Author: barbarabrendel

2023 Rural Health Network Development (RHND) Program

Date: August 23, 2022

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH) would like to share this message on behalf of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP).

HRSA FORHP will be making approximately 44 awards of up to $300,000 each for the 2023 Rural Health Network Development (RHND) Program. This four-year program will support integrated health care networks who collaborate to achieve efficiencies; expand access to, coordinate, and improve the quality of basic health care services and associated health outcomes; and strengthen the rural health care system as a whole. HRSA intends for the RHND Program to address gaps in service, enhance systems of care, and expand capacity of the local rural health care system.

The RHND Program will focus on the following four program domains:

  • Improve access: by addressing gaps in care, workforce shortages, better workflows and/or improving the quality of health care services
  • Expand capacity and services: by creating effective systems through the development of knowledge, skills, structures, and leadership models
  • Enhance outcomes: by improving patient and/or network development outcomes through expanding or strengthening the network’s services, activities or interventions
  • Sustainability: by positioning the network to prepare for sustainable health programs through value-based care and population health management.

Eligible organizations must be located in a domestic public or private, non-profit or for-profit entities, including faith-based, community-based, tribes and tribal organizations. The applicant organization may be located in a rural or urban area, but must have demonstrated experience serving, or the capacity to serve, rural underserved populations. 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.

As FORHP continues to focus on sharing program outcomes, the identification and dissemination of rural evidence-based models maintains a priority. The Rural Health Information Hub (RHI hub) consists of a number of resources, including successful program models and evidence-based toolkits.

FORHP will hold a webinar for applicants on Wednesday September 7, 2022 from 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM EST. Log-in information is below:

  • Weblink
  • Call-In Number: 1-833-568-8864
  • Meeting ID: 14653038

A recording will be made available for those who cannot attend.

Review the NOFO.

Rural and Urban Pharmacy Presence – Pharmacy Deserts

Date: August 22, 2022

Rural and Urban Pharmacy Presence – Pharmacy Deserts

The purpose of this brief is to examine the availability of community pharmacies and their provided services in rural areas of the U.S. The brief also provides a deeper analysis of counties with no retail pharmacies (i.e., pharmacy deserts) based on metropolitan/nonmetropolitan locations.

In 2021, there were 138 counties with no retail pharmacy, including 101 noncore, 15 micropolitan, and 22 metropolitan counties. By most measures, the proportion of the population considered vulnerable, including nonwhite, uninsured, unemployed, and income below the federal poverty level, is higher in noncore counties with no retail pharmacies than in other counties with no retail pharmacies. Further, the percent of population aged 65 and older and the percent aged 85 and older are higher in noncore and micropolitan counties with no pharmacy than in metropolitan counties.

Despite the possibility of using telepharmacy to improve access to health services in medically underserved regions, only around half of U.S. states have passed legislation authorizing telepharmacy.

Contact Information:

Keith J. Mueller, PhD
RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis
Phone: 319.384.3832
keith-mueller@uiowa.edu

Additional Resources of Interest:

DHSS Office of Dental Health News

Date: August 22, 2022

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS), Office of Dental Health (ODH) has been busy educating and promoting on the importance of oral health and one of the items that was recently worked on is a fluoride varnish video.  The fluoride varnish video is available on the PSP web page.

You may have also seen the news that Missouri has a new State Dental Director, Dr. Jackie Miller!  The news release can be found on the DHSS website Oral Health | Health & Senior Services (mo.gov) under ‘Recent News’.

ODH is also busy gearing up for another great year of the Preventive Services Program (PSP).  If you are unfamiliar with PSP, it is a Community-Based program that brings dental screenings, two applications of fluoride varnish, oral health education, referrals and oral care supplies to PSP participants in Missouri schools.  If you know of a school that does not participate in PSP and would like to take part, please email oralhealth@health.mo.gov.

New Funding Opportunities

Date: August 18, 2022

Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education AND Teaching Health Center Planning and Development 

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), through the American Rescue Plan, will invest in two new funding opportunities that will launch soon. 

The Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) program will support the training of residents in primary care residency programs in community-based ambulatory patient care centers. Program recipients will prepare physician and dental residents to provide high quality care, particularly in rural and underserved communities, and develop competencies to serve these diverse populations.   

The Teaching Health Center Planning and Development (THCPD) program will fund community-based health centers to create new accredited primary care residency programs to increase the physician and dental healthcare workforce in rural and underserved communities. 

Eligible community-based primary care/fellowship programs for both funding opportunities include: family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine-pediatrics, psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology, general dentistry, pediatric dentistry, or geriatrics.

Have questions? 

Join the Informational Webinar 

Attend this pre-launch webinar to learn about these programs.

