Federal Office of Rural Health Policy Announcement

November 15, 2018

FY 19 Rural Communities Opioid Response Program – Planning

HRSA/FORHP is pleased to announce a second round of the Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (Planning). The purpose of this program is to support treatment for and prevention of substance use disorder, including opioid use disorder, in rural communities.  In FY 18, HRSA made 95 awards and in FY 19, HRSA anticipates making approximately 120 awards.  The current Planning awardees can be found on the HRSA website.  Any domestic organization forming a consortium of four or more members in a rural community may be eligible to apply for funding.  More information on eligibility and requirements can be found in the Notice of Funding Opportunity.

Interested applicants may attend a live technical assistance webinar on Friday, December 7, 2018 from 2:00 to 3:00 PM EST.

For further details on how to access this webinar, please see page (ii) in the Notice of Funding Opportunity on Grants.gov.

Applications are due on January 15, 2019, with a program start date of June 1, 2019. Please contact ruralopioidresponse@hrsa.gov with additional questions.

Rural Health Research & Policy Center – Information

November 30, 2018

Changes to Merit-based Incentive Payment System

The Quality Payment Program (QPP) was established by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). The QPP consolidates existing Medicare pay-for-performance programs – the Physician Quality Reporting System, the Physician Value-based Payment Modifier, and the Medicare Electronic Health Record Incentive Program for Eligible Professionals – into a unified, cohesive program. MIPS is one of the two tracks of the QPP program and the regulatory framework for MIPs was originally provided by MACRA and CMS’s calendar year (CY) 2017 QPP final rule. This brief discusses changes to the original MIPS regulatory framework brought about by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 and the CY2018 QPP final rule.

Click to download a copy: Changes to the Merit-based Incentive Payment System Pertinent to Small and Rural Practices, 2018

 

Federal Office of Rural Health Policy Announcements

November 15, 2018

What’s New

Today is National Rural Health DayThe Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) joins the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH), along with state and local organizations across the country, in recognizing the challenges of delivering health care in rural communities, as well as the many creative ways these hurdles are overcome.  FORHP activities this year include online events with federal partners at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).  In addition, a Twitter Chat hosted by @HRSAgov will have an open Q&A on the benefits and barriers to implementing telehealth in rural areas.

Funding Opportunities

Rural Veterans Health Access Program Letter of intent November 30. The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy is collaborating with the Veterans Rural Health Resource Centers to improve access to care for rural veterans through Critical Access Hospitals, other rural health providers and the Veterans Affairs system.  Eligible applicants are state organizations participating in the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program.  Three awardees will receive $300,000 per year for efforts toward meeting one or more of three objectives for the program: 1) coordinating care for veterans among primary care and specialist health providers in a geographic region; 2) increasing access to mental health and/or substance use disorder services; and 3) increasing access to crisis intervention services and the detection of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and other signature injuries of veterans.  The application deadline is February 12, 2019. Continue reading “Federal Office of Rural Health Policy Announcements”

National Rural Health Day Webinars from CMS, CDC & FORHP

November 13, 2018

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have joined forces with the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) to ‘Celebrate Rural’ and innovative practices by hosting the below webinars.

 

Tuesday, November 13

Five Ways Pharmacists can be Antibiotics Aware 

Webinar from 1–2pm ET

This educational activity from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is designed to review updated information on common antibiotic use problems encountered by general clinical pharmacists. Discussion of case-based scenarios will be used to demonstrate how to identify and prioritize antibiotic-related problems and explain examples of employing effective stewardship strategies in the acute care setting. The presenters will use a variety of active techniques to communicate information and facilitate discussion of the clinical scenarios. The webinar will be receiving pharmacy continuing education credits but other healthcare professionals such MDs and nurses are welcome to participate.

Thursday, November 15

CMS Hospital Improvement Innovation Network (HIIN) Efforts in Rural Health 

Webinar from 1–2pm ET

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will host a webinar to highlight examples of Hospital Improvement Innovation Network (HIIN) projects that address access to care and harm reduction in critical access and rural hospitals.

