Category: Health Care

Healthcare Workforce Stress and Resiliency: The Role of Technology

Date: September 6, 2022

Healthcare Workforce Stress and Resiliency: The Role of Technology 

Date: September 13, 2022

Time: 12:00 PM-1:30 PM ET, 11:00 AM-12:30 PM CT, 10:00 AM-11:30 AM MT, 9:00 AM-10:30 AM PT

This FREE webinar is part of HRSA’s Telehealth Learning Webinar Series. The Series’ goal is to highlight successful projects/best practices as well as resources to promote and further the use of telehealth technologies for health care delivery, education, and health information services.

The webinar is designed for healthcare workers, students, trainees, provider organizations, and healthcare settings.

This webinar will feature expert panelists discussing best/promising practices and examples of how technology can be leveraged to address provider stress and promote healthcare workforce resiliency. Presenters include Dr. Candice Chen, George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health; Dr. Chris Fore, Indian Health Service Telebehavioral Health Center of Excellence; and Dr. Dee Ford, Medical University of South Carolina Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy and Sleep Medicine. This webinar will be interactive with a discussion session following the panelist presentations, and resources will be provided.

Register

For questions, contact KPatton@hrsa.gov. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Telehealth Learning Webinar Series is hosted by the Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs and the Office for the Advancement of Telehealth.

*This webinar is made possible through funding provided by HRSA, Office for the Advancement of Telehealth (U1U42527).

New COVID-19 Boosters Targeting Currently Circulating Strains Becoming Available in Missouri

Date: September 2, 2022

New COVID-19 Boosters Targeting Currently Circulating Strains Becoming Available in Missouri

JEFFERSON CITY, MO – Bivalent COVID-19 boosters are becoming available among some providers in Missouri beginning as early as today with additional providers adding these boosters to their inventory next week. A list of providers who pre-ordered these booster doses is available at MOStopsCovid.com.

On September 1, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle P. Walensky, MD, MPH, endorsed the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) recommendations for use of updated COVID-19 boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech for people ages 12 years and older and from Moderna for people ages 18 years and older.

The Moderna and Pfizer bivalent boosters both target two strains of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 – the original strain of the virus and two of the Omicron subvariants (BA.4 and BA.5), which are currently the most widespread variants globally. Only individuals who have completed their primary vaccination series (two doses of Pfizer or Moderna or one dose of Johnson & Johnson) are eligible to receive the bivalent booster. Those who have recently received Novavax are not yet eligible for any booster at this time.

“We encourage those who are eligible to receive this new booster dose as it will greatly help protect individuals from the variant most commonly detected today and for the past several months,” said State Epidemiologist Dr. George Turabelidze with the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS). “As we head into the fall and winter months, this added protection becomes even more important since viruses generally tend to circulate at a more rapid pace during this time.”

In the coming weeks, CDC also expects to recommend updated COVID-19 boosters for other pediatric groups, per yesterday’s discussion and evaluation of the data by ACIP. When data is available and FDA authorizes these other types of COVID-19 boosters and CDC provides use recommendations, the CDC and DHSS will work to quickly make them available in Missouri with the help of COVID-19 vaccinators throughout the state.

If you have not been vaccinated or have not completed your primary series, visit MOStopsCovid.com to find a location offering vaccines. The original formulations of Pfizer, Moderna, J&J and Novavax will continue to be used. Booster doses use reduced amounts of the original vaccines.

Individuals are eligible for the bivalent booster two months since their last primary or booster dose of Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson. The previous monovalent booster will no longer be available to persons 12 and older; the FDA is removing authorization for those boosters to reduce provider confusion for staff administering vaccines.

The Pfizer bivalent booster is currently authorized for ages 12 and older while Moderna’s is currently authorized for 18 years of age and older. Individuals may choose to receive either the Pfizer or Moderna bivalent booster, regardless of which primary series vaccine or original booster dose they had previously.

For the latest information on bivalent boosters, visit MOStopsCovid.com.

