Date: April 28, 2021
Time: 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM CST
The Missouri Rural Health Association (MRHA), in collaboration with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)/Office of Regional Operations Region 7, is hosting a federal panel discussion on Wednesday, April 28, 2021, from 9:00-10:30 AM CDT. The panel will be facilitated by Melissa Van Dyne, Executive Director of MRHA.
Register here.
The University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center released a policy brief and infographic illustrating the differences between urban and rural hospitals that provide obstetric services by their size, capacity, location, and community characteristics, as well as comparing these factors between rural hospitals with obstetric services and those that recently closed their obstetric units.
Julia Interrante, MPH
University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center
Phone: 612.626.8401
inter014@umn.edu
April 12, 2021
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced measures to improve maternal health in the United States, one being the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (RMOMS) Program. HRSA expects approximately $3 million available to fund up to three health networks in this cooperative agreement program. The program intends to demonstrate the impact on access to and continuity of maternal and obstetrics care in rural communities through testing models that address the following RMOMS Focus Areas: 1) Rural Regional Approaches to Risk Appropriate Care, 2) Network Approach to Coordinating a Continuum of Care, 3) Leveraging Telehealth and Specialty Care, and 4) Financial Sustainability. The goals of the program are to: (i) improve maternal and neonatal outcomes within a rural region; (ii) develop a sustainable network approach to increase the delivery and access of preconception, pregnancy, labor and delivery, and postpartum services; (iii) develop a safe delivery environment with the support and access to specialty care for perinatal women and infants; and (iv) develop sustainable financing models for the provision of maternal and obstetrics care in rural hospitals and communities.
Moreover, this program will allow awardees to test models in order to address unmet needs for their target population which could include populations who have historically suffered from poorer health outcomes, health disparities and other inequities.
The applicant organization must be part of a group of entities that are either an established or a formal network, which may need to be expanded to meet this program’s network definition. A network is defined as an organizational arrangement among three or more separately owned domestic public and/or private entities, including the applicant organization. For the purposes of this program, the applicant must have a network composition that includes: 1) at least two rural hospitals or Critical Access Hospitals; 2) one health center under section 330 of the Public Health Service Act (Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) or FQHC look-alike); 3) at least one Level III and/or Level IV facility (as defined by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists); 4) regionally and/or locally available social services in the continuum of care (i.e., state Home Visiting and Healthy Start Programs); and 5) the state Medicaid program.
Eligible applicants may request up to $1M each year in the program’s 4-year period of performance September 1, 2021 – August 31, 2025.
View on Grants.gov: https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=329770
For questions about this funding opportunity, please contact Cassandra Phillips: RMOMS@hrsa.gov
While Medicare provides near-universal healthcare coverage in the U.S. for those 65 years of age and older, residents of rural areas may experience more difficulties accessing care from medical and surgical specialists than urban residents. Using 2014 Medicare data from five states, this work describes the provider mix caring for rural and urban beneficiaries. It also examines the number of annual visits received and the distances traveled by beneficiaries for care for several conditions.
Generalist physicians, physician assistants (PAs), and nurse practitioners (NPs) provided 50.7% of visits received by rural beneficiaries, compared to 41.8% among urban beneficiaries. Comparison of results from a similar study using 1998 data from the same five states indicates that the proportion of visits provided by generalist physicians, PAs, and NPs to rural and urban beneficiaries increased between 1998 and 2014.
Rural beneficiaries traveled farther to receive care and spent more time traveling than urban beneficiaries. Median one-way travel times for visits for some serious conditions (including ischemic heart disease and cancer) exceeded 30 minutes among residents of small rural and isolated rural areas and exceeded 60 minutes for 25% of visits received by those residents. Overall, rural beneficiaries received 74.2% of their visits in rural areas. Results indicated that rural beneficiaries, especially those from small rural and isolated small rural areas, continue to face challenges with access to specialty care and continue to rely on a local generalist workforce for care.
View the full report here.
Contact Information:
Eric Larson, PhD
WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Phone: 206.616.9601
ehlarson@uw.edu
April 12, 2021
BLOOMINGTON, MN (April 12, 2021) Additional data and insight about the impact of making palliative care services available in rural communities are newly available following a three-year effort by Stratis Health. This work will contribute to reducing disparities in access and services through improved and updated tools and resources reflecting the lessons learned over the last three years, including an important new service development framework relevant for rural communities.
