Rural Spotlight

Training Opportunity – Conducting Internal Investigations

March 11, 2024

Training Opportunity – Conducting Internal Investigations

Is your organization capable of auditing, detecting and investigating potential risks? Consider online training to sharpen your compliance skills.

Earn your Certified Internal Forensic Healthcare Auditor (CIFHA) credential online:

  • No classes to attend
  • Course materials are on-demand and available to you for 3 months
  • Those experienced in compliance and auditing may complete this training in 2-3 months
  • If you need more than 3 months, you may purchase an extension for a small fee

Cost:

  • AIHC Members pay $750
  • Non-members pay $1,250

Learn More and Register

New JRH Articles on Rural Breast Cancer Disparities, More

March 5, 2024

New JRH Articles on Rural Breast Cancer Disparities, More

The National Rural Health Association’s (NRHA’s) Journal of Rural Health (JRH) recently published new articles on the following topics:

NRHA Now Accepting RHC, CAH Event Presentation Proposals

March 5, 2024

NRHA Now Accepting RHC, CAH Event Presentation Proposals

The National Rural Health Association (NRHA) is now accepting presentation proposals for the Rural Health Clinic and Critical Access Hospital Conference.

Conference Goals:

  • Share effective practices, policies and information
  • Provide insights and best practices addressing:
  • Access
  • Quality
  • Patient safety issues

Five interest tracks are available for CAH Conference submissions:

  • Innovation
  • Financial
  • Leadership
  • Quality
  • Best practices

This year’s events will be held Sept 24 – 27 in Kansas City, MO, NRHA’s hometown.

The deadline for submissions is May 31.

Learn More about NRHA RHC and CAH Conference

Submit Presentation Proposal

New RHIhub Topic Guide – Rural Maternal Health

February 21, 2024

New RHIhub Topic Guide – Rural Maternal Health

The RHIhub has released the Rural Maternal Health Topic Guide.

This new topic guide shares information on maternal and infant health disparities in rural area and covers issues impacting rural maternal health, including:

  • Access to services,
  • Workforce challenges and
  • Shares information on programs and policies to support rural maternal healthcare.

Rural Maternal Health Topic Guide

See All  Topic Guides

Upcoming Webinar – 2024 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, February 27

February 21, 2024

Upcoming Webinar – 2024 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, February 27

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently updated the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) for 2024 through the Calendar Year 2024 PFS Final Rule.

This rule makes policy updates which may increase accessibility of behavioral health services, telehealth services, and other vital health services in rural areas.

CMS subject matter experts will present on some of the highlights from the final rule including these topics and the Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program.

Registration

  • This is a free webinar
  • High-speed internet is required to participate
    • Connection details will be emailed to you immediately upon registration
  • A recording will be available on the RHIhub website after the live event
  • If you have questions or problems with the registration process, please contact RHIhub Webinars at webinars@ruralhealthinfo.org

2024 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule

Register Now

NTTAP Webinar Series 2023-2024 Strategies for Advancing Health Equity in Health Centers, March 14

February 20, 2024

NTTAP Webinar Series 2023-2024 Strategies for Advancing Health Equity in Health Centers, March 14

This webinar explores strategies for advancing justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) within health centers.

Learn specific approaches to guide health equity work:

  • Steps for developing a health equity plan utilizing CHCI best practices as a framework
  • Creating a health equity team
  • Conducting needs assessments
  • Establishing goals

Attendees will increase confidence in developing and utilizing JEDI goals, cultivating advancements in both internal and external diversity and equity at their health center.

Learning Objectives

  • Gain a foundational knowledge of JEDI principles and terminology
  • Understand the significance of fostering a robust JEDI-focused organizational culture
  • Increase confidence in developing a concrete, actionable plan for implementing JEDI within health centers

Target Audience

  • Dental
  • Nurses
  • Nurse practitioners
  • Pharmacists
  • Physicians
  • Physician assistant
  • Psychologists and counselors
  • Registered dieticians
  • Social workers
  • Other members of the team

Cost: No Cost

When: March 14, 1:00 – 2:00 pm ET

Register Now

NTTAP Webinar Series 2023-2024 Data Driven Health Equity: Strategies for Collecting Patient Data in Health Centers, March 7

February 20, 2024

NTTAP Webinar Series 2023-2024 Data Driven Health Equity: Strategies for Collecting Patient Data in Health Centers, March 7

Consider joining this upcoming webinar to dive into key strategies for using identity data in population health management.

Expert faculty will highlight the importance of gathering data to address health disparities, with a focus on utilizing Electronic Health Records (HER) for both internal and patient-focused justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI) purposes.

