Announcements from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

February 21, 2018

What’s New

Best Practices for Medication-Assisted Treatment.  The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) published clinical guidance explaining use of the three medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat opioid use disorders:  methadone, naltrexone, and buprenorphine.  Called Treatment Improvement Protocol (TIP) 63, the guidance is part of a public health strategy to increase access to medications treating opioid use disorder.  In a measure specifically aimed at increasing drug treatment in rural areas, the Drug Enforcement Agency announced last month that now, in addition to physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants could get the Drug Abuse Treatment Act waiver required to prescribe buprenorphine.

Funding Opportunities

Rural Communities Healthy Out-of-School Time – March 16.  The National Recreation and Park Association will make ten awards of $35,000 each to help rural agencies in Colorado, Kansas and Mississippi promote healthy eating and physical activity for school-aged children.  Eligible applicants include tribal agencies for community/recreation services.  All applicants must serve meals during out-of-school times through specified programs of the Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service.

Rural Health  Research

Rural Communities Healthy Out-of-School Time – March 16.  The National Recreation and Park Association will make ten awards of $35,000 each to help rural agencies in Colorado, Kansas and Mississippi promote healthy eating and physical activity for school-aged children.  Eligible applicants include tribal agencies for community/recreation services.  All applicants must serve meals during out-of-school times through specified programs of the Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service.

Policy Updates

Questions about Rural Health Policy Updates? Write to ruralpolicy@hrsa.gov

Deadlines for Submitting 2017 Data for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). The 2017 submission period runs through March 31, 2018, with two exceptions. Groups using the CMS Web Interface have until March 16, 2018 at 8pm ET to submit data and individual Eligible Clinicians submitting quality data via claims, must submit by March 31, 2018. For step-by-step instructions on how to submit MIPS data, check out this video and fact sheet. Rural providers with questions about their participation status or MIPS data submission should contact the Quality Payment Program Service Center.

Comments Requested: Changes to Short-Term, Limited Duration Health Insurance – April 23. A rule proposed jointly by the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Labor, and The Department of Health and Human Services would amend the definition of short-term, limited-duration (STLD) health insurance. Currently, STLD plans can only provide coverage for three months or less, and they do not qualify as minimum essential health coverage.  This rule proposes to allow STLD plans to provide coverage for up to 12 months and seeks public input on the proposed length of coverage,  how to streamline re-application processes, and the potential benefits and/or drawbacks of non-ACA compliant policies on risk pools and consumer costs.  This is an opportunity for rural stakeholders to provide feedback on this proposed policy change including the impact for rural household premiums and out-of-pocket costs. In 2014, about 1 in 5 rural families had health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs that exceeded 10 percent of family income.

CMS Seeking Primary Care Practices to Participate in Testing Opportunity. CMS is currently seeking primary care practices to help test a potential change to an electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) related to clinician referrals. Honoraria will range from $2,000-$4,000, depending on practices’ level of testing participation. Interested practices should be reporting this eCQM under the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). For more information or if you are interested in assisting with this activity, please contact Shari Glickman at SGlickman@mathematica-mpr.com and Omoniyi Adekanmbi at OAdekanmbi@mathematica-mpr.com.

AHRQ Seeks Input on Quality Indicators – March 8.  The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) seeks information from hospitals and other health care entities about how the Agency’s Quality Indicators (QI) have been used and how they can be improved.  The QIs were developed to improve quality at hospitals, and now they support local needs assessments and value-based purchasing programs.  Rural hospitals and others may comment on whether/how the QIs have been used as well as why they are not being used if that’s the case.

Resources, Learning Events and Technical Assistance

PTSD Treatment via Telehealth Wednesday, February 21 at 2:00pm ET.   (Archived webinars are available at this link.) The Veterans Administration (VA) created the PTSD Consultation Program for providers who treat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.  Their lecture series, available for free to providers both in and outside of the VA, is a one-hour webinar on the third Wednesday of each month.  Continuing education credits are available to those who register through the program’s website.  If you are not interested in receiving credits, you may join the webinar directly without pre-registration.  According to the VA’s Office of Rural Health, a quarter of all U.S. veterans – about 5.2 million – live in rural communities.

