- 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
Vaccine Coverage Lower For Rural Teens
In late August 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released results from the National Immunization Survey-Teen (NIS-Teen) in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), providing the latest estimates of vaccination rates among adolescents in the United States. The key findings from the report include a lower rate of vaccination in rural areas. This MMWR also included a report on the latest estimates of HPV cancers in the United States, which found that HPV vaccination could prevent 92 percent of cancers estimated to be caused by HPV. To support healthcare professionals in making effective recommendations, addressing parents’ questions and concerns, and reinforcing the message that HPV vaccination is cancer prevention, the CDC has developed a number of educational resources. The full MMWR report can be accessed here.
Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Announces Suicide Prevention Task Force Public Listening Sessions
On May 29, 2019, Pennsylvania Governor Wolf’s administration announced the creation of a statewide Suicide Prevention Task Force. The goal of this task force is to bring together state agencies with differing responsibilities and constituencies to inform a comprehensive, statewide suicide prevention plan.
Suicide does not discriminate, and all ages, genders, regions, and socioeconomic statuses may be affected. Because of this, the task force is seeking public input on their ideas for suicide prevention, education around mental health and suicide, and how to dispel the stigma around suicide and mental health.
Public listening sessions will take place around the commonwealth beginning in September through November. Sessions are currently scheduled for:
- Thursday, September 12, 5:30-7:30 p.m. – Penn State Behrend – Erie, PA
- Thursday, September 26, 5:30-7:30 p.m. – Temple University – Philadelphia, PA
- Thursday, October 10, 5:30-7:30 p.m. – Jewish Community Center – York, PA
- Thursday, October 24 – 5:30-7:30 p.m. – Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Area – Additional Details Coming Soon
- Friday, October 25 – 10 a.m.-12 p.m. – Allentown – Additional Details Coming Soon
- Thursday, November 7 – 5:30-7:30 p.m. – Jewish Healthcare Foundation – Pittsburgh, PA
- Friday, November 8 – 10 a.m.-12 p.m. – Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA
- Friday, November 15 – 10 a.m.-12 p.m. – Southeastern Pennsylvania – Additional Details Coming Soon
You can register for the listening sessions here. Please complete one registration per participant from your organization or family. If you would like to speak, please indicate that on your registration. Additional details on locations and parking will be sent ahead of each event.
HRSA Study Finds 1 in 4 Children and 1 in 5 Adolescents are Victims of Bullying
A HRSA study using 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health data highlights the need for universal prevention efforts and targeted services to address bullying among children and adolescents.
The study by HRSA researchers showed that 22.7% of children and adolescents aged 6–17 years were bullied by others, as reported by their parents or caregivers. Bullying victimization was slightly higher among 6-11 year olds than among 12-17 year olds (24.1% vs. 21.1%).
The results also reveal opportunities to improve access to mental health services for youth experiencing bullying.
Shortage Designation Modernization Project: Auto-HPSA National Update
On August 30, 2019, HRSA updated all automatically designated Health Professional Shortage Area (Auto-HPSA) scores. With the implementation of this update, for the first time Auto-HPSAs are now scored electronically, not manually, streamlining the process and ensuring that all HPSAs nationwide are in a single online system.
All Auto-HPSA organizations have the opportunity to submit rescore requests via the online Auto-HPSA portal.
Updated scores will be used for the FY 2020 National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Loan Repayment Program application cycle, which will open in February 2020.
View the announcement and visit the Shortage Designation Modernization Project for more information about the update.
National Health Service Corps Partners with SAMHSA’s Providers Clinical Support System
A new partnership between our National Health Service Corps (NHSC) and SAMHSA’s Providers Clinical Support System (PCSS) connects qualified clinicians to free Medication-Assisted Treatment training and professional development resources, and the opportunity to obtain the DATA 2000 Waiver, which will increase access to quality substance use disorder or opioid use disorder treatment in rural and underserved areas.
HHS Announces $1.8 Billion in New Funding to States to Combat Opioid Crisis
On September 4, 2019, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced more than $1.8 billion in funding to states to continue the Trump administration’s efforts to combat the opioid crisis by expanding access to treatment and supporting near real-time data on the drug overdose crisis.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced more than $900 million in new funding for a three-year cooperative agreement with states, territories, and localities to advance the understanding of the opioid overdose epidemic and to scale-up prevention and response activities, releasing $301 million for the first year.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) awarded approximately $932 million to all 50 states as part of its State Opioid Response grants. By the end of 2019, HHS will have awarded more than $9 billion in grants to states and local communities to help increase access to treatment and prevention services since the start of the Trump administration.
The full CDC state by state data table is here
The full SAMHSA state by state table is here
Study Ranks Pennsylvania 24th in the Nation for Worker-friendly Policies
A recent report by the anti-poverty group Oxfam America ranked all 50 states based on a variety of metrics, from whether workers can earn a livable wage, its friendliness to organized labor, and the support services it offers to workers. Based on those metrics, Pennsylvania finished 24th in the nation, finishing behind five of the Keystone State’s six neighbors.
“While the U.S. economy is thriving for some, it is leaving millions of working families behind. As the federal government has refused to advance labor laws that would help, most states have stepped up to make vital improvements in wages and conditions,” the study’s authors wrote.
Here’s how Pennsylvania’s neighboring states finished overall: Delaware (16), Maryland (13), New Jersey (12); New York (13), Ohio (20) and West Virginia (25). The full report can be accessed here.
CMS Revamps Medicare Plan Finder
During the week of August 26, 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it launched a redesigned Medicare Plan Finder that aims to make it easier for Medicare beneficiaries to compare their coverage options. CMS said the update to the Medicare Plan Finder is the first in a decade and is part of the agency’s eMedicare initiative, “which expands and improves on current Medicare consumer service options.”
Broadband Research Base
The National Data Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) has created a searchable collection of reports, studies and journal articles that address the impact of broadband and digital inclusion on community and individual well-being. Click here to access the resource.
New Report Offers State-Level Analysis of Primary Care Investment
The Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC) 2019 Executive Report provides quantitative data and analysis of primary care spend at the state and payer levels, as well as a window into the association between primary care spend and key patient outcomes. The report shows:
- Primary care investment as a percentage of total health care expenditures was low between 2011 and 2016, and it varied considerably across states and across payers
- An association between more primary care investment and better patient outcomes
- A description of legislative/regulatory efforts in 10 states to measure and report on primary care spend and to shift more resources into primary care