The White House announced their collaborative efforts with Microsoft and Google that will provide a range of free or discounted cybersecurity services to rural hospitals across the country to help them in their efforts to prevent cyberattacks.

Microsoft has committed to working in close collaboration with The White House, the National  Rural Health Association (NRHA), and the American Hospital Association (AHA) to coordinate the rollout, adoption and effectiveness of the program.

“Rural hospitals face a unique challenge in cybersecurity, balancing limited resources with the increasing sophistication of cyberthreats, which puts patient data and critical healthcare infrastructure at risk,” said Alan Morgan, chief executive officer of NRHA. “This important partnership with Microsoft will help ensure that rural hospitals are prepared in the future to meet this rising threat in small rural facilities.”

As part of this initiative to improve security and resilience of our rural hospital system, these private sector partners have committed to the following:

• For independent Critical Access Hospitals and Rural Emergency Hospitals, Microsoft is extending its nonprofit program to provide grants and up to a 75% discount on security products optimized for smaller organizations.
• For participating larger rural hospitals already using eligible Microsoft solutions, Microsoft is providing its most advanced security suite at no additional cost for one year. Additionally, Microsoft will extend security updates for Window 10 to participating hospitals for one year at no cost.
• Microsoft will also provide free cybersecurity assessments by qualified technology security providers and free training for frontline and IT staff at eligible rural hospitals throughout the country to deepen our resiliency to malicious cyberattacks.
• Google will provide endpoint security advice to rural hospitals and non-profit organizations at no cost, and eligible customers can get discounted pricing for communication and collaboration tools and security support and a pool of funding to support software migration.
• In addition, Google is committing to launch a pilot program with rural hospitals to develop a packaging of security capabilities that fit these hospitals’ unique needs.

Learn more.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), awarded more than $11 million to 15 organizations to establish new residency programs in rural communities. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden announced the new awards while visiting rural health clinic in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin today. Building on HRSA’s Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative, one program will create the first obstetrics and gynecology Rural Track Program in the country, and six others will develop new family medicine residency programs with enhanced obstetrical training in rural communities.

“Every American should have access to high-quality health care no matter where they live. That is why HHS is investing in programs that improve and expand access in geographic areas that have historically been underserved,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Training more doctors in our country’s rural areas is a proven strategy to recruit and retain doctors to serve rural communities. By funding new residency programs focused on OB-GYN training, we can help eliminate maternal care deserts, an important step in making pregnancy and childbirth safer.

“Rural communities need physicians, and the Health Resources and Services Administration is committed to helping build this workforce through steps like our work to create rural residency programs,” said HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson. “This funding will help build pathways for rural students to become doctors and help rural communities recruit and train more doctors. We are particularly pleased to support new programs aimed at training new physicians to care for pregnant women.”

Retaining and recruiting physicians in underserved and rural areas is a critical priority of the Biden-Harris Administration. These awards build on nearly $54 million that HRSA has invested in the Rural Residency Planning and Development Program (RRPD) since 2019. Past recipients of RRPD awards have created 46 accredited rural residency programs and have been approved to train 575 resident physicians overall. In this year’s 2024 Residency Match, RRPD-created residency programs matched 158 new residents who will start training this summer.

Award recipients will each receive up to $750,000 over three years to establish new rural residency programs. They will use this funding to support accreditation costs, curriculum development, faculty recruitment and retention, resident recruitment activities, and consultation services for program development. Many of today’s awardees will implement a Rural Track Program, which makes it possible for residency programs to provide their residents with experience in rural settings and increase access to health care in rural areas.

Access the list of awardees here.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) released updated data on Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs). In addition, they updated the number of additional dental health practitioners needed to support the HPSAs. The number of HPSAs has grown nationwide since February. The updated data are available on the HPSA dashboard.

Click here for more information and to view the dashboard.

The Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center is collecting responses for the 2024 Pennsylvania LGBTQ+ Health Needs Assessment. This survey is designed to better understand LGBTQ+ patients’ health and better understand the wellbeing and health care experiences of the community. The survey is available in English and Spanish. Please spread the word and share the survey with your networks.

Click here for the English survey.
Click here for the Spanish survey.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and the Department of Aging Secretary Jason Kavulich unveiled a new blueprint for enhancing services targeted at the state’s elderly population. The plan, “Aging Our Way, PA,” is a ten-year strategic plan aimed to transform how state, regional, and local agencies work together to meet the needs of Pennsylvania’s fast-growing senior population and improve their quality of life.

