Rural Spotlight

New Patient Engagement Toolkit from HRSA’s Federal Cervical Cancer Collaborative (FCCC)

December 20, 2024

New Patient Engagement Toolkit from HRSA’s Federal Cervical Cancer Collaborative (FCCC)

In 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported higher rates of cervical cancer for rural residents than urban. The Federal Cervical Cancer Collaborative (FCCC) is a multi-year federal partnership that bridges the federal priorities of cancer research and health care delivery in safety net settings of care. This resource is a companion to the Toolkit to Build Provider Capacity, publicly available on the FCCC resources page.

The toolkit supports efforts to increase patient and community engagement in prevention, screening, and management of a cancer that is highly treatable if found early.

Materials include social media posts, posters, a cervical screening follow-up card, and more and are available in both English and Spanish.

Click Here to Access the Toolkit

Feature Article: How Federal Funding Helped Build a Rural Cancer Care Network

December 20, 2024

Feature Article: How Federal Funding Helped Build a Rural Cancer Care Network

This feature article in The Rural Monitor describes how an urban nonprofit organization collaborated with a regional health care system and a rural physician’s office to create a network that brings comprehensive cancer care to residents in rural Georgia.

The Southeastern Rural Cancer Care Network used federal funds administered by FORHP’s Community Based Division through the Rural Health Care Coordination Program.

Click Here to Read Article

Upcoming Webinar: 2025 Physician Fee Schedule – Registration Required, January 30

December 20, 2024

Upcoming Webinar: 2025 Physician Fee Schedule – Registration Required, January 30

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently updated the Physician fee Schedule (PFS) for 2025 through the Calendar Year 2025 PFS Final Rule.

CMS subject matter experts will discuss and highlight policy updates on:

  • General care management,
  • Advanced Primary Care Management (APCM),
  • Telehealth,
  • Rural Health Clinic (RHC),
  • Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) policy updates,
  • Behavioral health,
  • Dental services, and more.

There is no fee to attend but registration is required.

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, January 30, 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Upcoming Webinar – Expand GME Training at Your Hospital: How to Apply for Section 126 and 4122, January 16

December 20, 2024

Upcoming Webinar – Expand GME Training at Your Hospital: How to Apply for Section 126 and 4122, January 16

In this one-hour webinar, hosted by RuralGME.org, the FORHP-supported organization that helps hospitals plan and develop rural residencies, will provide background information on Section 126 and 4122 with a focus on considerations for rural hospitals.

Federal legislation under Section 126 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, and Section 4122 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, authorizes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to distribute additional residency positions (also known as slots) for physician training in underserved areas.

Eligible hospitals must use MEARIS, CMS’s online application system to apply by March 31 for 200 newly available Section 126 slots and the 200 Section 4122 slots.

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, January 16, 12:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model to End after Calendar Year 2025

December 20, 2024

Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model to End after Calendar Year 2025

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the Medicare Advantage (MA) Value-Based Insurance Design Model (VBID) is ending on December 31, 2025.

CMS is ending the model due to negative financial performance. Through the model, participating MA plans have had greater flexibility in serving high needs and underserved beneficiaries, and many of the lessons learned from the model have been incorporated into the MA program as a whole. Upon the model’s end, some beneficiaries in VBID MA plans may need to select a new MA plan or go back to traditional Medicare in 2026.

Click Here to Learn More

CMS Guidance on Co-location Arrangements in CAHs

December 20, 2024

CMS Guidance on Co-location Arrangements in CAHs

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released guidance providing clarity on how Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) may leverage space sharing arrangements with other healthcare entities, such as private physician practices, to increase access to care and services within the community, while maintaining independent compliance with all applicable Conditions of Participation (CoPs).

Because CAHs must maintain a specified distance from another hospital or CAH, they cannot share space with these types of facilities. This guidance explains how a CAH may share space with other types of health care providers through either a ‘time share’ arrangement or a ‘leased space’ arrangement and meet requirements of their CoPs.

