- Call for Experts: Forum on Aging, Disability, and Independence
- Bill to Expand Definition of 'Village' Qualifying for Water Funds Passes Alaska House
- Child Care Workers Caught in Middle of Michigan's Broken Child Care System
- Few Options Available for Substance Abuse Treatment in the Big Bend
- Ways and Means Members Put Forth Solutions to Strengthen Telehealth Access and Improve Health Care for Rural Communities
- In Rural Texas, ERs Are Facing a Growing Mental Health Crisis
- Sage Memorial Hospital in Navajo Nation Constructs New Facility to Improve Health Care
- How the State, Tribes and Federal Government Are Working to Curb SD's Syphilis Epidemic
- Rural Children Struggle to Access Hospital Services, Say Researchers
- Outlining the Intersection between Health Care and Missing and Murdered Indigenous People
- A Pilot Program in Rural Vermont Hopes to Build a Blueprint for Substance Abuse Recovery
- Farmers Don't Do Mental Health
- RPHARM Program Fulfills Need for Rural Pharmacists
- Biden-Harris Administration Announces Critical More Than $1.5 Billion State and Tribal Opioid Response Funding Opportunities
- USDA Rural Development Seeks Input to Improve Access to Grants and Help More Communities Thrive
NCSL on the Role of Pharmacists in Rural Areas
The National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) explains how pharmacists can increase access to care, especially expanding access to care, especially in areas facing primary care provider shortages. The nonprofit, nonpartisan organization provides a state-by-state breakdown of policies allowing pharmacists to participate in the care of patients. The NCSL is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration through a cooperative agreement with the National Organization of State and Local Health Officials.
National Rural Health Resource Center COVID-19 Collection
With support from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, the National Rural Health Resource Center serves as a national rural health knowledge center, providing technical assistance, information, tools and resources. This collection will be updated regularly with information from national and federal sources. The Center also provides a guide for COVID-19 Funding Sources Impacting Rural Providers.
Executive Order on Improving Rural Health and Telehealth Access
On August 3, the President issued an Executive Order that seeks to improve health care in rural areas by expanding access to telehealth. Within 30 days of the order, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) will launch a new payment model and develop strategies for improving the physical and communications health care infrastructure available in rural areas. HHS will submit a report with existing and upcoming initiatives to reduce regulatory burden on providers, improve maternity morbidity and mortality, and improve mental health care. Within 60 days of the order, HHS will review specified temporary measures put in place during the public health emergency (PHE) and propose a regulation to extend these measures, as appropriate, beyond the duration of the PHE
Comments Requested: Proposed Updates to the CY2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule – October 5
This week, CMS released proposed updates to how physician and other service providers are reimbursed by Medicare. In addition to several technical updates to how payment rates are set, CMS is proposing to add several telehealth services to their current list as well as to the list under the COVID-19 public health emergency; to allow direct supervision to be provided using real-time, interactive audio and video technology; and to make permanent the public health emergency waiver allowing nurse practitioners (NPs), clinical nurse specialists (CNSs), physician assistants (PAs), and certified nurse-midwives (CNMs) to supervise the performance of diagnostic tests. CMS is also proposing revisions to simplify coding and billing requirements for Evaluation and Management (E/M) visits including office/outpatient visits.
Comments Requested: Proposed Changes to Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System – October 5
On August 4, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released proposed changes to the outpatient prospective payment system and the ambulatory payment system for the 2021 calendar year. Proposals that may be of interest to rural providers include changes to how drugs acquired under the 340B program are reimbursed and updates to how the Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings can be calculated to include Critical Access Hospitals.
NIH Phase 3 Clinical Trial of Investigational Vaccine for COVID-19 Begins
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is seeking volunteers for a clinical trial to test the effectiveness of a vaccine developed to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The trial, which will be conducted at U.S. clinical research sites, is expected to enroll approximately 30,000 adult volunteers who do not have COVID-19. Get more information from a Q&A about the phase 3 trial. You can also watch a 30-minute interview with a volunteer from the phase 1 clinical trial, who is joined by NIH Director Francis Collins and Dr. Anthony Fauci. (Note: the video has some tech difficulties in the beginning).
New Reports from Rural Health Advisory Committee
The National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services convenes twice each year for close examination of issues by a panel of more than 20 experts. The most recent recommendations to the Secretary of HHS come from its March 2020 meeting in Atlanta. They are: HIV Prevention and Treatment Challenges in Rural America, and Maternal and Obstetric Care Challenges in Rural America. Read more about publications here.
FDA List of Dangerous Hand Sanitizers Grows to More than 100 Brands
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has expanded its list of dangerous hand sanitizers. The more than 100 brands on the list contain methanol, which “can be toxic when absorbed through the skin or ingested.” Since June, several such products have been recalled by manufacturers and pulled from store shelves. Read more.
The Next COVID-19 Casualty: Housing Security
23 million Americans are at risk of eviction and exposure to the shelter system due to the pandemic, the AP reports, citing the Aspen Institute. The latest Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey found last week that more than 26.5 percent of American adults 18 or older questioned said they were not able to make last month’s rent or mortgage payment and had little or no confidence they could pay next month, the AP notes. While many lower-income Americans initially got by on credit cards and stimulus checks, those options are now gone, leaving many in a huge financial hole. Of note, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit by landlord advocates that challenged Gov. Tom Wolf’s statewide order against banning evictions during the coronavirus pandemic.
40% of Americans Still Putting Off Care
Roughly 40 percent of Americans have postponed getting medical care due to the coronavirus outbreak. That number has stayed around 40 percent in all 12 weeks of the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey. Hospitals and doctors started rescheduling surgeries and other appointments as early as mid-May, and many patient volumes are mostly back to pre-pandemic numbers, Axios’ Bob Herman writes. But this data suggests there is still a major backlog of Americans who need care – a phenomenon that existed well before the pandemic.