Rural Health Information Hub Latest News

Summary of Medicare Emergency COVID-19 Waivers for Health Care Providers

CMS has temporarily waived several Medicare regulations to support hospitals, clinics, and other healthcare facilities during the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.  The new waivers focus on reducing supervision and certification requirements so that practitioners can be hired quickly and perform work to the fullest extent of their licenses.  This Fact Sheet summarizes the new changes in addition to previous waivers that impact all types of providers, including Critical Access Hospitals, Rural Health Clinics, physicians, skilled nursing facilities, and others.

RAND: Responding to Critical Care Surge Capacity

The RAND Corporation (Research ANd Development) included 61 rural hospitals in its survey of hospitals across the country about their capacity to respond to the Coronavirus pandemic.  The report presents a range of strategies for creating capacity, including an online Critical Care Surge Response Tool that allows decision-makers at all levels — hospitals, health care systems, states, regions — to estimate current critical care capacity and rapidly explore strategies for increasing it. Read more here.

Notice of Intent: New Funding Opportunity Announcement to Support Novel, High-Impact Studies Evaluating Health System and Healthcare Professional Responsiveness to COVID-19 – June 2020

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) intends to publish a new funding opportunity focused on evaluating topics such as innovations and challenges encountered in the rapid expansion of telemedicine in response to COVID-19, effects on quality, safety, and value of health system response to COVID-19, and the role of primary care practices and professionals during the COVID-19 epidemic. AHRQ expects to invest up to $5 million in FY2020 funds with particular interest in understanding how digital health innovations contributed to health system and healthcare professional innovation and challenges and solutions to meeting the needs of vulnerable populations including older adults, people living with multiple chronic conditions, rural communities, and uninsured and under-insured populations. Read more here.