Month: November 2021

NOFO Announcement: Predoctoral Training in General, Pediatric, and Public Health Dentistry and Dental Hygiene

November 24, 2021

New Funding Opportunity Available!

Predoctoral Training in General, Pediatric, and Public Health Dentistry and Dental Hygiene 

Funding Opportunity Number: HRSA-22-045

The application deadline is February 7, 2022

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) released this new Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) announcement for accredited schools of dentistry or dental hygiene, hospitals and other entities to carry out a dentistry training program.

These programs will enhance predoctoral dental, dental hygiene, and other oral health care trainee’s clinical ability to care for populations and individuals with medically complex health conditions, special and/or behavioral health care needs. With training in and a focus on patient-centered care, these students will gain a better understanding of the social determinants of health so that they can improve the oral health of vulnerable, underserved, and rural populations.  

This funding will increase the number of primary care dentists, dental hygienists, and other oral health care providers who care for rural, underserved, or vulnerable populations.

HRSA anticipates awarding approximately $4.5 million to 15 grantees.

Visit Grants.gov to apply

Have questions?

Join the technical assistance webinar:

Date: December 14, 2021 

Time: 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. ET.

This webinar will provide information about the NOFO application and requirements.

For dial-in only:

  • Phone Number: 833-568-8864
  • Meeting ID: 161 000 5803

Passcode: 88918364

New Report: Critical Access Hospitals’ Initial Response to COVID-19 by System Affiliation

November 23, 2021

The Flex Monitoring Team (FMT) has released a new data report, Critical Access Hospitals’ Initial Response to COVID-19 by System Affiliation. This report presents data on the initial response to COVID-19 in system-affiliated and independent Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). The data come from a survey of CAH CEOs in eight states about their response to COVID-19 from February to August 2020, and findings include information on COVID-19 case volume, personal protective equipment (PPE) supply, and the perceived impact of being a system-affiliated or independent CAH on their overall response to COVID-19. 

Additional information on previous FMT publications related to COVID-19, as well as a recorded webinar from this study, are available on the FMT website.

View Data Report

Federal Office of Rural Health Policy Announcements

November 18, 2021

HRSA Celebrates National Rural Health Day. The public is invited to join the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) online TODAY, November 18 at 11:30 am ET for a feature HRSA presentation. Acting HRSA Administration Diane Espinosa will welcome speakers from several HHS agencies and the Domestic White House Policy Council who will present on federal strategies to prioritize health equity and eliminate disparities in health access, policy, and practice. Then later at a virtual presentation at 3:00 pm ET, Federal Office of Rural Health Policy grantees will share best practices from their projects that consider social determinants of health to improve health outcomes.

November is National COPD Awareness Month. The education and awareness program Learn More, Breathe Better provides resources for patients, caregivers, and health professionals for better understanding of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, also known as COPD. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that more than 57 percent of deaths from chronic lower respiratory disease in the most rural counties were potentially preventable, compared with 13 percent in the most urban counties. On Friday, November 19 at 9:00 pm ET, musician Lyle Lovett and Ted Koppel will host a virtual event featuring performances and interviews from Lovett, Rodney Crowell, and Steve Earle. The group wants to raise awareness of the added risk that COVID-19 brings to those with COPD. 

Community Toolkit for Addressing Health Misinformation. The new resource asks for participation from individuals, teachers, school administrators, librarians, faith leaders, and health care professionals to understand, identify, and stop the spread of misinformation. Earlier this year, the U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued an advisory, calling misinformation an urgent threat to public health. The toolkit includes common types of misinformation and a checklist to help evaluate the accuracy of health-related content. 

Facilities Selected for Rural Provider Transition Project. The project selected five facilities to participate in the second year of the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy’s (FORHP) Rural Healthcare Provider Transition Project: Sierra Vista Hospital in New Mexico, Dahl Memorial Health Care in Montana, Golden Valley Memorial Healthcare in Missouri, Coteau des Prairies Health Care System in South Dakota, and Electra Hospital District in Texas. Participants will receive targeted technical assistance provided by the National Rural Health Resource Center to help transition to value-based care and population health management. 

CDC: Sepsis-related Death Rates Higher in Rural Areas. Sepsis is an extreme response to infection, triggering a life-threatening chain reaction throughout the body. For this report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that, in 2019, there were 201,092 deaths involving sepsis, with three-fourths of those deaths occurring among persons aged 65 and older.  Within that age range, death rates were highest among non-Hispanic black adults (377.4 per 100,000), followed by non-Hispanic white (275.7), and Hispanic (246.4). Sepsis-related death rates were higher in rural areas (307.3 per 100,000) compared with urban areas (271.3).

