- Request for Information (RFI): Evolving the Network of the National Library of Medicine
- 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
HRSA Announces Advanced Nursing Education Nurse Practitioner Residency and Fellowship Program
HRSA’s Bureau of Health Workforce will make 43 awards to accredited schools of nursing and other approved entities such as Rural Health Clinics and Critical Access Hospitals to establish or enhance community-based residency training for Nurse Practitioners (NPs). Several studies have identified training in rural areas as one factor influencing recruitment and retention of NPs to rural areas. Learn more about current research on educating a rural nursing workforce. Apply by April 11, 2023!
New Public Health Scholarship Program Focuses on Next Generation of Rural Health Leaders
The Rural Health Innovation Program at Berkley Public Health will offer 100 fully-paid scholarships to eligible online students seeking a Master’s in Public Health to support leadership development for rural public health leaders. The program, with backing from the Barr-Campbell Foundation, was announced at the recent National Rural Health Association Policy Institute and will also cover other expenses such as books, fees, and travel expenses. Within that cohort, the program will also support 10 scholars with an interest in activating change to focus on rural policy efforts. Apply by August 13, 2023!
HRSA Makes $30 Million Available for Health Centers to Expand Early Childhood Development Services
Funding will help health centers provide recommended developmental screenings and follow-up services for children and further integrate early childhood development into care teams.
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced the availability of approximately $30 million for HRSA-funded health centers to expand early childhood development care through increased screenings and follow-up services.
“HRSA-funded health centers are dedicated to meeting the unique needs of their communities – including providing key preventive services and care to help their youngest patients thrive,” said Administrator Carole Johnson. “This funding will strengthen and expand the availability of early childhood screenings and follow-up services that are vital for ensuring that kids get the support they need and have the tools to lead healthy, happy lives.”
Health centers provide essential preventive and primary care services to underserved communities across the country. Children undergo rapid physical, cognitive, linguistic, and emotional growth and development at this stage, and screening efforts help identify developmental or behavioral conditions, language delays, or other needs, such as food insecurity and housing instability, that can contribute to gaps in school readiness and impact a student’s ability to succeed.
Health centers that receive these awards will use the funding to strengthen their capacity to provide more children with recommended developmental screenings and follow-up services, including by developing the health center workforce necessary to deliver these services and focusing on the patient and caregiver experience.
Applications are due in Grants.gov on March 17, 2023 and in HRSA Electronic Handbooks on April 18, 2023. Visit the Early Childhood Development Technical Assistance Webpage for the notice of funding opportunity, technical assistance information, and other resources.
HRSA-funded health centers served 30 million people through nearly 1,400 health centers across the United States, collectively operating more than 14,000 service delivery sites in communities across the country.
To locate a HRSA-supported health center, visit: https://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov/.
USDA Seeks Feedback from Broadband Technical Assistance Providers and Rural Communities
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) (Pub. L. 117-58) provided the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Telecommunications Program with funding for technical assistance and pre-development planning activities to support the most rural communities. RUS received additional funding for these purposes in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (Pub. L. 117-328). RUS will host two listening sessions to solicit important feedback from rural communities interested in receiving broadband technical assistance and technical assistance providers serving rural communities.
Rural Communities interested in receiving broadband technical assistance are encouraged to register to attend the Broadband Technical Assistance for Rural Communities Listening Session on Thursday, February 23rd at 1 PM ET. Register for this session here.
The goal of this listening session is to solicit valuable insight into the challenges communities face in gaining broadband access, the types of technical assistance resources that would best serve these communities, and how RUS can best provide support.
Technical Assistance Providers interested in providing broadband technical assistance to support the most rural communities are encouraged to register to attend the Broadband Technical Assistance Providers Listening Session on Tuesday, February 28th at 1 PM ET. Register for this session here.
The goal of this listening session is to solicit input on the opportunities available to provide technical assistance for rural communities, the barriers to deliver these services, and how RUS can help providers overcome these barriers.
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Pennsylvania Dentists Discuss Oral Health During Children’s Dental Health Month
From WITF, On the Spark
According to the Centers for Disease Control, about 1 in 5 children between the ages of 5 and 11 have at least one untreated decaying tooth and children between the ages of 5 and 19 are twice as likely to have cavities if they come from low-income households.
According to the University of Illinois College of Dentistry, there is a connection between oral health and a person’s overall health and well-being.
February is Children’s Dental Health Month and Dr. LaJuan Mountain, vice president of dental services at Family First Health, and Dr. Sam Mansour, Pennsylvania Dental Association’s statewide national children’s dental health month chair, joined us on The Spark Thursday to discuss the importance of children’s dental health, the barriers to receiving dental care and ways to overcome them.
Dr. Mountain said, a healthy mouth consists of firm and pink gums and no disruptions or discoloration in the enamel. She also said, oral health is not the general consensus that she is seeing in our communities because of a lack of accessibility, high costs, insurance challenges, dentist office schedules, a lack of oral health literacy and more.
