- Miles for Milk: How Student-Run Grocery Store Reshaped Rural Community's Food Access
- Native Americans Have Shorter Life Spans, and It's Not Just Due to Lack of Health Care
- Promotoras Play Essential Role in Connecting Farmworkers with Health Care in Rural NorCal
- Using Medicaid to Address Young People's Mental Health Needs in School Settings
- Across the Country, Amish Populations Are on the Rise
- Sunsets, Wildlife and Limited Care: Challenges of Aging in Place in Rural America
- City-Country Mortality Gap Widens amid Persistent Holes in Rural Health Care Access
- Tribal Environmental Impact Network
- Minnesota's Rural Ambulance Providers Look to State Capitol for Their Own Lifeline
- Biden-Harris Administration Takes Action to Support the Primary Care Workforce
- Over 3,000 Homes on the Navajo Nation Receive Accurate Addresses for the First Time
- Rural Population Grows for Second Consecutive Year
- Rapides Library Offers Telehealth to a Town Without Doctors
- Rural Infection Preventionists Need Community Support
- New Federal Health IT Strategy Sets Sights on a Heathier, More Innovative, and More Equitable Health Care Experience
Celebrate 75 Years of Community Water Fluoridation
The American Public Health Association (APHA) and the American Dental Association (ADA) are hosting “A Toast to Community Water Fluoridation – Celebrating 75 Years!” on Sunday, October 25th at 7 p.m. ET. This celebration will serve as an opportunity to highlight the inspiring perseverance of public health partners across the country. There are multiple featured speakers including Rear Admiral Assistant Surgeon General Timothy Ricks.
UPMC Cole Recognized for Innovative Post-Acute and End-of-Life Care
The National Rural Health Resource Center (The Center) and the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) recently recognized UPMC Cole for their innovative approach to post-acute care and palliative services in the region with its Critical Access Hospital award. The nomination for the award was made by Lannette Fetzer, Quality Improvement Coordinator, from the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health (PORH). The award will be presented to UPMC Cole on November 4 in a virtual ceremony.
Located in one of the most remote regions of Pennsylvania, UPMC Cole provides necessary and lifesaving services focused on the needs of the communities it serves. A comprehensive community needs assessment identified a population of high risk, vulnerable patients who experienced a lack of support for comprehensive palliative services. Existing hospital services did not adequately meet and support the physical, emotional, spiritual, and social needs of those suffering from a serious or life-threatening illness. Advanced illnesses were limited to a home-based hospice program or placement in a skilled nursing facility. In response, UPMC Cole developed a robust and innovative palliative care service transforming care.
“An interdisciplinary team, passionate about palliative and end of life care, met routinely to identify service gaps and community needs and formulated concise goals utilizing best practices for end-of-life care,” said Timothy Brown, president, vice president of operations, UPMC Cole Medical Group. “Kristin Kratzer and Andrea Heller, MD, were appointed to lead this program to implement palliative services across the continuum of care. The team provided community education to ensure that palliative care services did not replace primary care, but rather supported and complemented established and trusted services.”
The Critical Access Hospital Recognition was established by The Center and the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) to recognize the excellent work in critical access hospitals (CAHs) and other rural safety net providers throughout the country. The recognition shares excellence and innovation and honors the achievements.
“The achievement in post-acute care initiatives by CAHs is impressive,” stated Sally Buck, chief executive officer at The Center. “It reflects the innovation required to address unique population health needs in rural communities. Providing services locally benefits the patient, the overall community, and enhances CAH performance outcomes.”
“UPMC Cole is dedicated to providing a comprehensive system of high-quality health care to include premier post-acute and palliative care services for their patients,” said Jennifer Edwards, Rural Health Systems Manager and Deputy Director from the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health. “This program is a shining example of innovation, and commitment to the transition to value that the CAHs in Pennsylvania are pursuing every day.”
For more information on palliative care and other services available at UPMC Cole, visit UPMCSusquehanna.org.
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About UPMC
A $21 billion health care provider and insurer, Pittsburgh-based UPMC is inventing new models of patient-centered, cost-effective, accountable care. The largest nongovernmental employer in Pennsylvania, UPMC integrates more than 90,000 employees, 40 hospitals, 700 doctors’ offices and outpatient sites, and a 3.8 million-member Insurance Services Division, the largest medical insurer in western Pennsylvania. In the most recent fiscal year, UPMC contributed $1.4 billion in benefits to its communities, including more care to the region’s most vulnerable citizens than any other health care institution, and paid more than $500 million in federal, state, and local taxes. Working in close collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences, UPMC shares its clinical, managerial, and technological skills worldwide through its innovation and commercialization arm, UPMC Enterprises, and through UPMC International. U.S. News & World Report consistently ranks UPMC Presbyterian Shadyside among the nation’s best hospitals in many specialties and ranks UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh on its Honor Roll of America’s Best Children’s Hospitals. For more information, go to UPMC.com.
CMS COVID-19 Stakeholder Engagement Calls – October
CMS hosts varied recurring stakeholder engagement sessions to share information related to the agency’s response to COVID-19. These sessions are open to members of the healthcare community and are intended to provide updates, share best practices among peers, and offer attendees an opportunity to ask questions of CMS and other subject matter experts.
