- Dental Therapists, Who Can Fill Cavities and Check Teeth, Get the OK in More States
- Colorectal Cancer Is Rising among Younger Adults. Some States Want to Boost Awareness.
- Rural Hospitals Built During Baby Boom Now Face Baby Bust
- Food Stamps Go Further in Rural Areas — Until You Add Transportation Costs
- CMS Announces Resources and Flexibilities to Assist with the Public Health Emergency in the State of Texas
- CMS Proposes New Payments for Digital Health Under CY2025 PFS Draft Rule
- Improving Public Health by Strengthening Community Infrastructure
- Biden Harris Administration Proposes Policies to Reduce Maternal Mortality, Advance Health Equity, and Support Underserved Communities
- Nearly Half of U.S. Counties Don't Have a Single Cardiologist
- Randolph County, Ill. Turns Unused Part of Nursing Home Into State-Of-The-Art Behavioral Health Center
- Safe and Stable Housing Is a Foundation of Successful Recovery
- Rural RPM Program Is a Lifeline for Pregnant Women
- Expert: Rural Hospitals Are Particularly Vulnerable to Increasing Cyberattacks Targeting Healthcare Facilities
- Biden-Harris Administration Invests Over $200 Million to Help Primary Care Doctors, Nurses, and Other Health Care Providers Improve Care for Older Adults
- AJPH Call for Papers Special Section on Intersections of Public Health And Primary Care
HRSA Funds Additional RHCs to Expand COVID-19 Testing
On December 7, 2020, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) disbursed $9.3 million to support COVID-19 testing at Rural Health Clinics (RHCs). HRSA used updated data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to identify 188 previously unsupported RHCs and calculate more than $49,000 per site for the December 2020 payment. The terms and conditions for recipients of this round of funding remain the same as those for RHCs previously funded in May 2020. Recently posted Frequently Asked Questions about the program provide more details.
HHS Publishes COVID-19 Hospital Facility-Level Data
On Monday, HHS released new hospital COVID-19 capacity data at the facility level. Previously released data about hospital capacity that had been released was aggregated at the state level. This new, more granular, data release aggregates daily hospital reports into a “week at a time” picture to protect patient privacy, while providing a view of how COVID-19 is impacting hospitals and local communities across the country.
Providing Services through the Holiday Season
On Dec. 15 at 12:00 pm, Life Unites Us will host a webinar to educate participants on new ways to treat patients struggling with a substance use disorder (SUD) during the pandemic. Attendees will hear from experts in the recovery community who will share their experiences of how they are navigating these unique challenges. Register here.
Updated 65+ Flu Defense Website
To assist providers in maximizing protection for their patients, the Immunization Action Coalition (IAC) in collaboration with Seqirus, has updated the 65+ Flu Defense website. This helpful site includes information, tools and tips for communicating with adults, 65+, about the scope and severity of influenza. A new handout on the site, The Importance of Preventing Influenza during a Pandemic, offers responses to help guide discussions with patients on the increased importance of flu vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic.
HHS Expands Access to Telehealth Services Across State Lines for COVID19 Countermeasures
Modern Healthcare reported on Dec. 3, 2020, that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) authorized healthcare practitioners to provide telehealth services like COVID-19 diagnostic testing and other countermeasures across state lines for the duration of the public health emergency. HHS also made it easier for providers to get immunity from liability for COVID-related medical countermeasures.
FFCRA to Expire 12/31, But in the Meantime…
As of this moment, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) is set to expire on Dec. 31, 2020. Considering the tense atmosphere in Washington D.C., renewal of FFCRA is not guaranteed. However, in these last weeks of 2020, it’s important to remember that FFCRA regulations were revised in mid-September due to a U.S. District Court decision. The U.S. Department of Labor regulations revised the definition of “healthcare provider” to “include only employees who meet the definition of that term under the Family and Medical Leave Act regulations or who are employed to provide diagnostic services, preventative services, treatment services, or other services that are integrated with and necessary to the provision of patient care which, if not provided, would adversely impact patient care.” Roles such at IT, HR, billing and maintenance may affect the provision of patient care, but they are not integrated with patient care. For more information, contact Andrea Wandling, Manager, PACHC Member Relations and Human Resources or Judd Mellinger-Blouch, Director of Pennsylvania Primary Care Career Center.