Public Listening Session on Clinician Burden – Thursday, February 22 at 10:00 am ET.  The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will hold a public listening session to hear from stakeholders about regulatory and administrative burdens related to the use of Electronic Health Records.  The event will run from 10:30 am – 4:30 pm ET at the HHS Headquarters in Washington, DC but attendees who join by phone will have an opportunity to provide input as well.  CMS has been working to reduce burden on providers, particularly in rural areas, with a “Patients Over Paper” focus that aims to streamline regulation.

Addressing Social Determinants of Health – Thursday, February 22 at 2:00 pm ET.  HRSA’s Bureau of Health Workforce will host this 90-minute webinar on achieving health equity for underserved population through social determinants of health.  This is the first of two webinars focusing on strategies and resources for behavioral health practitioners.  For other topic guides, toolkits and best-practice models specific to rural communities, find social determinants of health on the Rural Health Information Hub.

Rural Health Clinics Technical Assistance – Thursday, February 22 at 2:00 pm ET.  This webinar will cover some of the most common billing topics for Rural Health Clinics (RHCs).  It will be conducted jointly by Shannon Chambers,  Director of Provider Solutions with the South Carolina Office of Rural Health and Janet Lytton, Director of Reimbursement with RHD, Inc.  The dial-in information as well as past RHC TA webinars can now be found on RHI Hub at https://www.ruralhealthinfo.org/topics/rural-health-clinics/technical-assistance-calls.  Please bookmark this site for future reference.

New Resources for 2018 County Health Rankings – Tuesday, February 27 at 3:00 pm ET.  The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation will hold a one-hour webinar to give overview to new tools and resources for the 2018 County Health Rankings that will be released in March.

Resource of the Week

Rural Food Access Toolkit. This new toolkit at the Rural Health Information Hub compiles resources to support organizations’ food access programs in rural areas. Created in collaboration with the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center, the toolkit provides guidance – from the planning stage through implementation and sustainability – for improving community-level food access.

Approaching Deadlines

RWJF Change Leadership Programs – February 21 & March 14
Rural Health Network Development Planning Program – February 23
Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program EvaluationFebruary 23
Grants to Support Health Insurance Market in States (Letter of Intent) – February 26
Comments Requested: Quality Measures – Hospital-Wide Mortality – February 27
Nurse Anesthetist Traineeship Program – February 28
Rural PREP Microresearch – March 1 (depending on funds)
Comments Requested: Medicare Advantage/Prescription Drug Plan Updates – March 5
Comments Requested:  Labor Redefines Employer Health Plans – March 6
AHRQ Seeks Input on Quality Indicators – March 8
NURSE Corps Loan Repayment Program – March 8
New Medicare Episode Payment Model – March 12
MIPS Quality Data Reporting via CMS Web Interface – March 16
Rural Communities Healthy Out-of-School Time – March 16
Rural Health Clinic Policy and Assessment Program – March 16
Comments Requested: FDA Opioid Prescribing Guidelines – March 16
Abstracts for Rural Cancer Research – March 19
Indian Health Service Scholarship Program – March 28
MIPS Quality Data Reporting – March 31
Grants to Support Health Insurance Market in States – April 5
Comments Requested: Changes to Short-Term, Limited Duration Health Insurance – April 23
Tribal-Researcher Capacity Building Grants – April 23
Guaranteed Loans for Rural Rental Housing – Ongoing through 2021
Drinking Water and Waste Disposal for Rural and Native Alaskan Villages – Ongoing
HIT Strategies for Patient-Reported Outcome Measures – Ongoing
HIT to Improve Health Care Quality and Outcomes – Ongoing
Community Facilities Program –  Ongoing
Summer Food Service Program – Ongoing