United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Bette Brand yesterday announced that USDA is seeking grant applications for projects to improve housing, community facilities, and community and economic development in rural areas.

Subject to the availability of funds, grants will be established through USDA’s Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI) program. Eligible recipients include public bodies, nonprofit organizations, and qualified private (for-profit) organizations.

Grants will be awarded to organizations that will use the USDA funding to provide support to entities to develop their capacity to undertake projects that will benefit rural communities. Applicants must provide matching funds in an amount at least equal to the federal grant.

For additional information, see the January 11, 2021, Federal Register. In Pennsylvania, contact Loan Specialist Rebecca Hurst by telephone (717) 237-2267 or email at Rebecca.Hurst2@usda.gov.

USDA encourages applications that will support recommendations made in the Report to the President of the United States from the Task Force on Agriculture and Rural Prosperity (PDF, 5.4 MB) to help improve life in rural America. Applicants are encouraged to consider projects that provide measurable results in helping rural communities build robust and sustainable economies through strategic investments. Key strategies include:

• Achieving e-Connectivity for Rural America
• Developing the Rural Economy
• Harnessing Technological Innovation
• Supporting a Rural Workforce
• Improving Quality of Life

If you’d like to subscribe to USDA Rural Development updates, visit our GovDelivery subscriber page.

On January 14, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final annual Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for plan year (PY) 2022 (final 2022 Payment Notice). CMS anticipates continuing to review comments in response to the proposed rule and finalizing other proposed policies in a subsequent final rule to be published at a later date. Working to address comments and feedback from the public after publishing the proposed 2022 payment notice in November 2020, CMS is using this this final rule to address a number of critical priorities. The rule finalizes changes to reduce consumer costs, empower states to develop their own unique plans, accelerate innovation, and clarify program requirements.

The final rule is currently posted for public inspection on the Federal Register at the following link: https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/2021-01175/patient-protection-and-affordable-care-act-benefit-and-payment-parameters-for-2022-updates-to-state.  For more information, please review the fact sheet or press release posted on the CMS website.

A look at the top 5 Clinical Risk Management Program from ECRI that were accessed during 2020:

• Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) Risk Management Virtual Conference
• Guidance: Managing Risks in Ambulatory Care
• Sample Risk Management Plan for a Community Health Center
• Guidance: Overview of the Risk Management Process
• Practice Alert! Conducting Risk Assessments: A Checklist

Login to the Clinical Risk Management Program website to review these tools and more. If you need help navigating the site or finding resources, email clinical_rm_program@ecri.org.

The Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion has launched the Healthy People 2030 Leading Health Indicators (LHIs) and Overall Health and Well-Being Measures (OHMs). Together, LHIs and OHMs will help you set priorities and track nationwide progress toward improving health and well-being. LHIs are a small subset of high-priority Healthy People 2030 core objectives that help you focus resources and efforts on critical public health issues to improve health and well-being in your community. OHMs are broad, global outcome measures that help health professionals evaluate the health of the nation. When OHMs improve, it reflects efforts to achieve Healthy People objectives, particularly LHIs. And improvements in OHMs mean the nation is moving closer to fulfilling the Healthy People 2030 vision: “A society in which all people can achieve their full potential for health and well-being across the lifespan.”

The U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) has released a Viral Hepatitis National Strategic Plan for the United States: A Roadmap to Elimination (2021-2025). The plan is a crucial element to advancing elimination efforts and will serve as a framework to implement strategies and address the rising number of hepatitis cases. The plan also recognizes the syndemic of viral hepatitis, HIV, STIs and substance use disorders, the mitigation of which will require integrated, interventional strategies that address whole-person health. The integrated approach is critical for the success of prevention and treatment strategies as the opioid use crisis continues to drive increases in hepatitis cases.

The National Opinion Research Center (NORC) launched the Adolescent Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment Project (SBIRT). This is a four-part webinar series which introduces health professionals to the SBIRT model to learn from adolescents about their substance use, talk about what might motivate them to decide to reduce or abstain (if needed) from substances, and execute a plan to do so. This program is free and allows you to mix and match the many offered dates. View the schedule and register here.

A recently announced partnership between Morehouse School of Medicine and CommonSpirit Health will invest $100 million over 10 years to train more Black physicians and work toward health equity for underserved communities. The partnership will create five new regional campuses and graduate educational medical programs in at least 10 markets to be announced in the spring, according to an announcement this week. Read the article from the Atlanta Constitution.