- CMS: Medicare Program; Implementation of Prior Authorization for Select Services for the Wasteful and Inappropriate Services Reduction (WISeR) Model
- Public Inspection: CMS: Medicare Program: Implementation of Prior Authorization for Select Services for the Wasteful and Inappropriate Services Reduction Model
- CMS: Secretarial Comments on the CBE's (Battelle Memorial Institute) 2024 Activities: Report to Congress and the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services
- HHS: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Marketplace Integrity and Affordability
- HRSA Announces Action to Lower Out-of-Pocket Costs for Life-Saving Medications at Health Centers Nationwide
- Public Inspection: HHS: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Marketplace Integrity and Affordability
- Increased Risk of Cyber Threats Against Healthcare and Public Health Sector
- Eight Hospitals Selected for First Cohort of Rural Hospital Stabilization Program
- Announcing the 2030 Census Disclosure Avoidance Research Program
- CMS: Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System and Policy Changes and Fiscal Year 2026 Rates; Requirements for Quality Programs; and Other Policy Changes; Correction
- CMS: Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System and Policy Changes and Fiscal Year 2026 Rates; Requirements for Quality Programs; and Other Policy Changes; Correction
- CMS: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Contract Year 2026 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage Program, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program, Medicare Cost Plan Program, and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly; Correction
- CMS: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Contract Year 2026 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage Program, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program, Medicare Cost Plan Program, and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly; Correction
- CMS: Medicare Program; Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities; Updates to the Quality Reporting Program for Federal Fiscal Year 2026
- CMS: Medicare Program; FY 2026 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements
NRHA’s Rural Horizons | Winter 2019
Responding to Unsheltered Homelessness
In any community, developing a coordinated strategy to address unsheltered homelessness is challenging. Community Supportive Housing (CSH) now offers guidance that can help ensure better outcomes. Learn about their new Community Response Resources: Tools, Policies & Templates for Addressing Unsheltered Homelessness. These tools will assist you in identifying and leveraging local champions and strategies to tackle issues that may arise during the development and implementation of an outreach and engagement system.
Updated Security Risk Assessment Tool Available to Download
In October 2018, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), in collaboration with the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR), released an updated, downloadable Security Risk Assessment (SRA) tool. This updated SRA tool is easier to use and applies more broadly to the risks of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of health information. The tool is designed to help healthcare providers conduct an SRA as required by the HIPAA Security Rule and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program. The tool diagrams HIPAA Security Rule safeguards and provides enhanced functionality to document how your organization implements safeguards to mitigate, or plans to mitigate, identified risks. The new SRA tool is available for Windows computers and laptops. However, the previous iPad version of the SRA tool is still available from the Apple App Store (search under “HHS SRA Tool”). Go to the HealthIT.gov website to download the updated SRA tool.
NEW Pennsylvania Drug and Alcohol Referral Tool
Pennsylvania residents now have access to the Drug and Alcohol Referral Tool (DART), an online resource to help individuals seeking substance use disorder (SUD) treatment find appropriate, local care. This tool is fully anonymous, user friendly and can be translated into over 100 languages. DART is a centralized hub that will ask a series of questions based on a person’s age, county of residence and veteran status to assess appropriate needs and locate care. The tool will also provide potential resources that consider issues of homelessness, transportation and legal concerns. “Substance use disorders often occur when a person experiences other medical and behavioral health concerns, and they may need additional resources to live a stable, healthy life in recovery,” said Human Services Secretary Teresa Miller. “Connecting people seeking treatment to comprehensive services that can help meet all of their needs from the start is critical as they work towards recovery.”