Childhood Vaccination Rates Have Plummeted
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused worldwide childhood vaccination rates for measles and polio to plummet, according to a November 2020 emergency call to action from the World Health Organization and UNICEF. Even when vaccines are available, the report says, people around the world have trouble accessing services because of lockdowns or fear of contracting COVID-19. If this issue is not addressed, it could lead to outbreaks of polio and measles. Nine million childhood vaccine doses may be missed in the U.S. in 2020. It is imperative that pediatricians make parents aware of established safeguards to prevent the spread of COVID-19, so that their children may continue to receive vaccines. Read more.
New Report Finds Nearly Half of All FQHC Patients Qualify for Phase One COVID-19 Vaccinations
For more than five decades, the nation’s community health centers have been a key part of broad scale immunization programs and will play an essential role in COVID-19 vaccination efforts. In a new analysis, researchers from the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative estimate that nearly half of all patients served by FQHCs qualify for phase one COVID-19 immunizations, following health care workers, residents of long-term care facilities and other essential workers, under priority guidelines established by the CDC. Health centers are uniquely positioned to reach deeply impoverished, disproportionately minority populations that face elevated health risks for COVID-19. Because of their deep roots in the community, health center clinicians are well positioned to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy concerns in historically underserved populations that may not trust the medical establishment, the researchers said. Targeting the highest-risk people and communities for COVID-19 vaccines and ensuring that they are effectively reached is a national public health priority, making FQHCs absolutely essential to a successful vaccine strategy, and funding support for health centers ever more crucial. Read, Nearly Half of Community Health Center Patients – an Estimated 14.1 Million of 29.8 Million People Served – Qualify for Phase One COVID-19 Vaccinations Because They Fall within the CDC’s Highest Risk Categories. Read the press release.
CMS Revises FQHC/RHC Telehealth Cost-Sharing Policy
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) earlier in the current public health emergency (PHE) issued New & Expanded Flexibilities for RHCs & FQHCs during the COVID-19 PHE, establishing the billing rules/amounts for FQHC/RHC distant site telehealth during the PHE. On Dec. 3, CMS revised the document to clarify the Medicare cost-sharing rules. Effective Jan. 27, 2020, for telehealth services with cost-sharing, the coinsurance will be 20 percent of the lesser of the allowed amount ($92.03) or the actual charges, and payment will be 80 percent of the lesser of the allowed amount or charges. Before the change, coinsurance was 20 percent of charges and Medicare’s payment was $92.03 minus the coinsurance. MACs will be automatically reprocessing claims for telehealth services furnished on or after Jan. 27, 2020, based on this new “lesser of” methodology.
Medicare Modifies Telehealth Payment Policy
Currently, during the public health emergency (PHE), FQHCs and other distant site telehealth providers may bill Medicare for certain telehealth services using audio-only telephone and CMS expanded the telehealth codes for the duration of the PHE to include telephonic E/M services (CPT 99441-99443). CMS sought comment on whether/how CMS should continue coverage of audio-only telephonic E/M services after the PHE and NACHC recommended that CMS continue to recognize these services as telehealth services. Instead, CMS finalized its proposal to eliminate those codes as telehealth codes and instead add a new G-code to the “virtual communication services” bundles payment to include an 11-21 minute medical discussion via audio-only phone (G2252), not limited to the PHE “Category 3 telehealth services.” Category 3 services are those that were added to the Medicare telehealth code list during the PHE for which there is likely to be clinical benefit when furnished via telehealth, but for which there isn’t yet evidence available to make them a permanent addition. CMS will now recognize these services on the telehealth list until the end of the calendar year in which the PHE ends. Examples include certain psychological and neuropsychological testing and physical and occupational therapy services.