Category: NRHA

New Rural Health Safety Net Survey – 340B Program

August 4, 2023

New Rural Health Safety Net Survey – 340B Program

The National Rural Health Association (NRHA) and The Chartis Center for Rural Health are partnering on a new rural health safety net survey on the 340B drug program. Your input will help NRHA and Chartis better understand utilization and impact of the program as well as inform future research. If you would like to take the survey and share your perspective, please click the link below. The survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete and will be open until August 18.

Take the Survey

 

NRHA Webinars on Patient Surges, Utilizing Swing Beds

August 3, 2023

NRHA Webinars on Patient Surges, Utilizing Swing Beds

NRHA partner Relias, will host a webinar Thursday, August 10 at 2 p.m. CDT, on strategies and solutions for a sustainable health care workforce. Discover actionable strategies that have proven successful in combating the nursing shortage, improving nurse retention, and enhancing workforce engagement.

Speaker: Felicia Sadler, MJ, BSN, RN, CPHQ, LSSBB, VP of Quality at Relias

When: August 10, 2:00 – 3:00 PM CDT

Register Now

NRHA partner, Allevant, will host a webinar at 1 p.m. CDT, September 20 on swing bed culture and attention to wellness vital to rural health care. Transitional care makes available the full resources of the CAH and focuses on measured outcomes and evidence based processes to ensure patients get the best care possible.

When: Thursday, September 20, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. CDT

Register Now

Click Here to View NRHA Today Newsletter

Join Clinic and CAH Experts in Kansas City to Improve Community Care

August 1, 2023

Join Clinic and CAH Experts in Kansas City to Improve Community Care

Rural facilities face ever-evolving challenges and opportunities. The good news is you don’t have to go it alone. Your chance to discover RHC and CAH-specific strategies and solutions with the experts is at NRHA’s Rural Health Clinic and Critical Access Hospital Conferences September 26 – 29, in Kansas City.

NRHA’s hometown is the perfect place to rediscover the roots of rural health care with a mix of modern amenities and Midwest charm. From barbecue to ballet there’s something for everyone in the Paris of the Plains and NRHA can’t wait to show you what’s new since last year.

Those who register early, are members, and attend both events are eligible for hundreds in combined discounts so mark your calendar and act soon to save. NRHA has blocked discounted hotel rooms, but a third of them are already reserved so be sure to book a great rate through NRHA before you register.

Learn More

Register Today

Swing Bed Culture and Attention to Wellness Vital to Rural Healthcare

July 31, 2023

Swing Bed Culture and Attention to Wellness Vital to Rural Healthcare

Allevant, developed by Mayo clinic and Select Medical, is launching a cohort of “Project Swing Bed on the MENDS®,” a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Shared Learning Collaborative. Participating CAHs will have access to Allevant staff, tools and resources to maximize their Swing Bed program and begin to implement MENDS®, a wellness program for healthcare staff and post-acute patients.

Expected Outcomes

  • Improved Health Outcomes
    • Shortened post-acute length of stay
    • Low rate of post-acute patients discharged back to acute care (readmission from post-acute setting)
    • High level of post-acute patients discharged back to independent settings (home or assisted living)
    • Increased staff and community focus on wellness behaviors
    • Increased patient wellness, improved long-term health
  • Expanded Capacity for Essential Health Care Services
    • Increased utilization of CAH swing beds
    • Increase in confidence and capabilities of rural health workforce to provide post-acute care services locally
    • New focus on wellness strategies for rural staff and post-acute patients
    • New processes to facilitate rural primary care practices to support continuation of patient-identified wellness strategies for newly discharged rural post-acute patients
  • Increased Financial Sustainability
    • CAH – Increase census and revenue
    • Long term reduction in costs associated with increased staff wellness
    • Lower Medicare costs per patient day.

“Critical Access Hospitals can provide post-acute recovery via Transitional Care/Swing Bed better than virtually anyone else. Their competitive advantage is their culture of safety,” says Dr. Mark Lindsay, pulmonologist, Assistant Professor at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, and Medical Director of Allevant Solution, LLC. “CAHs outperform larger hospitals in the culture of safety surveys. Handoffs and transitions are two areas with consistently low scores across healthcare, and post-acute care is all about handoffs and transitions.”

Jordan Tenenbaum, President of Allevant and NRHA Fellow, states he is, “concerned for the future viability of rural hospitals, more than 30% of which are at risk of closure. It is a tremendous benefit for larger hospitals to partner with smaller rural CAH Transitional Care programs to ensure rural patients admitted to larger hospitals for specialty care can be cared for closer to home.”

Allevant has participated in federally and state-funded grants throughout the country and will continue to identify opportunities to support rural providers with Transitional Care and MENDS® health and wellness programs.

If you have an interest in participating in the first cohort of Project Swing Bed on the MENDS®, contact Jordan Tenenbaum to learn more today.

Learn More

NRHA Webinar: Swing Bed Culture and Attention to Wellness Vital to Rural Healthcare, a Transitional Care Model

July 21, 2023

NRHA Webinar: Swing Bed Culture and Attention to Wellness Vital to Rural Healthcare, a Transitional Care Model

Allevant, a joint venture between Mayo Clinic and Select Medical, helps Critical Access Hospitals by developing post-acute Transitional Care programs using available Swing Beds. Focused on helping patients transition to their highest level of independence, Transitional Care is a program that involves the patient and family, makes available the full resources of the Critical Access Hospital and focuses on measured outcomes and evidence-based processes to ensure patients get the best care possible.