Ongoing: HRSA Payment Program for RHC Buprenorphine-Trained Providers. In June of this year, HRSA launched an effort to improve access to substance use disorder treatment by paying for providers who are waivered to prescribe buprenorphine, a medication used to treat opioid use disorder. Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) still have the opportunity to apply for a $3,000 payment on behalf of each provider who trained to obtain the waiver necessary to prescribe buprenorphine after January 1, 2019. Approximately $1.5 million in program funding remains available for RHCs and will be paid on a first-come, first-served basis until funds are exhausted. Send questions to DATA2000WaiverPayments@hrsa.gov. There is ongoing availability of a free online course for waiver eligibility training from the American Osteopathic Academy of Addiction Medicine and the Providers Clinical Support System.

NOFO Announcement: Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP)

November 24, 2021

New Funding Opportunity Available!

Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP)

Funding Opportunity Number: HRSA-22-047

The application deadline is January 13, 2022

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) released this new Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) announcement to increase the number of qualified nursing faculty nationwide. The Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP) provides funding to accredited schools of nursing to establish and operate a student loan fund and provide loans to students enrolled in advanced education nursing degree programs who are committed to becoming nurse faculty. In exchange for completion of up to four years of post-graduation full-time nurse faculty employment in an accredited school of nursing, the program authorizes cancellation of up to 85 percent of the original student loan amount (plus interest thereon).

Through these efforts, the NFLP will build upon HRSA’s existing health workforce development investments, increasing access to a skilled health workforce.

HRSA anticipates to award up to 80 grantees with a total of approximately $26.5 million to support training of advanced education nursing students who will serve as nurse faculty upon graduation, with a focus on doctorate preparation.

Visit Grants.gov to apply.

Have questions?

Join the technical assistance webinar:

Date: December 16, 2021

Time: 1:00 P.M. – 2:30 P.M. ET

This webinar will provide information about the NOFO application and requirements.

For dial-in only:

  • Phone Number: 833 568 8864
  • Meeting ID: 161 161 0057
  • Passcode: 16657988     

Funding Opportunities for Community Health Worker and Paraprofessional Training & Public Health Scholarship Program

November 24, 2021

COMING SOON:

Two New Funding Opportunities 

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) will release two new Notices of Funding Opportunity to support training to expand the public health workforce. The funding opportunities are tentatively scheduled to post in February 2022.

The Biden-Harris Administration is supporting the COVID-19 response and building on current equity-focused programs and initiatives through the American Rescue Plan. This funding includes nearly $240 million for HRSA to expand the public health workforce by creating a pipeline program for 13,000 community health workers and paraprofessionals from underserved communities. HRSA will also invest nearly $39 million to support organizations for developing scholarship programs that incentivize individuals to pursue careers in public health. 

Community Health Worker and Paraprofessional Training Program (HRSA-22-124)

Purpose: The Community Health Worker and Paraprofessional Training Program will expand the public health workforce by training new community health workers (CHWs) and paraprofessionals and extending the knowledge and skills of current ones. This program aims to increase access to care, improve public health emergency response, and address the public health needs of underserved communities. 

The program will focus on education and on-the-job training to build the pipeline of these public health workers in the most underserved communities. It will also support apprenticeship programs and on-the-job training at over 500 health care and public health sites nationally, such as emergency departments, health centers, state and local public health departments, community health centers, mobile health clinics, shelters, housing programs, faith-based organizations, and other locations where high-risk populations access care and receive services.

Eligible Applicants: (A) a health professions school, including an accredited school or program of public health, health administration, preventive medicine, or dental public health or a school providing health management programs; (B) an academic health center; (C) a State or local government; or (D) any other appropriate public or private nonprofit entity such as, but not limited to: technical schools, State and local health departments, community health centers, K-12 public schools, hospitals, faith-based and community based organizations, and tribal entities that train public and allied health workers.

Contact Tara Spencer or Marian Smithey for additional information. 

Public Health Scholarship Program (HRSA-22-122)

Purpose: The Public Health Scholarship Program’s purpose is to strengthen the public health workforce by supporting organizations to develop scholarship programs that incentivize individuals to pursue careers in public health. Through this program, scholarship recipients will gain the requisite knowledge and skills necessary to prevent, prepare for, and respond to recovery activities related to COVID-19, as well as other public health emergencies. This program will provide funds to award recipients to provide scholarships to 1) individuals in professional, graduate, and/or certificate programs in public health, and 2) employees of public health department/entity/site receiving training in public health. Scholarships will be awarded to individuals by grant recipients. The applicant will be required to have an existing public health training program as well as public health partnerships in place, along with a system to assist scholarship recipients to maintain or obtain employment in public health upon completion of their training.