Participants will gain confidence in advancing health equity with strategies to collect and use demographic data for developing and monitoring health equity plans.

Learning Objectives

  • Develop a foundational understanding of how to utilize key identity data to advance
    • justice
    • equity
    • diversity and
    • inclusion goals

Target Audience

  • Dental
  • Nurses
  • Nurse practitioners
  • Phar4macists
  • Physicians
  • Physician assistants
  • Psychologists and counselors
  • Registered dieticians
  • Social workers
  • Other members of the team

Cost: Free

When: March 7, 1:00 – 2:00 pm ET

Register Now

Funding Opportunity: Advanced Nursing Education – Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (ANE-SANE) Program

February 20, 2024

Funding Opportunity: Advanced Nursing Education – Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (ANE-SANE) Program

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) released a new Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) to increase the number of qualified sexual assault nurse examiners.

The Advanced Nursing Education-Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (ANE-SANE) Program will expand advanced nursing education and training to improve access to sexual assault forensic examination. The ANE-SANE Program aims to provide better access to mental and physical care for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.

The purpose of this program is to increase the supply, distribution and quality of the sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) workforce and aims to provide access to mental and physical care for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.

HRSA will award approximately $14.2 million to up to 28 grantees over a period of three years through this funding opportunity.

Eligible Applicants:

  • Accredited schools of nursing
  • Nursing centers
  • Academic health centers
  • Nurse-managed health clinics
  • Rural health clinics
  • HRSA-supported health clinics
  • Federally Qualified Health Centers
  • Public or non-profit hospitals and emergency health care service providers
  • State and local health departments
  • Non-profit community-based and faith-based
  • Federally recognized Tribal Government and Native American organizations

View Grant Opportunity

Applications are due by April 2, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. ET

Questions? Please contact

Michael Clark, ANE-SANE@hrsa.gov, (301) 594-4203

New COPD Videos available: Getting Started with Pulmonary Rehab in Rural Communities

.February 20, 2024

New COPD Videos available: Getting Started with Pulmonary Rehab in Rural Communities

Two new educational videos now available from the National Rural Health Resource Center highlight the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the country’s rural communities and the steps that critical access hospitals and other small rural hospitals can take to improve access to  much-needed pulmonary rehabilitation services.

The first video, Understanding COPD and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, provides an overview of COPD – its symptoms ad causes – and explains how rural-based pulmonary rehabilitation services help to restore independence and quality of like in COPD patients.

The second video, How to Launch a Pulmonary Rehab Program, highlights the benefits – to hospitals and their community – of operating rural pulmonary rehab programs, and shares practical advice and tips on how critical access hospitals and small rural hospitals can successfully build and sustain their own pulmonary rehab programs. The video includes a look at two critical access hospitals – Sparta Community Hospital in Illinois and Hood Memorial Hospital in Louisiana – that opened pulmonary rehab programs in 2023.

Additional Resources

 

Training Opportunity – HIPAA Right of Access Compliance

February 20, 2024

Training Opportunity – HIPAA Right of Access Compliance

In 2019, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) launched the HIPAA Right of Access Initiative to advocate for individuals trying to obtain their health records in a timely manner at a reasonable cost as required by covered entities in the HIPAA Privacy Rule.

If your organization is not responding timely to requests for medical records, a complaint to the OCR can trigger an investigation resulting in fines and other consequences, such as being posted on the OCR HIPAA website and a forced Corrective Action Plan.

A dedicated government webpage lists HIPAA News Releases Y Bulletins listing OCR cases after investigating organizations which includes Right of Access settlements.

Click here to access the page for “lessons learned” through penalties and settlements.

The American Institute of Healthcare Compliance now offers a Right of Access online training program with option to certify (online, with an assigned proctor).

Brief Course Overview

  • Introduction to Right of Access, Release of Information and HIPAA
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI), Advancing Technologies and Protected Health Information
  • Introduction to Information Blocking
  • Right of Access & the Privacy Rule
  • OCR and the Right of Access Initiative
  • Providing Access to Patient Information
  • Releasing Information to Personal Representatives
  • Disclosure to Law Enforcement
  • Court Orders and Subpoenas
  • Medical Record Access Requirements
  • 42 CFR Part 2 – Substance Abuse Confidentiality Regulations
  • Comply to Right of Access to PHI to Avoid HIPAA Violations

Click Here for More Information

Right of Access provision 45 C.F.R. 164.524

Cost

AIHC Members pay $375

Non-Members pay $625

Register Here