Virtual Training for Trauma-Informed Care.  The Office on Women’s Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services offers free online courses with continuing education credits to help providers integrate  the principles of trauma-informed care into clinical practice.  The course work is informed by research findings demonstrating that exposure to traumatic events, particularly in childhood, is highly prevalent in our society. A recent report from the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services examined the long-term health effects of Adverse Childhood Experiences for rural, tribal and other at-risk populations.

CMS Finalizes Medicare Prescription Drug Pricing Rule.  Last week, CMS finalized a rule  that will improve the transparency of prescription drug costs in Medicare Part D and Medicare Advantage health plans and lower beneficiary out-of-pocket costs. For example, beginning in 2021, the Explanation of Benefits that Part D plans send members must display drug price increases as well as lower cost therapeutic alternatives.  In addition, beginning in 2020, Part D sponsors cannot prohibit or penalize a pharmacy from disclosing a lower cash price to an enrollee.  About 70 percent of rural Medicare beneficiaries had prescription drug coverage in 2017, mostly through stand-alone Part D plans as opposed to Medicare Advantage plans.

 Hardship Exclusion for Medicare Interoperability – July 1. Beginning in 2019, all eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals, dual-eligible hospitals, and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) are required to use 2015 edition certified electronic health record technology (CEHRT) to meet the requirements of the Promoting Interoperability (PI) Programs.  Eligible hospitals and CAHs may be exempted from the Medicare downward payment adjustment if they can show that compliance with the requirements would result in a significant hardship. Hardship exceptions are valid for only one payment adjustment year, so hospitals must submit an exclusion application each year.  The deadline to submit an application is July 1, 2019 for eligible hospitals and November 30, 2019 for CAHs.

CDC Opioid Rapid Response Teams.   The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is working with the U.S. Public Health Service Commission Corps to support state and local agencies when there is a spike in opioid-related overdoses or closure of a clinic where patients are prescribed opioid therapy.   The Opioid Rapid Response Teams (ORRTs) include technical expertise in epidemiology, clinical provider outreach, and community outreach, providing short term (28 days) support to public health partners, while also working to build a jurisdiction’s long-term response capacity.

May 21, 20194:53 PM ET, Heard on NPR All Things Considered

Taylor Walker is wiping down tables after the lunch rush at the Bunkhouse Bar and Grill in remote Arthur, Nebraska, a tiny dot of a town ringed by cattle ranches.

The 25-year-old has her young son in tow, and she is expecting another baby in August.

“I was just having some terrible pain with this pregnancy and I couldn’t get in with my doctor,” she says.

Visiting her obstetrician in North Platte is a four-hour, round-trip endeavor that usually means missing a day of work. She arrived to a recent visit only to learn that another doctor was on call and hers wasn’t available.

“So then we had to make three trips down there just to get into my regular doctor,” Walker says.

This inconvenience is part of life in Arthur County, a 700-square-mile slice of western Nebraska prairie that’s home to only 465 people. According to census figures, it’s the fifth least-populated county in the nation.

To read the entire article, access https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/05/21/725118232/the-struggle-to-hire-and-keep-doctors-in-rural-areas-means-patients-go-without-c?utm_campaign=KHN%3A%20Daily%20Health%20Policy%20Report&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=72930490&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_8-QlDIoGMPkWS7MoIe0PEX6WyjcoUDc9OW0jv8O3Er6zHq0zOAaMf4vE0FiMSk6iomX9ISLE5v8b6RycSNzC1NmF8mw&_hsmi=72930490

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) has created a digital measles toolkit to support health care providers during the current multi-state measles outbreak. It contains products for clinicians and patients about vaccines and measles that include accurate, science-based evidence that can help counter misinformation about measles and MMR vaccine. It helps to support effective vaccine conversation with parent and resources to share with them. New resources will be added as they become available. For up-to-date answers to patients’ frequently asked questions about measles, visit Frequently Asked Questions About Measles in the U.S.