Eligible Applicants: State-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), state, city, or township governments

Contact Anne Patterson for additional information. 

Grassroots Advocacy Forum : How NRHA is celebrating National Rural Health Day

For years the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) has celebrated the power of rural on the third Thursday of November in partnership with the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health. Now, President Biden has officially declared Nov. 18, 2021, National Rural Health Day.

A ‘hill alert’ was recently delivered by the association to encourage all Congressional health staff to celebrate National Rural Health Day and mark their calendars for NRHA’s 33rd Rural Health Policy Institute Feb. 8-10 in D.C.

The association has also coordinated the introduction of a bipartisan congressional resolution today to support the goals and ideals of National Rural Health Day. HR1200 will recognize in the 117th Congress the 60 million hard-working Americans living in rural communities and the barriers they face accessing necessary health care services.

As a founding member of the Rural Health Action Alliance, NRHA has signed a letter in support of the Rural Health Equity Act to establish an Office of Rural Health within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The bill would ensure the nation’s premiere health promotion, prevention, and preparedness agency prioritizes addressing the unique health care challenges and inequities faced by rural communities across America.

Additionally, NRHA leadership headlined five sessions and speaking engagements this week, both in person and virtually, as well as participating in a #RuralHealthChat on Twitter coordinated by Rural Health Information Hub.

NRHA encourages all NRHA members to celebrate and participate in any way they can today and to further these efforts by joining NRHA’s current advocacy campaigns and registering for the association’s 33rd Rural Health Policy Institute.

Medicare Physician Fee Schedule 2022 Final Rule Summary

November 15, 2021

On November 2nd, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the CY 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule. This year’s rule finalizes several significant Rural Health Clinic (RHC) policies originally proposed in summer 2021, which NARHC summarized here.

Following NARHC’s analysis, NARHC submitted comments to CMS on each RHC provision, and as you can read below in more detail, NARHC is very pleased with the ways CMS recognized and incorporated these comments.

“We can tell CMS is listening,” said Bill Finerfrock, Executive Director of NARHC. “Over the years, new Medicare benefits tended to come to the RHC program last. Thankfully, that is not the case this year, as the “mental health services via telehealth” benefit will be coming to RHCs on day one. We still have some work to do in the future on remote patient monitoring, but this year’s final rule is a very positive step.”

The final rule also contains some important clarifications regarding grandfathered RHCs.

“We were concerned that CMS had not yet clearly indicated how grandfathered RHCs could change addresses or change ownership without losing their grandfathered status,” said Nathan Baugh, Director of Government Affairs for NARHC. “However, this rule makes it clear that grandfathered RHCs that retain their CCN through a move or CHOW will retain their grandfathered status. We understand that there still may be some additional clarification necessary as the MACs move to institute clinic-specific upper payment limits, but CMS has been responsive thus far and we are hopeful that new guidance will be released soon.”

For a detailed summary of the RHC-relevant provisions of the 2022 PFS final rule please visit NARHC.org/News and email Sarah.Hohman@narhc.org with any questions.

Rural Health Research Gateway

Date: November 17, 2021

Using CPT Charges as an Economic Proxy for Telehealth and Non-telehealth Emergency Department Utilization

Economic analysis of health care utilization is a pressing priority. However, procuring economic data presents many challenges. One approach is to obtain charge and reimbursement data within a single health care organization, but this approach lacks external validity. Another approach is to obtain charge and reimbursement data across health care organizations by analyzing claims databases (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid claims). But this approach restricts the sample to covered beneficiaries (e.g., older, disabled), which restricts generalizability. We aimed to obtain economic data on emergency department (ED) visits from a number of unrelated rural hospitals and sought an approach for doing so. It appeared feasible to have rural hospitals report the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code (AMA, 2021) and associated charge for a sample of ED visits, since CPT codes would be generated for billing and insurance claims submission. The specific aim of this analysis is to explore the characteristics of the resulting dataset in terms of distribution and association with related variables.

Contact Information:

Marcia M. Ward, PhD
Rural Telehealth Research Center
Phone: 319.384.3815
marcia-m-ward@uiowa.edu

Additional Resources of Interest:

More information from the Rural Health Information Hub’s topic guides: Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), Healthcare Access in Rural Communities, Rural Hospitals, Telehealth Use in Rural Healthcare

Click to view Research Alert.