Month: August 2020

Federal Office of Rural Health Policy Announcements

August 21, 2020

HHS Awards over $35 Million to Rural Health Programs. Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), awarded over $35 million to more than 50 rural organizations across 33 states as part of a sustained federal effort to increase access to high quality care in rural communities.

Federal Resources to Improve Living at Home in Rural Areas. Three federal departments – the Departments of Health & Human Services, Agriculture, and Housing and Urban Development –released a joint informational bulletin summarizing the federal resources available to improve home safety for older adults and people with disabilities in rural areas. It describes how states can improve accessibility of home environments through Medicaid, programs that can facilitate home repair and modification, initiatives to reduce and prevent falls, resources to support aging in place, and loan opportunities for mortgages and housing repair.

Catch-Up to Get Ahead on Childhood Immunizations. In support of National Immunization Awareness Month, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services recently launched Catch-Up to Get Ahead: A National Immunization Initiative for Children. This campaign aims to increase childhood immunization rates in the wake of significant declines due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Use messages and graphics in the Catch-Up to Get Ahead Toolkit to help spread awareness to parents and caregivers.

HHS Coronavirus Data Hub. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) launched a website in July with data on the COVID-19 response at federal, state, and local levels. The hub includes estimated and reported hospital capacity by state, with numbers updated daily.

Federal Office of Rural Health Policy FAQs for COVID-19. A set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) from our grantees and stakeholders, updated regularly. 

COVID-19 FAQs and Funding for HRSA Programs. Find all funding and frequently asked questions for programs administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

CDC COVID-19 Updates. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides daily updates and guidance, including a section specific to rural health care, and a Toolkit for Tribal Communities. New this week: report on higher rates of mental health issues, substance abuse, and suicidal ideation during the pandemic. 

GHPC’s Collection of Rural Health Strategies for COVID-19. With support from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP), the Georgia Health Policy Center (GHPC) provides reports, guidance, and innovative strategies gleaned from their technical assistance and peer learning sessions with FORHP grantees.

Confirmed COVID-19 Cases, Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Counties. The RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis provides up-to-date data and maps on rural and urban confirmed cases throughout the United States. An animated map shows the progression of cases beginning January 21.

Rural Response to Coronavirus Disease 2019. The Rural Health Information Hub posted a guide to help you learn about activities underway to address COVID-19. Now including Rural Healthcare Surge Readiness, a tool with resources for healthcare systems preparing for and responding to a COVID-19 surge in their communities.

NEW: SAMHSA Training and Technical Assistance Related to COVID-19. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) created this list of resources, tools, and trainings. 

Webinar: Stepping Into the Future Now – Innovation Through Teledentistry

The Missouri Coalition for Oral Health is pleased to offer an exciting 2-part webinar in cooperation with the Missouri Office of Dental Health and Access Teledentistry.

This will provide an overview of teledentistry practice in Missouri, including the equipment, procedures and processes you can utilize to connect with patients, create efficiencies and provide innovative dental care while minimizing risk during the pandemic. See applications beyond triaging your patients. Learn strategies on how to optimize your hygiene team to make up for constraints caused by the pandemic.

The webinar is free and includes CEUs. Registration is required. 
Part 1 will be held online Friday, September 18 from 2 – 4 PM.
Part 2 will be held online Friday, September 25 from 2 – 4 PM. 

To begin registration, visit https://www.cezoom.com/registration/?conf=679
If you have any questions or issues, please email info@oralhealthmissouri.org.

Registration and Information

Recognition of Residents’ Changing Health Conditions More Important Now Than Ever

Early recognition of changing health conditions among nursing home residents is critically important, especially in this time of COVID-19. A set of tools called Interventions to Reduce Acute Care Transfers (INTERACT®) such as “Stop and Watch” and “SBAR Communication Form,” are among a series of INTERACT tools that help nursing home staff, residents and their families detect early changes, keep residents healthy and avoid hospital transfers. Read more.

Brandeis University Launches New Online Tool to Help Communities Respond to the Opioid Crisis, with COVID-19-related Resources

A new comprehensive online resource for communities and local leaders addressing the opioid crisis is now available from the Opioid Policy Research Collaborative. The Brandeis Opioid Resource Connector (BORC) website (opioid-resource-connector.org) offers stakeholders more than 150 community-based program models across the continuum of care, which can serve as models for initiatives and policies aimed at reducing opioid addiction and overdose.

The website also includes a wide array of additional materials, such as toolkits, reports, peer-reviewed articles, and data and mapping tools, including numerous resources specific to COVID-19. The website highlights a diverse collection of program models and more than 500 additional resources, with new material added regularly. Some approaches used by these program models include safer opioid prescribing, increasing availability of medications for opioid use disorder, overdose prevention, post-overdose response, recovery coaching, and addressing social determinants of health, such as housing and employment.