“Rural communities have a significant need for palliative care but are also uniquely positioned to meet the challenges of providing palliative care through collaborative community-based efforts to help address disparities in access and services,” said Jennifer Lundblad, Stratis Health president and CEO. “The outcomes, tools, and collaboration that resulted from this three-year effort will contribute to accelerating the implementation of rural community-based palliative care nationwide.”
The latest initiatives built on more than a decade of Stratis Health’s pioneering work in supporting the development of rural community-based palliative care teams and services in Minnesota. Over the past three years, Stratis Health partnered with State Offices of Rural Health in North Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin to implement the project and the NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis to support evaluation. Newly released reports and resources include:
For more information on our rural community-based palliative care work contact Karla Weng (kweng@stratishealth.org) or Janelle Shearer (jshearer@stratishealth.org).
April 12, 2021
In an effort to be responsive to the needs of stakeholders, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is extending the deadline for interested applicants to apply to Primary Care First (PCF) Cohort 2. The deadline for PCF practice applications has been extended to May 21, 2021, and the deadline for payer applications has been extended to June 18, 2021.
CMS is also announcing two additional Office Hour events for potential practice and payer applicants to ask questions ahead of the PCF application deadline:
Primary Care First: Practice Office Hour
Wednesday, May 5, 2021 at 1:00 PM CST
The PCF Model Team will be available to answer your questions on key topics including eligibility, payment design and attribution, and more. You may also refer to the materials from the two PCF webinars held in March: Introduction to PCF and Ready, Set, Apply.
Register to attend here:
https://deloitte.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_GtSlsdNfSaWn9RKcESs2_w
April 7, 2021
April 12, 2021
This morning, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a Joint CDC and FDA Statement on Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine. Based on six reported cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot, HHS recommends that vaccine providers pause on administering the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is meeting on Wednesday, April 14, 2021, and will provide updates. CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will provide additional information and answer questions later today at a media briefing. A recording of that media call will be available on the FDA’s YouTube channel.
People who have received the J&J vaccine who develop severe headache, abdominal pain, leg pain, or shortness of breath within three weeks after vaccination should contact their health care provider. Health care providers are asked to report adverse events to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.
April 12, 2021
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) marked the start of Black Maternal Health Week by announcing actions to expand access to continuous health care coverage and access to preventative care in rural areas to improve maternal health outcomes. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra announced that Illinois is the first state to provide continuity of full Medicaid benefit coverage for mothers by offering extended eligibility for a woman during the entire first year after delivery. A new data brief shows that more than half of pregnant women in Medicaid experienced a coverage gap in the first 6 months post-partum and disruptions in Medicaid coverage often lead to periods of insurance, delayed care, and less preventive care. The American Rescue Plan provides an easier pathway for states to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage from 60 days to 12 months.
Secretary Becerra also announced a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) that will make $12 million available over four years for the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (RMOMS) program that will allow awardees to test models to address unmet needs for their target population, including populations who have historically suffered from poorer health outcomes, health disparities and other inequities.
“Improving maternal health outcomes – particularly among Black women – is priority for the Biden administration and for the Department,” said HHS Secretary Becerra. “Expanding access to health insurance coverage, preventative care and investing in rural maternity care is one step forward. With the American Rescue Plan, President Biden gave states tools to combat the racial disparities in pregnancy-related deaths by providing an easier pathway for states to ensure mothers access to the care they need after birth. Continuous health care coverage reduces health care costs and improves outcomes. By expanding Medicaid eligibility for a full year after delivery, Illinois is setting an important model for other states across the country to follow.”
For more information, view the materials below:
ASPE Report on Medicaid Churning and Continuity of Care
Dates: May 16, 2021 to May 19, 2021
Preventive medicine physicians are at the forefront of population health efforts, addressing issues from infections disease to social determinants to build healthy and resilient communities. Preventive Medicine 2021, which will be held virtually May 16–19, will feature sessions covering these topics and more — if you want to dive deep into population health and how to integrate its principles into your practice, this is the place to be.
