and tips on how to implement your own stigma conversation.
Federal Data Rules Moving Forward with Big Implications
Fierce Health reports that two major federal rules aimed at stopping information blocking and spurring data sharing are now one step closer to being finalized. The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT’s (ONC) interoperability and information blocking rule is now under review at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the last step before publication. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed interoperability rule also is under review at OMB. That rule would require insurers participating in CMS-run programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and the federal Affordable Care Act exchanges by Jan. 1 to have the capability to give 125 million patients electronic access to their personal health information at no cost to patients. The new rules are a centerpiece of the 21st Century Cures Act and are designed to drive increased efficiency and transparency in health care and expand patient access to their healthcare information. Organizations that do not comply with the new regulations, which apply to essentially any organization handling patient medical records, could face substantial penalties. The combined rules will have significant implications for healthcare providers, payers, and health IT vendors.
HRSA to Host Virtual Job Fair for Health Centers in Rural Communities
In celebration of National Rural Health Day, HRSA is hosting a Virtual Job Fair specifically for health care facilities serving rural communities. It takes place Wednesday, November 20, 2019 from 6:45-10:15 pm ET. Employers and job seekers can register here. HRSA’s virtual job fairs connect job-seeking primary care trainees and practicing clinicians with health centers with employment opportunities.
Pennsylvania Rural Hospital Global Budget Pilot in the Limelight
An October 28, 2019 interview with Rachel Levine, MD, the Secretary of Health for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, addressed rural hospital closures and the state’s approach to sustainability. She described the Department of Health pilot as moving from a fee-for-service arrangement to a monthly global budget, which emphasizes population health and outpatient services. Read more.
Things You Need to Know about Community HealthChoices
Community HealthChoices (CHC) is Pennsylvania’s mandatory managed care program for individuals who are dually eligible for both Medical Assistance and Medicare–older adults and individuals with physical disabilities. This program was implemented in southwestern Pennsylvania in January 2018, southeastern Pennsylvania in January 2019, and will be implemented in the remainder of the state on Jan. 1, 2020. CHC information for providers or participants can be found at www.healthchoices.pa.gov. Fact sheets and online trainings can be found here. Access a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about CHC by clicking here. To become part of the provider network contact:
- AmeriHealth Caritas: 1-800-521-6007; email: chcproviders@amerihealthcaritas.com
- Pennsylvania Health & Wellness: 1-844-626-6813; email: information@pahealthwellness.com
- UPMC Community HealthChoices: 1-844-860-9303; email: CHCProviders@UPMC.edu
Pennsylvania Senate Advances Telemedicine Bill
During the week of October 28, 2019, the Pennsylvania Senate quickly fast-tracked a telemedicine bill that nearly made it to Governor Wolf’s desk last December. Senate Bill 857 expands the use of telemedicine for providers, including Community Health Centers , to provide care and receive reimbursement from both managed care organizations (MCOs) and commercial insurance. One new caveat to the bill is a requirement for any affected licensure boards overseeing specialties to promulgate regulations within 24 months of passage. As of October 30, the legislation is before the House for consideration.
Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children’s Annual State of Children’s Health Care Report Released
The opportunity to prosper begins with preventive health care when children are young. A healthy start includes immunizations, screenings, regular dental care, well-child visits and access to nutritious food. However, 124,000 Pennsylvania children do not have health insurance, and children under six are the most likely to be without coverage according to our newest report, “State of Children’s Health Care in Pennsylvania: Powering Up Healthy Kids.”
While Pennsylvania’s uninsured rate falls below the national average, it remains stagnant at 4.4 percent, with Pennsylvania ranking in the middle of the pack at 24th for the percentage of uninsured children.
According to a new report released by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families, the number of uninsured children increased nationally by more than 400,000 between 2016 and 2018, reversing a long-standing positive trend.
No child should be without health care insurance and our report sets a clear agenda to strengthen both access and coverage benefits in health care for the Commonwealth’s children.