NEW CMS-CDC Fundamentals of COVID-19 Prevention for Nursing Home Management Training Series

Starting August 20, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Nursing Home COVID-19 Training Series will transition to a pre-recorded, self-paced format. The new CMS-CDC Fundamentals of COVID-19 Prevention for Nursing Home Management training series will include 13 topics that nursing home partners must know to manage the COVID-19 pandemic.

The trainings will be housed on QIOProgram.org for 24/7 access. New trainings will be released every Thursday at 4:00 p.m. ET/3:00 p.m. CT through September 2020. CMS and CDC will have subject matter experts available on bi-weekly Q&A sessions through early January 2021 to answer questions. Registration is required for these sessions. Register here. For the latest updates about the training series, including new releases, resources and tools sign up here.

Funding: Federal Office of Rural Health Policy Special Announcement

August 18, 2020

The Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) Federal Office of Rural Health Policy has released the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Rural Health Network Development Planning Program (Network Planning) (HRSA-21-021).  HRSA plans to award 20 grants to rural communities as part of this funding opportunity.

Review the NOFO at:  https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=326598

Successful Network Planning award recipients will receive up to $100,000 for a one-year period of performance to promote the development of integrated health care networks in order to (i) achieve efficiencies; (ii) expand access to, coordinate, and improve the quality of basic health care services; and (iii) strengthen the rural health care system as a whole. This program brings together key parts of a rural health care delivery system, particularly those entities that may not have collaborated in the past, to work together to establish or improve local capacity and coordination of care.

NOTE: The eligibility criteria for this program has been reauthorized  to include all domestic public and private, nonprofit and for-profit entities with demonstrated experience serving, or the capacity to serve, rural underserved populations. Urban-based organizations applying as the lead applicant should ensure there is a high degree of rural control in the project. The applicant organization must represent a network that includes at least three or more health care provider organizations and, at least 66% (or two-thirds) of network members must be located in a HRSA-designated rural area.

Tribes and tribal organizations under the same tribal governance must still meet the consortium criteria of three or more entities, but are only required to have a single Employer Identification Number (EIN) located in a HRSA-designated rural area to be eligible. Applicant organizations that share the same EIN as its parent organization, or organizations with the same network who are proposing different projects, are eligible to apply by requesting an exception request.

Current FY 20 Network Planning grant recipients may not apply for this funding opportunity if they have previously received a Network Planning grant for the same or similar project unless the entity is proposing to expand the scope of the project or the area that will be served through the project.

Visit www.grants.gov to review the Network Planning NOFO and apply. Learn about the Network Planning Program.

A webinar for applicants is scheduled on Wednesday October 7, from 3-4 p.m., EST. A recording will be made available for those who cannot attend.

For more information about this funding opportunity contact the Program Coordinator, Jillian Causey, at JCausey@hrsa.gov.

Rural Crosswalk: CMS Flexibilities to Fight COVID-19

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH) has released a Rural Crosswalk: CMS Flexibilities to Fight COVID-19 . This new resource documents all current COVID-19-related waivers and flexibilities issued by CMS that impact Rural Health Clinics, Federally Qualified Health Centers, Critical Access Hospitals, rural hospitals generally, and long term care facilities, and describes the significance of each provision for these rural providers and facilities. This new resource can be found here: www.cms.gov/files/document/…

The Crosswalk is divided into six sections for easy navigation:

  • Telehealth
  • CMS Hospitals Without Walls
  • Patients Over Paperwork
  • Workforce
  • Payment
  • Additional guidance

CMS OMH created the Rural Crosswalk to boost providers’ understanding of the many CMS regulatory waivers and new rules that have been issued in response to COVID-19 since the start of the emergency declaration.

For more information and resources for rural providers, please visit go.cms.gov/ruralhealth. You can also contact us at RuralHealth@cms.hhs.gov or reach out to one of the CMS Regional Rural Health Coordinators.

Conference: NRHA RHC and CAH Conferences

September 22, 2020 – September 25, 2020

Virutal Event

The goal of NRHA’s Rural Health Clinic and Critical Access Hospital Conferences is to share effective practices, policies, and information and provide insights and best practices addressing access, quality, and patient safety issues.

Your opportunity to learn about effective models, policies, research, and information focused on the many issues confronted by clinics, CAHs and their rural communities is now a virtual event Sept. 22-25.

https://portal.ruralhealthweb.org/events/2020-RHC-and-CAH-Conferences-3506/details