Call details are below. Conference lines are limited so we highly encourage you to join via audio webcast, either on your computer or smartphone web browser. You are welcome to share this invitation with your colleagues and professional networks. These calls are not intended for the press.
Calls recordings and transcripts are posted on the CMS podcast page at: https://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Outreach/OpenDoorForums/PodcastAndTranscripts
CMS COVID-19 Office Hours Calls (twice a month on Tuesday at 5:00 – 6:00 PM Eastern)
Office Hour Calls provide an opportunity for hospitals, health systems, and providers to ask questions of agency officials regarding CMS’s temporary actions that empower local hospitals and healthcare systems to:
- Increase Hospital Capacity – CMS Hospitals Without Walls;
- Rapidly Expand the Healthcare Workforce;
- Put Patients Over Paperwork; and
- Further Promote Telehealth in Medicare
Next Office Hours:
Tuesday, October 13th at 5:00 – 6:00 PM Eastern
Toll Free Attendee Dial In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 6379959
Audio Webcast link: https://engage.vevent.com/rt/cms2/index.jsp?seid=2607
Tuesday, October 27th at 5:00 – 6:00 PM Eastern – save the date, dial in to be provided
Weekly COVID-19 Care Site-Specific Calls
CMS hosts calls for certain types of organizations on an intermittent basis to provide targeted updates on the agency’s latest COVID-19 guidance. One to two leaders in the field also share best practices with their peers. There is an opportunity to ask questions of presenters if time allows.
Nursing Homes
Wednesday, October 14th at 4:30 – 5:00 PM Eastern
Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 1897041 Audio Webcast Link: https://engage.vevent.com/rt/cms2/index.jsp?seid=2622
Wednesday, October 28th at 4:30 – 5:00 PM Eastern – save the date, dial in to be provided
For the most current information including call schedule changes, please click here
To keep up with the important work the White House Task Force is doing in response to COVID-19 click here: https://protect2.fireeye.com/url?k=36fa2226-6aae0b0d-36fa1319-0cc47a6d17cc-2d06c219f858d641&u=http://www.coronavirus.gov/. For information specific to CMS, please visit the Current Emergencies Website.
New Rural Health Brief: Medicare Advantage Enrollment Update 2019
Medicare Advantage Enrollment Update 2019
Abdinasir K. Ali, MPH; Fred Ullrich, BA; and Keith Mueller, PhD
The 2019 edition of the RUPRI Center’s annual report on Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment shows that as of March 2019, 35.0 percent of eligible Medicare beneficiaries were in an MA plan. The proportion of metropolitan enrollment (37.0 percent) is higher than that in nonmetropolitan counties (25.6 percent) but the rate of growth in enrollment has been higher in nonmetropolitan counties for the past two years.
Although well over half of metropolitan MA enrollment has been in HMO plans over the past 10 years (65.0 percent in 2019), since 2012 the plurality of nonmetropolitan MA enrollment has been in local PPO plans. However, nonmetropolitan enrollment in both HMO plans and local PPOs has grown consistently since 2009 (2019 enrollment: 32.7 percent and 45.2 percent, respectively). Growth in these two plan types has come largely at the expense of nonmetropolitan PFFS plans which accounted for 54.5 percent of nonmetropolitan MA enrollment in 2009, but only 2.0 percent by 2019.
Please click here to read the brief.
A Look At Workplace Safety in Agriculture
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that there were 574 private sector agricultural workers fatally injured on the job in 2018, and charts other workplace-related injuries, illness, and fatalities. Read more here.
APA Resources for Farmer Stress
The American Psychological Association (APA) goes in depth on stressors affecting U.S. farmers, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. The dedicated site includes a video conversation about farmer stress and links to resources.
NACO: Considerations for Counties in COVID-19 Vaccination Plans
The National Association of Counties (NACO) describes steps identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for vaccine distribution, explains the county role for each of these, and provides a list of resources. Find more information here.
Guidance on Hospital COVID-19 Data Reporting and Enforcement
This week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the requirements and enforcement process for all Medicare and Medicaid hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) to report COVID-19 data. Hospitals and CAHs must report daily to the federal government or to their state if they receive a written release from the state. Failure to do so will result in a series of enforcements actions over several weeks that could result in termination of the Medicare provider agreement. Separate guidance provides the definitions of the data elements for hospitals and in-hospital labs.
Comments Requested: Proposed DATA 2000 Training Payment Application – December 7
HRSA will soon be able to reimburse Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) for the average training costs of eligible physicians and practitioners to obtain Drug Addiction Treatment Act of 2000 (DATA 2000) waivers. These waivers allow eligible physicians to treat opioid dependency in settings other than opioid treatment programs (OTPs). FQHCs and RHCs are encouraged to provide comments on whether the proposed application collects necessary and useful information, if HRSA accurately estimated the burden of completing the application, and how the application could be improved. Find more information here.
Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Meaningful Use Hardship Exception Applications – November 30
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requires that all CAHs use 2015 Edition certified electronic health record technology (CEHRT) to meet the requirements of the Promoting Interoperability Programs. If a CAH can provide proof that meeting this requirement results in a significant hardship, they can apply for a hardship exception, which is valid for only one payment adjustment year. CAHs that do not meet the requirement and do not get a hardship exception will have a downward payment adjustment. Find more information here.