Click Here to Learn More

Rural Health Clinic CY 2025 All-Inclusive Rate

December 20, 2024

Rural Health Clinic CY 2025 All-Inclusive Rate

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updated the Rural Health Clinic (RHC) all-inclusive rate for calendar year (CY) 2025. The payment limit per visit for independent and provider based RHCs in hospitals with 50 or more beds is $152.00.

The payment limit per visit for specified provider based RHCs, with an April 1, 2021, established payment limit, that continue to meet the qualifications in section 1833(f)(3)(B) of the Social Security Act is the greater of these amounts:

  • Your payment limit per visit starting January 1, 2024, increased by 3.5 percent;
  • The national statutory CY 2025 payment limit per visit of $152.00.

For more information see:

CMS Seeking Input to Protect Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers

December 20, 2024

CMS Seeking Input to Protect Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is soliciting comments to inform future decision-making regarding how the agency can best protect Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers (MBIs) and Medicare beneficiaries.

MBIs have been targeted by individuals seeking to commit Medicare fraud, including the use of MBI lookup tools to commit MBI theft. CMS is seeking input and information related to the following topic areas:

  • Organizations that operate an externally controlled MBI lookup tool;
  • Users of MBI lookup tools, both CMS-operated and externally controlled;
  • Potential benefit or impact of prohibiting or restricting externally controlled MBI lookup tools;
  • Safeguards or best practices from inside or outside healthcare that CMS should consider for preventing MBI theft and misuse.

Click Here for more information and the full list of questions.

To provide comments, Click Here and fill out and submit the survey by Monday, February 17.

Rural Health Research: Utilization of Inpatient and Emergency Services by Rural and Urban Medicaid Enrollees

December 19, 2024

Rural Health Research: Utilization of Inpatient and Emergency Services by Rural and Urban Medicaid Enrollees

This brief used data from the 2019 Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS) Analytic Files (TAF) to compare urban and rural residents enrolled in either fee-for-service or managed care Medicaid. Researchers focused on inpatient and emergency department (ED) health care utilization.

Key Findings:

  • Overall utilization by Medicaid enrollees, as measured by number of ED visits, number of inpatient admissions, inpatient length-of-stay, and inpatient readmission rate, is higher in urban areas than in rural areas.
  • Among enrollees who are at least 65 years old, most of whom had Medicare-Medicaid dual eligibility, rural Medicaid enrollees had higher rates of inpatient admissions and ED visits than urban enrollees, while among those in the age categories of below 18 and 18-64 years old, urban enrollees had higher rates. Readmission rates and average inpatient length-of stay were higher in urban enrollees across all age categories.
  • Non-Hispanic Black enrollees had the highest utilization rates compared to enrollees that were non-Hispanic White, and Hispanic of any race. Hispanic enrollees of any race had the lowest utilization rates. Utilization was lowest in Isolated Rural Areas, and often highest in Large Rural areas.
  • Rural female enrollees (except those in Isolated Rural Areas) had higher rates of ED use compared to urban enrollees, while rural male enrollees had lower ED utilization than those in urban areas. Compared to urban areas, male and female enrollees in rural areas had shorter inpatient lengths-of-stay and lower readmission rates.

Click Here to Read Policy Brief

Rural Health Research: Variation in Elder Abuse State Statutes by State Level of Rurality

December 19, 2024

Rural Health Research: Variation in Elder Abuse State Statutes by State Level of Rurality

As older adults become a larger proportion of the population, their social and health needs continue to warrant further attention. This is particularly true for older adults in rural areas, where they are a relatively faster growing demographic compared with older adults in urban areas.

One public health concern that needs closer study is older adult maltreatment or elder abuse, and specifically social-contextual factors that lead to geographic differences in preventing and addressing abuse.

This policy brief from the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center examines elements of state-level elder abuse statutes’ definitions and reporting requirements to investigate potential differences in these policies by state rurality.

Click Here to Read Policy Brief