A New Website for Substance Use Disorder Care
(AP/PBS Newshour, 10/30/19)
The Trump administration has launched a website intended to help people connect with treatment options for substance use disorders. The website, FindTreatment.gov, includes customizable tools that allow users to search for providers based on the type of treatment they want—including detox, inpatient, or telemedicine—and by payment method and insurance type.
Research: Policy Change and Implementation of a Needle Exchange Program Averts More than 10,000 Potential Diagnoses of HIV
Syringe exchange programs (SEP) reduce HIV incidence associated with injection drug use (IDU), but legislation often prohibits implementation. We examined the policy change impact allowing for SEP implementation on HIV diagnoses among people who inject drugs in 2 US cities.
Using surveillance data from Philadelphia (1984–2015) and Baltimore (1985–2013) for IDU-associated HIV diagnoses, we used autoregressive integrated moving averages modeling to conduct 2 tests to measure policy change impact. We forecast the number of expected HIV diagnoses per city had policy not changed in the 10 years after implementation and compared it with the number of observed diagnoses postpolicy change, obtaining an estimate for averted HIV diagnoses. We then used interrupted time series analysis to assess the immediate step and trajectory impact of policy change implementation on IDU-attributable HIV diagnoses.
The Philadelphia (1993–2002) model predicted 15,248 new IDU-associated HIV diagnoses versus 4656 observed diagnoses, yielding 10,592 averted HIV diagnoses over 10 years. The Baltimore model (1995–2004) predicted 7263 IDU-associated HIV diagnoses versus 5372 observed diagnoses, yielding 1891 averted HIV diagnoses over 10 years. Considering program expenses and conservative estimates of public sector savings, the 1-year return on investment in SEPs remains high: $243.4 M (Philadelphia) and $62.4 M (Baltimore).
The authors conclude that pPolicy change is an effective structural intervention with substantial public health and societal benefits, including reduced HIV diagnoses among people who inject drugs and significant cost savings to publicly funded HIV care.
Access the full report here.
Pike Dental Center Awarded $300,000 Grant for Expansion
Honesdale, PA (October 30, 2019) — Treatment for nearly 2,000 additional patients at the Pike Dental Center will be made possible through a $300,000 grant from the Oral Health Infrastructure Grant Program of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
Officials of Wayne Memorial Community Health Centers (WMCHC) were notified of the grant award earlier this month. The monies will be used to create a 748 square foot expansion within the existing dental center located in Lords Valley, PA. The result, an increase from five to nine operatories at the facility, has the potential of generating between 8,500 – 9,000 additional dental visits per year.
Pike Dental Center was constructed to meet the growing demand for accessible dental care for the greater Pike County area. The state-of-the-art facility first opened its doors in January of 2014 with a total of five operatories. The Lords Valley office, currently staffed by Megan Martino, DMD and John Ridd, DMD, is an extension of the Together For Health Dental Center in Honesdale.
“Even with the development of the Pike office having taken place no more than five years ago, it remains a challenge to provide care as timely as we’d like,” stated Frederick Jackson, executive director, WMCHC. “Wait times exceed four months for some services.”
According to WMCHC’s Dental Manager Nichole Yannone, it became evident as early on as 2015 that the current Pike facility wasn’t large enough to meet the need of the service area. Yannone says the dentists, hygienists and support staff at Pike Dental look forward to the “increased access to care, appointment availability and additional space in which to work” that will be realized when the expansion comes to fruition.
Jackson explained that WMCHC is still “in the design phase of the project” at this time. However, it is hoped that construction will begin in early 2020 with completion by the summer.
WMCHC is a federally qualified health center clinically affiliated with Wayne Memorial Health System, Inc. In addition to dental services, WMCHC offers primary care, women’s health, pediatric services, pulmonology, general surgery and behavioral health services at satellite offices located in Wayne, Pike, Lackawanna and Susquehanna Counties. For more information on all services, call 570-253-8390 or visit wmchc.net.