More events will be posted as they are finalized, so check out the HRSA website regularly: https://www.hrsa.gov/rural-health/about-us/rural-healthday.html

 

National Rural Health Day Webinars – Next Week

November 09, 2018

Celebrate the ‘Power of Rural’ with the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health, who will be hosting 3 live, 30-minute webinars happening on  November 15, 2018!   

 

NRHD Webinar: Policy and the Power of Rural

  • Start: November 15, 2018 11:00 am
  • End: November 15, 2018 11:30 am Eastern

This conversation will focus on the current and future work of rural health policy, how rural citizens can communicate with policymakers and their communities to make an impact on rural health, and the impact of a changing Congress.

Register Now

Speaker:
Andrew Coats
Shareholder, Hall Render Killian Heath and Lyman

 

NRHD Webinar: Rural Networks: Making a Difference in the Opioid Epidemic

  • Start: November 15, 2018 3:00 pm
  • End: November 15, 2018 3:30 pm Eastern

During this 30 minute conversation, participants will learn how small rural networks are collaborating and innovating with their communities to address the opioid crisis in rural New York.

Register Now

Facilitated by Karen Madden: New York Office of Rural Health

Speakers:
Rebecca Evansky – Project Manager, Adirondack Health Institute                                                                 Charlotte Crawford – Chief Executive Officer, Lakes Plains Community Care Network

 

NRHD Webinar: A Conversation on Rural EMS

  • Start: November 15, 2018 4:00 pm
  • End: November 15, 2018 4:30 pm Eastern

This conversation will focus on the current state of rural EMS and how leaders are educating and bringing innovation to their states.

Register Now

Facilitated by Teryl Eisinger: NOSORH Executive Director

Speaker:
Andy Gienapp
Manager, Office of Emergency Medical Services, Wyoming Department of Health

 

Available Training: Family-Based Behavioral Treatment for Obesity

November 8, 2018

Please visit http://chlnkc.org/ongoing-research/ for information on an exciting training opportunity for Family-Based Behavioral Treatment for Obesity. Participants can attend a two day training December 6th-7th at the Children’s Mercy Holmes Office Center in Kansas City, Missouri. Training sessions will run from 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. on day one and 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. on day two.

Please note that while there is no fee for the training, attendees are responsible for hotel, travel and meal costs outside the lunch provided during the sessions.

Continuing education units for this training have been approved for American Psychological Association (APA) and Social Work.

 

 

Federal Office of Rural Health Policy Announcements

November 8, 2018

What’s New

Federal Resource Guide for Substance Use Disorder in Rural Communities. This comprehensive guide was created specifically for rural communities facing substance use disorder and opioid misuse.  It organizes federal grant programs and resources by 26 categories that include prevention, treatment and recovery, but also include social services, employment, economic development, transportation and justice.  The guide was created by the Rural Opioid Federal Interagency Working Group to help address the opioid crisis by improving coordination of and reducing potential overlap among the Federal responses in the nation’s rural communities.  Last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued data showing that the rate of drug overdose deaths in rural areas surpassed the rate in urban areasContinue reading “Federal Office of Rural Health Policy Announcements”

Federal Office of Rural Health Policy Announcements

November 1, 2018

What’s New

Open Enrollment for Health Insurance Begins November 1.  The six-week period during which consumers may enroll in the Federal Health Insurance Exchange begins today and ends on Saturday, December 15.   Those without an employer-based plan may visit HealthCare.gov and CuidadodeSalud.gov to shop for plans that will begin coverage on January 1, 2019.  Eleven states and the District of Columbia have their own state-based websites for enrollment in individual/family or small business health coverage, or both.  Some states have expanded their Medicaid programs to cover more people. Choose your state and household size to learn if your state has expanded and if you may qualify.

Updated State Fact Sheets from the USDA Economic Research Service.  The Economic Research Service (ERS) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) conducts research to inform public and private decision-making on economic and policy issues involving food, farming, natural resources and rural development.  The ERS State Fact Sheets provide information on population, income, poverty, food security, education, employment, organic agriculture, farm characteristics, farm financial indicators, top commodities, and agricultural exports. Data are available for all States, and for metro/nonmetro breakouts within States. Links to county-level data are provided where available. This release provides the latest available (2017) U.S. and State-level agricultural exports and poverty estimates. Continue reading “Federal Office of Rural Health Policy Announcements”