CMS COVID-19 Stakeholder Engagement Calls – Week of 5/25/20

CMS hosts varied recurring stakeholder engagement sessions to share information related to the agency’s response to COVID-19. These sessions are open to members of the healthcare community and are intended to provide updates, share best practices among peers, and offer attendees an opportunity to ask questions of CMS and other subject matter experts.

Call details are below. Conference lines are limited so we highly encourage you to join via audio webcast, either on your computer or smartphone web browser. You are welcome to share this invitation with your colleagues and professional networks. These calls are not intended for the press.

Calls recordings and transcripts are posted on the CMS podcast page at: https://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Outreach/OpenDoorForums/PodcastAndTranscripts.

  • CMS COVID-19 Office Hours Calls (Tuesdays at 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM Eastern)Office Hour Calls provide an opportunity for hospitals, health systems, and providers to ask questions of agency officials regarding CMS’s temporary actions that empower local hospitals and healthcare systems to:
    • Increase Hospital Capacity – CMS Hospitals Without Walls;
    • Rapidly Expand the Healthcare Workforce;
    • Put Patients Over Paperwork; and
    • Further Promote Telehealth in Medicare

This week’s Office Hours:

Tuesday, May 26th at 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 8977438

Audio Webcast link: https://protect2.fireeye.com/url?k=a9ce3c3e-f59a1515-a9ce0d01-0cc47a6d17cc-7bec62c1673fbda4&u=https://engage.vevent.com/rt/cms2/index.jsp?seid=2012

  • Lessons from the Front Lines: COVID-19 (Fridays at 12:30 – 2:00 PM Eastern)

Lessons from the Front Lines calls are a joint effort between CMS Administrator Seema Verma, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, MD, and the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Physicians and other clinicians are invited to share their experience, ideas, strategies, and insights with one another related to their COVID-19 response. There is an opportunity to ask questions of presenters.

This week’s Lessons from the Front Lines:

Friday, May 29th at 12:30 PM – 2:00 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 877-251-0301; Access Code: 6350189

Web Link: https://protect2.fireeye.com/url?k=3ac0c382-6695ca52-3ac0f2bd-0cc47a6a52de-24c0c4f34c651fd8&u=https://engage.vevent.com/rt/cms2/index.jsp?seid=2075

  • Weekly COVID-19 Care Site-Specific Calls

CMS hosts weekly calls for certain types of organizations to provide targeted updates on the agency’s latest COVID-19 guidance. One to two leaders in the field also share best practices with their peers. There is an opportunity to ask questions of presenters if time allows.

    • Home Health and Hospice (Tuesdays at 3:00 PM Eastern)

Tuesday, May 26th at 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 4666966 Audio Webcast Link: https://protect2.fireeye.com/url?k=07ba82da-5bef8b0a-07bab3e5-0cc47a6a52de-c3017c992953af61&u=https://engage.vevent.com/rt/cms2/index.jsp?seid=1909

    • Nursing Homes (Wednesdays at 4:30 PM Eastern)

Wednesday, May 27th at 4:30 PM – 5:00 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 1243649 Audio Webcast Link: https://protect2.fireeye.com/url?k=1c377fbb-4062766b-1c374e84-0cc47a6a52de-95a2149fa0fbe65d&u=https://engage.vevent.com/rt/cms2/index.jsp?seid=2034

    • Dialysis Organizations (Wednesdays at 5:30 PM Eastern)

Wednesday, May 27th at 5:30 PM – 6:00 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 6152699 Audio Webcast Link: https://protect2.fireeye.com/url?k=efc05c42-b3955592-efc06d7d-0cc47a6a52de-90f98f30cb504b92&u=https://engage.vevent.com/rt/cms2/index.jsp?seid=2123

    • Nurses (Thursdays at 3:00 PM Eastern)

Thursday, May 28th at 3:00 PM – 3:30 PM Eastern

Toll Free Attendee Dial-In: 833-614-0820; Access Passcode: 2988422 Audio Webcast Link: https://protect2.fireeye.com/url?k=62ab152d-3eff3c06-62ab2412-0cc47a6d17cc-41a14602bb444499&u=https://engage.vevent.com/rt/cms2/index.jsp?seid=2128

To keep up with the important work the White House Task Force is doing in response to COVID-19 click here: https://protect2.fireeye.com/url?k=36fa2226-6aae0b0d-36fa1319-0cc47a6d17cc-2d06c219f858d641&u=http://www.coronavirus.gov/. For information specific to CMS, please visit the Current Emergencies Website.

Every Contact Counts: Contact Tracing for Public Health Professionals

The Northwest Center for Public Health Practice launched a new, 90-minute contact tracing training for public health professionals who may not have experience in this area, so agencies can expand and expedite their efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The training, called Every Contact Counts, is available at no cost and designed to deliver concise instruction, as well as provide practice opportunities, for contact tracing with COVID-19, supporting the most effective, competent workforce needed to keep our communities safe. Public health professionals who have little or no experience with contact tracing can learn the basics to be successful as they reach out to community members and help save lives.

County-Level 14-Day COVID-19 Case Trajectories

May 22, 2020

A new rural policy data brief is available from the RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis:

County-Level 14-Day COVID-19 Case Trajectories

Fred Ullrich, BA; and Keith Mueller, PhD

Many locations in the United States are relaxing their community-level COVID-19 mitigation measures. But one of the key “gating” indicators for doing this is a downward trajectory of new cases over a 14-day period. The rural data brief examines county-level 14-day trajectories for new confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Please click here to read the brief.

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RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
University of Iowa
College of Public Health
Department of Health Management and Policy
145 Riverside Drive, N200 – CPHB
Iowa City, IA 52242
Phone: (319) 384-3832
Fax: (319) 384-4371

Web site: www.public-health.uiowa.edu/rupri

Follow us on Twitter! @RUPRIhealth

Community Impact and Benefit Activities of CAHs, Other Rural, and Urban Hospitals, 2018

May 2020

The Flex Monitoring Team has released a new report on the community impact and benefit activities of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), rural non-CAHs, and urban hospitals. The report enables State Flex Programs and CAH administrators to compare the community impact and benefit profiles of CAHs nationally to the performance of CAHs in their state.

The report may accessed on the Flex Monitoring Team website. Pages 1-5 provide national data with key findings, and pages 6-95 provide state-specific tables. Shortcut links to each state’s tables are at the bottom of page 5.

Virtual Live Event: For Rural Communities Responding to COVID-19

Date: May 27, 2020

Time: 11:00 AM Central

Click here to Register

Matt Probst, PA-C, is the medical director of El Centro Family Health serving northern New Mexico, and he was featured in the award-winning documentary The Providers.

Live event for rural communities combating COVID-19 with Matt. Our guests include authors Katherine Ortega Courtney, Ph.D. and Dominic Cappello, and members of the 100% Community San Miguel County coalition. We encourage you to register and invite your fellow community stakeholders.