Month: January 2025

Upcoming Webinar: An Updated Model of Rural Hospital Financial Distress, January 14

January 10, 2025

Upcoming Webinar: An Updated Model of Rural Hospital Financial Distress, January 14

This webinar will provide an overview of new research by the North Carolina Rural Health Research Program on the topic of rural hospital financial distress.

The aim of this research was to create an updated Financial Distress Index model that recognizes recent changes in the operating environment and uses financial performance, government reimbursement, organizational traits, and market characteristics to predict the risk of rural hospital financial distress two years hence.

Rural hospital profitability continues to be a challenge; having a model that can accurately predict financial distress and closure helps programs and policymakers better target resources to prevent closure or convert to other models of care.

Cost: Free

When: Tuesday, January 14, 1:00 p.m. ET

Click Here to Register

RHIhub This Week Now Available

January 9, 2025

RHIhub This Week Now Available

RHIhub This Week keeps you informed of the latest rural news, funding opportunities, publications, and events.

Click Here to Access RHIhub This Week

Apply Now – Rural Hospital Stabilization Program (RHSP)

January 9, 2025

Apply Now – Rural Hospital Stabilization Program (RHSP)

The Rural Hospital Stabilization Program (RHSP) is funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy and administered by the National Rural Health Resource Center. The ultimate goal of the program is to strengthen rural health care delivery nationwide.

RHSP aids rural hospitals, at no cost to them, to help them improve their financial stability by enhancing or expanding health care services that meet community needs. This may include everything from pulmonary rehabilitation to outpatient behavioral health services to expanded primary care and keep care close to home.

The Center’s subject matter experts and a team of nationally recognized consultants familiar with rural hospitals, provide:

  • Comprehensive financial and operational assessments,
  • Education,
  • One-on-one coaching,
  • Peer-to-peer sharing, and
  • Other forms of customized assistance.

Hospitals participating in the cohort-style program work to identify clinical areas where the expansion or addition of services would help to ensure that care is available locally, and develop those service lines to:

  • Bolster patient volume,
  • Optimize service utilization, and
  • Improve cash flow.

Hospitals that meet program expectations and are selected for participation may receive financial support for operating and equipment costs for service line development and a Community Engagement Champion.

Benefits of Participation:

  • Enhanced and expanded service lines
  • Financial stabilization
  • Operational efficiency
  • Quality Improvement
  • Community Awareness and Perception

To learn more:

Click Here to Apply

Upcoming Webinar Series – Improving Preventive Care in Early Childhood, March 3

January 8, 2025

Upcoming Webinar Series – Improving Preventive Care in Early Childhood, March 3

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched this new webinar series. It focuses on opportunities for state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) programs to improve delivery of developmental and lead screenings, immunizations, and early oral health interventions during well-child visits in early childhood. The webinar series will be followed by an action-oriented affinity group in the spring of 2025.

Who should attend:

  • State Medicaid and CHIP programs staff,
  • Pediatric providers,
  • Public health agencies,
  • Quality Improvement partners,

Click Here to visit the Improving Well-Child Care website for more information.

Please submit any questions to the quality improvement technical assistance mailbox: MACQualityImprovement@mathmatica-mpr.com

Cost: Free

When:

  • Monday, March 3, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., State Medicaid and CHIP Experiences Promoting Preventive Care through Well-Child Visits in Early Childhood
  • Monday, March 31, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., Overview of the Improving Preventive Care in Early Childhood Affinity Group and Expression of Interest Process
  • Monday, April 14, 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., Addressing Barriers to Well-Child Visits and Preventive Care: Promising Approaches to Transportation in Medicaid and CHIP

Click Here to Register (you may register for one or all three in the series)

Upcoming Webinar – Supporting Perinatal Individuals Experiencing Substance Use Disorders: Strategies for Perinatal Care Professionals and Systems of Care

January 8, 2025

Upcoming Webinar – Supporting Perinatal Individuals Experiencing Substance Use Disorders: Strategies for Perinatal Care Professionals and Systems of Care

Join the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA’s) Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) for this roundtable webinar which will offer actionable strategies that support providers in delivering compassionate, comprehensive care.

This roundtable will address the stigma around mandatory reporting, which deters some pregnant and postpartum women from seeking care and provide insights on creating safe plans of care.

In addition, the session will highlight training opportunities, resources, and guidance on integrating substance use disorder care into workflows.

Attendees will learn about:

  • Barriers to care,
  • Solutions to improve access, and
  • The importance of educating providers on state-specific mandatory reporting.

Practical examples, such as “warm hands” and harm reduction strategies will be shared.

Cost: Free

When: Wednesday, January 15, 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. ET

Click Here to Register

RTRC Telehealth Policy Brief Highlights Need for More Health Equity Focused Research

January 7, 2025

RTRC Telehealth Policy Brief Highlights Need for More Health Equity Focused Research

In December 2024, the Rural Telehealth Research Center (RTRC) released a Research and Policy Brief titled, The Role of Relaxed Telehealth Policy on Health Equity in Telehealth Utilization and Outcomes During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency: A Living Systematic Review.

The brief underscores the significant telehealth policy changes that have occurred since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic as the foundation for enabling the ability to better understand the variety of implications of increased telehealth use, such as access to care, health outcomes, and cost. For this study in particular, the RTRC sought to conduct a systematic review of the ways in which telehealth has been shown to address health disparities.

Click Here to read Policy Brief

Upcoming Webinar – Breaking Down Barriers to Telehealth: How the Digital Health Readiness Screener Can Drive Equity and Access, January 16

January 7, 2025

Upcoming Webinar – Breaking Down Barriers to Telehealth: How the Digital Health Readiness Screener Can Drive Equity and Access, January 16

In this session, discover how the new Digital Health Readiness Screener from Thomas Jefferson University is making a difference in telehealth access by identifying key barriers faced by diverse patient populations.

The webinar will explore how the screener assesses technical readiness and quality of care concerns, including digital literacy, privacy, and trust in telehealth. Consider joining this webinar to learn how this tool can support targeted interventions and help advance digital health equity across healthcare settings.

Cost: Free

When: Thursday, January 16, 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Patient Resource: Can I Use Telehealth for Emergency Care?

January 7, 2025

Patient Resource: Can I Use Telehealth for Emergency Care?

There are many ways that telehealth can help with emergency medical care. Share this resource with patients so they can learn the ways that telehealth can support care during medical emergencies.

Topics Covered:

  • How is telehealth used in emergencies?
  • What are the benefits of telehealth for emergency care?
  • What do I need to use telehealth?
  • How do I prepare for my telehealth appointment?

Click Here to learn more

Creating an Emergency Plan for Regular Telehealth Visits

January 7, 2025

Creating an Emergency Plan for Regular Telehealth Visits

Planning can go a long way to prepare you for an emergency situation during a telemedicine or telehealth appointment and set expectations with your patients.

With telehealth, you’re seeing patients outside of the safety and control of your office. An emergency situation may arise from a wide range of causes, including a mental health crisis, stroke/heart attack, overdose, etc.

Click Here to learn how to plan for an emergency situation during a telehealth appointment.

Click Here to Read Patient Safety and Emergency Management from the American Psychiatric Association

Federal legislation continues to expand and extend telehealth services. Click Here to read more