Rural Spotlight

Webinar: Policy Shifts and Revenue Risks: How Health Systems are Safeguarding Financial Stability, May 21

May 16, 2025

Webinar: Policy Shifts and Revenue Risks: How Health Systems are Safeguarding Financial Stability, May 21

Medicare, Medicaid and consumer protection regulations are set for significant changes that could disrupt reimbursement models, complicate debt collection compliance and challenge revenue forecasting.

As federal and state policies evolve, healthcare financial leaders must act now to mitigate risk and safeguard long-term financial stability.

The complexity of these policy changes demands a multifaceted approach. Health systems must align legal, compliance and financial teams to ensure seamless adoption while leveraging automation and predictive analytics. Proactive planning and cross-functional collaboration will be critical to maintaining financial resilience in this rapidly shifting environment.

Join this webinar to uncover proactive strategies that mitigate revenue risk, and learn how to:

  • Identify high-risk policy areas that may affect reimbursement and debt collection,
  • Develop contingency plans to safeguard revenue, and
  • Leverage technology and predictive analytics to mitigate financial disruption.

Cost: Free

When: Wednesday, May 21, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Article: Physician Burnout Dips, but Pressures Remain

May 16, 2025

Article: Physician Burnout Dips, but Pressures Remain

During the COVID-19 pandemic, physician burnout and job dissatisfaction rates reached historic highs. In the years since, burnout rates have come down – though not nearly enough to ease concerns about the nation’s physician shortage and patient access to high-quality care.

Every three years since 2011, researchers at Stanford (Calif.) Medicine have surveyed practicing physicians to track changes in burnout and well-being among the workforce. The latest edition, published April 9 in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, is based on responses from more than 7,600 physicians surveyed between late 2023 and early 2024.

Click Here to Read Article

An Expanded Look at Recent State Developments in CCHP’s Telehealth Policy Finder

May 16, 2025

An Expanded Look at Recent State Developments in CCHP’s Telehealth Policy Finder

The Center for Connected Health Policy (CCHP) closely monitors federal telehealth developments through the Telehealth Policy Finder, which is updated year-round, as CCHP ensures that each state undergoes three rounds of comprehensive policy review annually.

Each fall, CCHP compiles a full snapshot of the telehealth policy landscape in their 50-State Summary Report, covering all 50 states, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This report includes:

  • Medicaid reimbursement status for live video,
  • Store-and-forward,
  • RPM, and
  • Audio-only services, as well as
  • State-level requirements related to patient consent, cross-state licensing, and private payer laws.

To view the most recent version, visit: Fall 2024 State Telehealth Laws and Reimbursement Policies Report.

Webinar: Winning in Women’s Health: How Wellspan Health Scaled Minimally Invasive Care with Robotic-Assisted Surgery, May 20

May 16, 2025

Webinar: Winning in Women’s Health: How Wellspan Health Scaled Minimally Invasive Care with Robotic-Assisted Surgery, May 20

Women drive most healthcare decisions, making them a powerful force in shaping care delivery and organizational growth. By prioritizing women’s health, health systems have a unique opportunity to strengthen strategic positioning and expand key service lines.

WellSpan Health’s approach: Expand minimally invasive care through a scalable, multi-specialty da Vinci robotic-assisted surgery program – starting with gynecology.

Join this session to hear how leaders at WellSpan aligned surgical innovation with strategic growth, improved patient outcomes, and broadened access in high-impact specialties.

What You Will Learn:

  • How WellSpan Health unlocked systemwide value through da Vinci robotic-assisted GYN and bariatric surgery,
  • Why investing in women’s health can be a strategic lever for service line growth, and
  • Practical steps for scaling robotics across specialties with limited resources.

Cost: Free

When: Tuesday, May 20, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

July 2025 Public Reporting Preview Data Available

May 16, 2025

July 2025 Public Reporting Preview Data Available

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) created the Care Compare website to allow consumers to compare health care providers based on quality and other information and to make more informed choices when choosing a health care provider. Users of the site can compare providers in several categories of care settings.

Today through June 13, 2025, on the CMS Hospital Quality Reporting (HQR) page (https://hqr.cms.gov/hqrng/login), you can preview:

  • Your hospital,
  • Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating, or
  • Inpatient psychiatric facility’s quality data

This information will publicly appear in the July 2025 release on the Compare tool on Medicare.gov and the Provider Data Catalog at data.cms.gov/provider-data/. Medicare beneficiaries and the public can use these tools to view quality measure data for participating hospitals and facilities.

Questions about the information listed?

  • Submit questions to the Inpatient and Outpatient Healthcare Quality Systems Development and Program Support Contract Team via the QualityNet Question and Answer Tool or phone assistance:
    • For inpatient questions call (844) 472-4477 or (866) 800-8765 weekdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET).
    • For outpatient questions call (866) 800-8756 weekdays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET.