Update on Rural Independently Owned Pharmacy Closures in the United States, 2003-2021

Date: September 1, 2022

Update on Rural Independently Owned Pharmacy Closures in the United States, 2003-2021

Nearly half of rural pharmacies are independently owned retail stores and are susceptible to closing due to financial hardship. This policy brief builds on the history of Rural Policy Research Institute projects examining the provision of pharmacy services and updates pharmacy closure in rural areas of the United States. Monthly data on all institutions providing pharmacy services in the 50 states and District of Columbia were obtained from the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs.

Key Findings:

  • Between 2003 and 2021, the number of retail pharmacies declined in noncore rural areas by 9.8 percent, and in rural micropolitan areas by 4.4 percent, while the number in metropolitan areas increased by 15.1 percent during the same period.
  • Between 2003 and 2021, the number of independently owned retail pharmacies declined in noncore areas by 16.1 percent, and in micropolitan areas by 9.1 percent, while the number in metropolitan areas increased by 28.2 percent during the same period.
  • Between 2003 and 2021, the number of chain pharmacies grew in all three geographies, with the largest growth occurring in metropolitan areas (noncore: 4.6 percent, micropolitan: 3.7 percent, metropolitan: 10.5 percent).
  • Franchise pharmacies have never represented a large segment of the market (1.1 percent of all retail pharmacies in 2021), but their number declined dramatically in all three geographies from 2003 to 2021.

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:

Availability of Home Health, Hospice, and Pharmacy Services in Minoritized Racial/Ethnic Group Areas

Date: August 25, 2022

Availability of Home Health, Hospice, and Pharmacy Services in Minoritized Racial/Ethnic Group Areas

This series of briefs documents disparities in geographic access to health services for ZIP code tabulation areas (ZCTAs) containing a high proportion of minoritized racial/ethnic group (MRG) residents.

Availability of Home Health Services in Minoritized Racial/Ethnic Group Areas

  • In the U.S., home health agency reporting services are not available in 5.9% of all ZCTAs and an additional 10.3% of ZCTAs receive services from a single agency.
  • In 2020, 10.3% of all rural ZCTAs and 2.2% of all urban ZCTAs lacked home health service access. As a ZCTA becomes more rural and remote, these communities are more likely to lack any home health care or have limited service.
  • Within rural ZCTAs in the top 5th percent for minoritized population group representation, non-Hispanic Black representation was less likely to lack all home health services and non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native representation was more likely to lack all home health services when compared to “all other” rural ZCTAs.

Availability of Medicare-Certified Hospice Services in Minoritized Racial/Ethnic Group Areas

  • Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services-certified hospice providing services are not available in 5.6% of ZCTAs and 14.2% are served by a single hospice.
  • In 2020, 2.4% of all urban ZCTAs had no service while 9.4% of all rural ZCTAs had no service.
  • Within rural ZCTAs in the top 5th percent for minoritized population group representation, American Indian/Alaska Native (32.6%), Asian American/Pacific Islander (12.9%), non-Hispanic white (24.7%), and multiple MRG groups (23.1%) were each more likely than “all other” rural ZCTAs to lack any hospice service (4.5%).

Availability of Pharmacies in Minoritized Racial/Ethnic Areas

  • The mean density of pharmacies across rural ZCTAs was 1.2 pharmacies per 10,000 persons. The mean density of pharmacies across urban ZCTAs was 1.7 pharmacies per 10,000 persons.
  • The lowest density of pharmacies across rural-urban MRG designation was found in rural Hispanic ZCTAs.

Contact Information:

Janice C. Probst, PhD
Rural and Minority Health Research Center
Phone: 803.251.6317
jprobst@mailbox.sc.edu

Additional Resources of Interest:

More information from the Rural Health Information Hub’s topic guides: Healthcare Access in Rural Communities, Rural Home Health Services, Rural Hospice and Palliative Care, Rural Pharmacy and Prescription Drugs

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.

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!