Date: Wednesday, August 24, 2022
Time: 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET 

Join Here

For dial-in only: 

Meeting ID: 161 444 5277
Phone: 833 568 8864  
Passcode: 39402097

Changes in the Provision of Health Care Services by Rural Critical Access Hospitals and Prospective Payment System Hospitals

Date: August 18, 2022

Changes in the Provision of Health Care Services by Rural Critical Access Hospitals and Prospective  Payment System Hospitals in 2009 compared to 2017

The purpose of this brief is to explore changes in the availability and provision of different health care services among rural Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) and Prospective Payment System (PPS) hospitals in 2009 compared to 2017. We analyzed data regarding the availability of different health care services from the American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey DatabaseTM.

Key Findings:

  • Of the 29 services considered, most increased by 2017. Twenty-three services increased among rural CAHs, and 21 increased among rural PPS hospitals.
  • One service remained the same among rural CAHs (assisted living), and three services remained the same among rural PPS hospitals (assisted living, emergency department, and adult general medicine/surgery). These also changed very little among rural CAHs.
  • The percentage of hospitals offering four service specialties—birthing/postpartum services, medical/surgical intensive care, obstetrics, and skilled nursing— declined in both rural CAHs and rural PPS hospitals when comparing 2009 to 2017.
  • In addition to the aforementioned services, rural CAHs were less likely to offer adult general medicine/surgery and home health services in 2017 than they were in 2009.
  • Rural PPS hospitals were less likely to offer pediatric general medicine/surgery in 2017 than in 2009.

Contact Information:

George H. Pink, PhD
North Carolina Rural Health Research and Policy Analysis Center
Phone: 919.843.2728
gpink@email.unc.edu

Additional Resources of Interest:

National Minority Donor Awareness Month

Date: August 18, 2022

August is National Minority Donor Awareness Month! A time when to come together with one voice and one vision to address the main challenge in transplantation: the gap between the need for organ transplants and the supply of donated organs. Minority communities have disproportionately higher rates of diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease which contribute to organ failure and the need for an organ transplant. Over 100,000 people are currently on the national transplant waiting list, with more than 60% representing racial and ethnic minorities.

This National Minority Donor Awareness Month, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA): 1) demonstrates the need for more organ, eye, and tissue donors within multicultural communities; 2) provides donation education; 3) encourages donor registration; and, 4) promotes healthy living and disease prevention to decrease the need for transplantation.

Join HRSA in celebrating this vital effort to deliver positive messages that help minority communities make the decision to support organ, eye, and tissue donation. Add your diversity to the online donor registry today, and encourage your stakeholders to do the same with the sample messaging below.

Sample Social Media Messages

Twitter

  • #DYK: Minorities make up 60% of those awaiting an organ transplant. Together, we can diversify the donor pool so everyone on the transplant waiting list can have a second chance at life. Register as an organ, eye, and tissue donor today. #NMDAM organdonor.gov/sign-up

Facebook

  • #DYK: Minorities make up the majority of those on the waitlist for an organ transplant. Together, we can diversify the donor pool so everyone on the organ transplant waiting list can have a second chance at life. Register as an organ, eye, and tissue donor today. #NMDAM gov/2mx8/inscribase

2022 Missouri Harm Reduction Conference

Date: August 17, 2022

2022 Missouri Harm Reduction Conference

Wednesday, September 21, 2022, and Thursday, September 22, 2022, 12:30 PM – 5:00 PM

Join the Department of Health and Senior Services this September for the second annual Missouri Harm Reduction Conference! This year’s conference will be provided at no cost and held via ZOOM. The conference sessions will be recorded and available for viewing after the event.

NASW-Continuing Education Credits and Missouri Credentialing Board-Contact Hour applications are pending approval – eligibility for credit requires live attendance of the entire conference and completion of the post-session evaluations.

To register or find more information, please CLICK HERE. Questions can be answered by emailing: MOHarmReduction@loginplan.events.

Rural Healthcare Provider Transition Project Technical Assistance

Date: August 17, 2022

Apply for one year of virtual and onsite technical assistance.

Supported by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, the National Rural Health Resource Center provides small rural hospitals and certified rural health clinics one year of focused technical assistance (TA) through the Rural Healthcare Provider Transition Project (RHPTP). 

RHPTP is designed to help strengthen your organization’s foundation in the key elements of value-based care including but not limited to efficiency, quality, patient experience, and safety of care. RHPTP’s goal is to guide, prepare, and position your organization to be an effective participant in a health system focused on value. 

Watch this short video, and visit the RHPTP website for more information regarding eligibility and application process, benefits of participation, and FAQs.  

Please contact the RHPTP Team at rhptp@ruralcenter.org with any questions.

Submit your RHPTP application today!