Requesting a Letter of Support

May 16, 2025

Requesting a Letter of Support

Are you thinking about applying for one of the many federal grants available to rural hospitals to improve the delivery of healthcare in rural areas? While not a guarantee, a strong letter of support can significantly enhance the competitiveness of a grant application, add credibility, and demonstrate commitment to a project, showing it has the backing of relevant stakeholders.

The Missouri Office of Rural Health (MORH) is happy to provide letters of support to our rural health partners, upon request.

To Request a Letter of Support:

  • Please allow a minimum of 5-7 business days for the letter to be written, signed, and returned to you.
  • All requests for letters of support shall be sent to ORHPCinfo@health.mo.gov. Please include:
    • Your abstract or a summary of your planned project
    • Name and address of your organization
    • Name of the project director
    • Contact information to include
    • Full name
    • Email address
    • Phone number
  • If you have submitted a request and have not received a reply within 2 business days, please contact:

 

Apply to Become an NHSC Site – Application Open Through June 17

May 15, 2025

Apply to Become an NHSC Site – Application Open Through June 17

Health Care facilities can now apply for approval to become National Health Service Corps (NHSC) sites. Eligible sites include those that provide outpatient, ambulatory, and primary health care services – such as medical, dental, and behavioral health – to populations in high-need rural and urban areas.

This year, Rural Emergency Hospitals are also eligible for NHSC approval. Approved sites gain the advantage of recruiting and retaining NHSC participants through the Loan Repayment, Scholarship, and Students to Service programs.

Click Here to learn more about NHSC eligibility requirements and apply before June 17, 11:59 p.m. ET.

Pediatric Mental Health Care Access (PCMHA) Program

May 15, 2025

Pediatric Mental Health Care Access (PCMHA) Program

According to the most recent National Survey of Children’s Health, nearly 26 percent of children ages 3-17 had a mental, emotional, developmental, or behavioral problem. Of those children, approximately 20 percent did not receive needed mental health treatment or counseling from a mental health professional in the past 12 months.

The Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) Maternal and Child Health Bureau is working to close that gap through the Pediatric Mental Health Care Access (PMHCA) program. This program offers free teleconsultation services for health professionals to help them better care for children and youth in their practice with behavioral health concerns. Most consultations are competed in as little as 30 minutes and almost always within one business day.

Click Here to Learn More

CMS Seeks Comments on the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program – Comments Due by June 10

May 14, 2025

CMS Seeks Comments on the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program – Comments Due by June 10

In the recently released Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) proposed rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) included several requests for information for the Promoting Interoperability Program, which requires hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) to submit data demonstrating meaningful use of certified electronic health record technology (CEHERT). Hospitals and CAHs that do not meet the requirements are subject to a downward payment adjustment. Some issues that CMS seeks public input on include:

  • Query of Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) Measure – This measure requires eligible hospitals and CAHs to attest yes/no on whether they have integrated their state’s PDMP electronic database, which monitors the use of controlled substances, into their EHRs.
    • CMS seeks comments on whether this measure should be performance-based and measure the percent of electronic prescriptions for which the hospital queried the PDMP for prescription drug history.
    • They also seek comment on whether they should expand the types of drugs to which the Query of PDMP measure could apply.

Click Here to Learn More and Comment

  • Public Health and Clinical Exchange Data Objective Measure Scoring – Currently, eligible hospitals and CAHs must attest yes/no on whether they are exchanging data with six required measures in this category.
    • CMS seeks comments on whether they should change the scoring method to allow eligible hospitals and CAHs to earn up to 5 points for each measure, for a total of 30 points for the objective, but must earn at least 1 point for each measure to meet the requirement.
    • CMS also seeks comments on whether these measures should be performance based with a numerator and denominator.

Click Here to Learn More and Comment

  • Use of Modern Technologies to Ensure Data Quality – CMS wants to encourage and support eligible hospitals’ and CAHs’ use of modern technologies and standards to ensure data are usable, complete, accurate, timely, and consistent.
    • They seek feedback on what challenges hospitals and CAHs are experiencing with collecting high quality data,
    • What the primary barriers are, and
    • How CMS can partner with eligible hospitals, CAHs, industry, and Federal agencies to drive further improvements in the quality and usability of health information being exchanged.

Click Here to Learn More and Comment

Rural Health Research: rural and Urban Differences in Suicide in the United States

May 14, 2025

Rural Health Research: rural and Urban Differences in Suicide in the United States

National data from the National Vital Statistics System and the American Community Survey were used to explore trends across urban and rural areas. Among the key takeaways in this brief from the ETSU/NORC Rural Health Research Center:

  • Crude suicide rates have remained around 14.5 per 100,000 from 2018 – 2021, with rural areas consistently higher than urban areas overall and across all subgroups of interest.
  • Males have higher crude suicide rates compared to females (23.2 vs. 6.0 per 100,000).
  • Groups aged 25-34 and 45-54 in rural areas have the highest crude suicide rates (28.8 and 25.3 per 100,000, respectively).
  • Western states generally report higher crude suicide rates than other Census regions, while Northeastern and Southern states have lower rates in both urban and rural areas.

Click Here to Read More