Click here to learn more.

CMS is pleased to announce the Certified Application Counselor Designated Organization (CDO) Application web form is now live and will remain available year-round!

CDOs are a vital component of the assister community. In states with a Federally-facilitated Marketplace (FFM), CDOs oversee Certified Application Counselors (CACs), who are annually trained and able to help consumers seeking health coverage options through the Marketplace.

Help us spread the word – the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) invites new applicant organizations who want to become CDOs to apply.

This announcement applies only to organizations that:

• Wish to apply to the CDO program operating in an FFM state, and
• Do not currently have an active CMS-CDO agreement with CMS

Organizations with an active CMS-CDO agreement should disregard this message. If you are unsure if your organization has an active CMS-CDO agreement with CMS, please contact us at CACQuestions@cms.hhs.gov.

Only organizations that complete the two steps below and receive a CDO ID from CMS can certify staff or volunteers as CACs in an FFM state to provide enrollment assistance services.

To apply to become a CDO:

1. Access and complete the CDO Application at https://mats.secure.force.com/CDOApplication/. CMS will review your application and send a determination email with your application status. Please allow up to 10 business days for this review.
2. If CMS approves your application, your leadership contacts will receive a Preliminary Approval email.
3. Your Organization Senior Official (OSO) listed on your application will receive an email from DocuSign containing directions and a link to your CMS-CDO Agreement and must sign using DocuSign.
4. Please be sure to check your spam/junk folder and add cacquestions@cms.hhs.gov and  DocuSign email dse@Docusign.net to your approved senders list.
5. CMS will then review your signed agreement and send your leadership contacts a determination email. If CMS approves your agreement, you will receive a Welcome Packet email with a unique CDO ID and next steps. Please allow up to 5 business days for this review.

Resources for CDO Applicants

For an overview of the CDO Program and resources that walk users through the CDO application, please visit:

• CDO Application Information – information about who should apply and how to apply.
• CDO Program Information – information about who can become a CDO and CDO role responsibilities.

For questions or updates, you can email CACQuestions@cms.hhs.gov. Please include your organization’s name and address in the body of your email.

Facing ongoing concerns about rural hospital closures, Capitol Hill lawmakers have introduced a spate of proposals to fix a federal program created to keep lifesaving services in small towns nationwide.

In Anamosa, Iowa — a town of fewer than 6,000 residents located more than 900 miles from the nation’s capital — rural hospital leader Eric Briesemeister is watching for Congress’ next move. The 22-bed hospital Briesemeister runs averages about seven inpatients each night, and its most recent federal filings show it earned just $95,445 in annual net income from serving patients.

Yet Briesemeister isn’t interested in converting the facility into a rural emergency hospital, which would mean getting millions of extra dollars each year from federal payments. In exchange for that financial support, hospitals that join the program keep their emergency departments open and give up inpatient beds.

“It wasn’t for us,” said Briesemeister, chief executive of UnityPoint Health-Jones Regional Medical Center. “I think that program is a little bit more designed for hospitals that might not be around without it.”

Nationwide, only about two dozen of the more than 1,500 eligible hospitals have become rural emergency hospitals since the program launched last year. At the same time, rural hospitals continue to close — 10 since the fix became available.

Federal lawmakers have introduced a handful of legislative solutions since March. In one bill, senators from Kansas and Minnesota list a myriad of tactics, including allowing older closed facilities to reopen.

Another proposal introduced in the House by two Michigan lawmakers is the Rural 340B Access Act. It would allow rural emergency hospitals to use the 340B federal drug discount program, which Congress created in 1992.

The 340B program, named after its federal statute, lets eligible hospitals and clinics buy drugs at a discount and then bill insurance companies, Medicare, or Medicaid at market rates. Hospitals get to keep the money they make from the difference.

Congress approved 340B as an indirect aid package to help struggling hospitals stay afloat. Many larger hospitals say the cash is used for community benefits and charity care, while many small hospitals depend on the drug discounts to help cover staffing and operational shortfalls.

Currently, emergency hospitals are not eligible for 340B discounts. According to a release from U.S. Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.), the House proposal would “correct this oversight.” Backers of the House bill include the American Hospital Association and the National Rural Health Association.

Read more.