January 23, 2024
National Maternal Health Awareness Day
Today is National Maternal Health Awareness Day and January is National Birth Defects Prevention Month. Learn best practices for providing maternal health services through telehealth, including developing a strategy, billing practices and more.
January 23, 2024
Telehealth Community Stories
Telehealth.HHS.gov released a new section highlighting how providers and patients can use virtual visits to improve access to health care. Learn more about how telehealth is being used in various settings.
January 22, 2024
Upcoming Virtual Conference – 2024 Rural Hospital and Clinic Virtual Performance Improvement Conference
On January 31, join the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH) and Wintergreen for the second annual Hospital Performance Improvement Virtual Conference.
Conference Content and Presenters:
When: Wednesday, January 31, 11:00 AM ET
Cost: No Cost
Register Here
,January 19, 2024
Request for Public Input on Maternal Mental Health – Comment by January 31
The Task Force on Maternal Mental Health is a federal committee led by the HHS Office of Women’s Health and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
They are seeking public feedback on a set of questions concerning the effectiveness and limitations of prevention and treatment efforts for maternal mental health conditions and substance use disorders.
The Task Force also seeks comment on whether underserved populations, including rural, are represented in the research and guidelines for screening and treatment.
How to submit a response:
Read Full Notice
Submit a Formal Comment
January 19, 2024
AHRQ Safety Program for Telemedicine: Improving Antibiotic Use – June 2024
The federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) seeks participants for a free, 18-month program beginning in June 2024 to promote appropriate antibiotic use for patients seen via telemedicine.
Two million infections per year are caused by antibiotic resistant organisms, leading to 35,000 deaths per year in the Untied States. Meanwhile, one-third of outpatient antibiotic prescriptions and half of the prescriptions for acute respiratory infections are unnecessary.
AHRQ is recruiting clinics and providers that want to improve antibiotic prescribing. Clinics and providers wanting to improve antibiotic prescribing will receive training and one-on-one expert coaching in diagnosis and treatment via telemedicine.
Benefits of Participation:
What You Will Learn:
The deadline to enroll is May 23, 2024
Cost: There is no cost to participate. Participating practices will not receive any payment for participation
Learn More
January 19, 2024
Call for Grant Reviewers
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) relies on grant reviewers to select the best programs from a competitive group of applicants. Over the coming months, the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) will be competing a number of programs, i8ncluding among other things:
Having reviewers with expertise in rural health greatly benefits the review process and is also an opportunity to learn about the review process itself.
Reviews are typically held remotely over a period of a few days and reviewers who participate and complete their assigned duties receive an honorarium.
Registration is easy and does not commit you to serving as a reviewer.
Please consider lending your expertise to these important initiatives.
Compensation: non-federal participants are compensated
Read More here
How you can become a reviewer:
Additional experience considered:
Questions: Please send an email to RRMTechAssistance@hrsa.gov
January 19, 2024
CDC Details Downward Mortality Trend for Older Adults (Before COVID-19)
The report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that, pre-pandemic, death rates were decreasing for both urban and rural U.S. adults aged 65 and older. Data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics show that, though death rates from 2009 to 2019 were higher in rural areas than urban areas for both men and women and for all race and Hispanic-origin groups, they declined 15 percent in rural areas over that period.
CDC research from 2019 showed rural Americans are more likely to die from five leading causes than people living in urban areas. The research showed that rural residents are also more likely to die of preventable deaths – with higher rates of cigarette smoking, high blood pressure and obesity, higher rates of poverty, and less access to health care and health insurance.
Click here to read full article
January 19, 2024
Upcoming Webinar – HRSA’s Loan Guarantee Program: An Overview
If you are in need of additional financing for your upcoming capital project, join Capital Link, on February 6th for an overview of the benefits, eligibility and application process of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Health Center Facility Loan Guarantee Program (LGP).
A loan from the HRSA LGP can enhance your credit profile and cover up to 80% of the principal amount of loans made by non-federal lenders. The LGP also reduces lender risk and allows a lender to provide a loan under more favorable terms than otherwise possible.
LGP Benefits to Health Centers:
A loan guarantee can
Interested or have questions? Join Capital Link’s webinar session which provides an overview of the benefits, eligibility and application process of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
When: February 6, 1:00 p.m. CT
Cost: No charge
Register Here
If you are unable to attend this webinar, a recording will be available here, along with all the recordings of past webinars.
Please contact Chloe Bahnan cbanan@caplink.org if you have any questions.
January 18, 2024
Nurse Faculty Loan Program (NFLP) (HRSA-24-015) Top 5 FAQs
Q1: Who is eligible to apply for the NFLP grant? Are individuals eligible to apply?
Q2: We are a current NFLP grantee and still have remaining NFLP funds. Can we apply for more funding during the 2024 application cycle?
Note: The NFLP is a formula-based program. NFLP funds will be distributed among applicants as formula-payment based awards according to data provided in the application.
Q3: What are some examples of nurse educator development activities that can be supported by the NFLP fund award?
Nurse educator development activities should be incorporated as part of the curriculum/courses. NFLP loan funds can be used to cover the cost of student nurse educator development activities within the course of study, as a reasonable educational expense.
Q4: Can part-time advanced nursing education students receive NFLP loan support? How is enrollment status determined?
Q5: Can we allocate a part of the NFLP award for personnel, specifically for document processing and managing NFLP program requirements, or is it exclusively for personnel costs related to collections?
Applications are due by 11:59 p.m. ET on February 5, 2024
More Questions?
Check out the full list of FAQs and the Technical Assistance Webinar recording
Read more about this funding opportunity HRSA-24-015
January 12, 2024
CMS Accepting Applications for New Physician Residency Slots – Apply by March 31
Federal legislation under Section 126 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, authorizes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to distribute additional residency positions (also known as slots) for physicians training in underserved areas.
Eligible hospitals must use MEARIS, CMS’s online application system to apply by March 31 for 200 newly available slots.
In a one-hour webinar on Wednesday, January 17, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern, experts will provide background information on Section 126. The session is hosted by RuralGME.org, the FORHP supported organization that helps hospitals plan and develop rural residencies and will focus on considerations for rural hospitals.
Interested in Starting a Rural Residency
Click Here to register for January 17 webinar