Allevant has supported approximately 100 Critical Access Hospitals across 22 states including both independent and part of health systems. Our clients have cared for over 12,000 patients representing more than 158,000 swing bed days. With a strong focus on quality, outcomes, and growth, our clients saw an average growth in swing bed days of 55% by the second year. 64% of patients were categorized as complex medical or complex surgical which is a growing patient population, and only 7% of Transitional Care patients were discharged directly back to acute care during a program stay of less than 30 days. 76% of patients were discharged from Transitional Care back to independence. The average patient rating was 4.84 out of 5 when asked if patients would “recommend the program to others”.

When: Thursday, July 27, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. CST

Register

NRHA Webinar: Unlocking Value-Based Care: The Critical Role of Team-Based Care

July 21, 2023

NRHA Webinar: Unlocking Value-Based Care: The Critical Role of Team-Based Care

Join this exclusive webinar to discover the power of team-based care in rural healthcare. Our expert speakers include Fred Wallisch, Signify Health’s VP and ACO Medical Director, who specializes in clinical oversight, utilization goal setting and innovative strategies for improved patient care. Catherine Chua, Chief Medical and innovative strategies for improved patient care. Catherine Chua, Chief Medical Officer at Davis Health System, West Virginia, with extensive experience in Osteopathic Family Medicine and Integrative Medicine, will provide insights into rural healthcare and patient-centered approaches, and Dr. Steven Reeves, Internal Medicine specialist from Greater Regional Health, will offer practical knowledge on the positive impact of team-based care on provider morale, retention, and buy-in.

Learning Objectives

  • Understand the role of team-based care in meeting value-based care requirements
  • Discover how a standardized approach improves annual wellness visit rates, chronic care management, and clinical documentation
  • Explore the benefits of team-based care for provider morale, retention, and buy-in

When: Tuesday, July 25, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. CST

Register Here to join this concise and informative webinar to enhance healthcare delivery in your rural health organization.

NRHA Webinars Address Patient Surges, Utilizing Swing Beds

July 13, 2023

NRHA Webinars Address Patient Surges, Utilizing Swing Beds

NRHA Partner Eagle Telemedicine is hosting a webinar at 2 p.m. CDT July 19 on addressing patient surges and rising costs in rural health care. Gain insight into leveraging telemedicine for cost-effective recruitment and round-the-clock patient care. NRHA Partner will host a webinar at 1 p.m. CDT July 27 on swing bed culture and attention to wellness vital to rural health care. Transitional care makes available the full resources of the CAH and focuses on measured outcomes and evidence-based processes to ensure patients get the best care possible. Interested in discussing CAH-specific opportunities like these with experts? Join NRHA’s 22nd CAH Conference September 27 – 29 in Kanas City.

Register Here for “Addressing Patient Surges and Rising Costs in Rural Healthcare” webinar, July 19, 2 p.m.

Register Here for “Swing Bed Culture and Attention to Wellness Vital to Rural Health Care” webinar, July 27, 1 p.m.

Register Here for NRHA’s 22nd CAH Conference

Rural Horizons: Karriem Watson Dispels Rural Health Myths

July 13, 2023

Rural Horizons: Karriem Watson Dispels Rural Health Myths

The latest issue of NRHA’s Rural Horizons, the association’s quarterly magazine, is now available online featuring three new articles on timely topics including dispelling rural health research myths with All of Us Research Program Chief Engagement Officer Karriem Watson.

During his 20-year career in public health education and research, Watson has seen firsthand the power of community engagement. All of Us is a national initiative aimed at engaging more than one million people from diverse communities to share health data so researchers can advance precision medicine.

“When you make relationships and build partnerships that are authentic and based on trust and aligned and shared priorities, it dispels a lot of the myths that some populations ‘don’t want to participate’ in research,” Watson says.

Rural Horizons features articles carefully selected to engage and inform everyone working to improve rural health care. You can subscribe in print by becoming an NRHA member. Email the editors to submit an abstract for potential publication, get information on editorial content, or purchase issues.

Subscribe Here

Submit an Abstract

How Can We Change the Perception of ‘Flyover County?’

July 13, 2023

How Can We Change the Perception of ‘Flyover County?’

Thought leadership and highlighting innovation are crucial to the media strategy for Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Sanford Health, an NRHA member, helping change the perception that the upper Midwest is just “flyover country”.

NRHA recently launched the Faces of Rural Campaign to showcase the power of rural communities and shift the dialogue used to discuss and celebrate them.

You can share the faces of your rural community and the stories behind them on social media by using #FacesOfRural.

As an organization made up of diverse and passionate members and staff, NRHA is proud to lead the way in championing this effort.

Read Article

Faces of Rural Campaign

Faces of Rural Video

Hospitals to Receive $9B in Proposed 340B Remedy

July 13, 2023

Hospitals to Receive $9B in Proposed 340B Remedy

CMS would pay 340B-eligible hospitals $9 billion to offset payment cuts the Supreme Court deemed unlawful, the agency said in a proposed rule. The federal agency estimates that from 2018 through approximately the third quarter of 2022, certain 340B providers received $10.5 billion less in 340B drug payments than they would have without the policy. In June, 2022, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled against the 340B payment rates, considering them unlawful because HHS failed to conduct survey of hospitals’ acquisition costs.

NRHA has curated advocacy campaigns for the latest issues and legislation so you can act today to urge Congress to protect 340B.

Click Here to Read More

Protect 340B