June 4, 2020

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May 22, 2020

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May 21, 2020

• Allocation to Rural Health Clinics for COVID-19 Testing.  On Wednesday, the Health Resources and Services Administration allocated $225 million to more than 4,500 Rural Health Clinics (RHCs).  Recipients of the distribution include each RHC with a unique, active CMS Certification Number (CCN) listed in either the CMS Provider of Service file (March 2020) or the CMS Survey & Certification’s Quality, Certification and Oversight Reports (QCOR) before May 7, 2020. Each of these RHCs received a flat amount of just under $50,000. This state-by-state breakdown is an estimate, pending final validation.
• Costs of Emergency Department Visits for Mental and Substance Use Disorders in the United States, 2017.  In this brief, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) examines the costs of emergency department (ED) visits with diagnoses of mental and substance use disorders compared to total ED visits. The findings include information by hospital location for large metropolitan, small metropolitan, micropolitan, and rural areas.  The report is part of AHRQs Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, a collection of data and analyzation tools to enable research on a broad range of health policy issues.
• AARP Reports on Caregiving in the United States.  The Association for the Advancement of Retired Persons (AARP) reports that more than one in five Americans (21.3 percent) are caregivers, having provided care to an adult or child with special needs at some time in the past 12 months.  The report includes information specific to rural caregivers.
• Federal Office of Rural Health Policy FAQs for COVID-19.  A set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) from our grantees and stakeholders, updated regularly. 
• COVID-19 FAQs and Funding for HRSA Programs. Find all funding and frequently asked questions for programs administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
• CDC COVID-19 Updates.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides daily updates and guidance, and ongoing Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity (COCA).
• Confirmed COVID-19 Cases, Metropolitan and Nonmetropolitan Counties.  The RUPRI Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis provides up-to-date data and maps on rural and urban confirmed cases throughout the United States.  An animated map shows the progression of cases beginning January 21.
• Rural Response to Coronavirus Disease 2019.  The Rural Health Information Hub has created a guide to help you learn about activities underway to address COVID-19.

May 12, 2020

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May 12, 2020

Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma penned a letter to nursing home management and staff. Administrator Verma shared her gratitude for the unwavering dedication and commitment of nursing home management and staff in keeping residents safe and for continuing to compassionately care for those who rely on them during this unprecedented time. The letter also provides links to previously shared infection control resources.

Letter

Click to view Article from Missouri Foundation for Health as published in the May 11, 2020 issue of Health Affairs .

The students and staff have done some amazing things! MU Extension pulled in medical students, Journalism, Public Health, and Nursing, to name a few, approximately 6 weeks ago, to build teams to address resources, information, and community support related to COVID-19.

TEAMS

• Lobbying team: Pushing for statewide state-at-home/shelter-in-place order from governor; advocating for better housing/quarantine policies via city council.
• Social media team: Pushing out accurate, factual messages on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Blogs, and YouTube.
• Mutual support of local medical/scientific community: Support fellow med students, but also nursing students, pharmacists, undergrads, PhD.
• Community support: Helping our communities when churches and schools and community/rec centers have all closed and we have enforced time at home. Addressing issues like IPV, child abuse, and child malnutrition when schools are closed.
• Positive articles: Developing some content on some positives that are coming out of the responses to the Coronavirus epidemic.
• Practice articles: Summarizing recommendations from the national societies to laypeople- in a health literate manner.
• Supporting our local DOH: Moving target as they figure out what they need.
• Call center: The health department is putting together a call center to answer constituent concerns about COVID-19. They need it staffed from 7 AM – 7 PM every day.

WEBPAGES

• MU Extension, COVID-19 Resources, Show Me Resilience Stories, and Remoting Working and Learning: https://extension2.missouri.edu/covid-19-resources-public/show-me-resilience-public.
• A PhD Student worked with her community to ensure Knox County residents were safe and getting the resources and information concerning CDC guidelines etc. She worked with her community to connect her fellow residents to resources. Connecting People- Connecting and Protecting Knox County: https://extension2.missouri.edu/news/connecting-and-protecting-knox-county-4435.
• COVID-19 Resources: https://extension2.missouri.edu/.
• The following are resources that can help the students’ efforts online, both internally and externally, on the Extension COVID-19 websites: What You Should Know About Coronavirus (COVID-19).
• Medication List & Other Helpful Medical Information– for individuals to complete for themselves and family members, which will be helpful to health providers.
• COVID-19 Emotional Health and Wellbeing – information on how to take care of your emotional health.
• COVID-19 and Your Workforce– how to protect staff in the workplace, including working remotely.