On The Spark we also discussed the Family First Health’s Mobile School Dentist program that provides in-school dental care for all ages and grade levels in York, Adams and Lancaster County.
“It’s having a tremendous impact. I’ve been doing this program for almost a decade and I’m actually seeing kids that I first started to treat in Head Start, and they’re now in junior high. So that means we’ve actually followed kids throughout their entire academic life thus far, and we’re seeing improvement,” Dr. Mountain said. “…We’re exposing them to the importance of their oral health, but also opportunities in health care, especially because the individuals we’re interacting with are often in that low socioeconomic environment.”
New Report: The Role of Telehealth in Achieving a High Performing Rural Health System: Priorities in a Post-Pandemic System
Telehealth usage increased during the Public Health Emergency (PHE), and this has fueled discussions on the optimum use of telehealth in healthcare delivery. Based on experiences during the PHE, and new applications of telecommunications technologies, this report assesses potential improvements in rural health service delivery, as well as potential unintended consequences that could undermine goals to improve services for currently underserved populations. The assessment is guided by the over-arching framework of the high-performing rural health system (HPRHS), to understand the benefits of telehealth in improving health equity as affecting four pillars of the HPRHS – access, affordability, community health, and quality.
Click here to open the full document.
Principal Authors: Joel M. James, MPH and Keith J. Mueller, PhD (Panel Chair)
Prepared by the RUPRI Health Panel: Alva O. Ferdinand, DrPh, JD; Alana D. Knudson, PhD; Jennifer P. Lundblad, PhD, MBA; A. Clinton MacKinney, MD, MS; Timothy D. McBride, PhD; Nancy E. Schoenberg, PhD
USDA Rural Development Launches the Rural Data Gateway Expanding Access to Data on USDA Funded Projects in Rural Communities
New integrated Rural Investment Dashboards make more than a decade of USDA Rural Development (RD) investment history instantly accessible to the public!
This uncomplicated interface allows users to sift through RD data gleaned from investments in rural housing, health care, broadband, businesses, infrastructure and much more. With its project-level county and congressional district data, the Rural Data Gateway opens a new chapter in RD’s ongoing commitment to investment transparency. To learn more, read the full news release.
New Policy Brief: Patient Transfers to and from CAHs During the COVID-19 Pandemic
A new policy brief is available on the Flex Monitoring Team website: Patient Transfers to and from Critical Access Hospitals During the COVID-19 Pandemic. In this brief, the Flex Monitoring Team describes the volume, barriers, and facilitators of inbound and outbound patient transfers as found in a survey of Critical Access Hospital CEOs.
Eight Pennsylvania Municipalities Solve EMS Crisis by Creating First-of-its-Kind Regional Municipal Authority
After a year-long cooperative process, eight municipalities in Pennsylvania have incorporated a first-of-its-kind regional municipal authority to address the region’s emergency medical services crisis.
The new Municipal Emergency Services Authority of Lancaster County will fund, manage and provide EMS services to member municipalities in northwest Lancaster County. It will be the first rate-setting regional municipal emergency services authority in Pennsylvania. The founding municipalities are Conoy Township, East Donegal Township, Elizabethtown Borough, Elizabeth Township, Marietta Borough, Mount Joy Township, Penn Township and West Donegal Township.
The path to forming the authority began in 2018, when municipalities in the northwest portion of Lancaster County were at a crossroads with the future of emergency medical services at risk.
Many EMS agencies are struggling to maintain services in the face of soaring costs, funding shortfalls and staffing challenges. Northwest EMS in northwest Lancaster County, which was recognized as Pennsylvania EMS Agency of the Year in 2020 by the Pennsylvania Emergency Health Services Council, was facing insolvency due to insufficient revenue and rising costs.
“Although Northwest EMS is widely known for outstanding service, less than half of municipal residents contribute to the organization through subscriptions,” said Marc Hershey, Elizabethtown Borough Council President and chair of the committee of municipal leaders who convened to address the local EMS crisis. “The average gap between gross billings and insurance payments was averaging over $4 million a year. And increasing expenses for equipment, fuel, certifications, trainings and employee benefits were taking a heavy toll. In short, municipalities in our region needed a bold solution to continue to meet their statutory obligation to ensure EMS readiness to answer the call.”
At the start of 2021, the committee began studying and exploring alternatives. Upon conducting a collaborative analysis, the committee arrived at an innovative solution: Creation of a regional municipal emergency services authority under the Pennsylvania Municipality Authorities Act to fund and provide EMS readiness and services on a regional basis.
Over a period of several months, the committee engaged in municipal public meetings, additional public education initiatives and a public hearing on the proposed solution. The process culminated in eight municipalities in the region enacting ordinances to form the Municipal Emergency Services Authority of Lancaster County. The authority was incorporated on February 7.
“This initiative demonstrates how municipal cooperation can solve regional problems,” said Rob Brady, president of ROBB Consulting and a consultant on the project. “Bringing municipalities together for a common regional cause is no small feat but, as a group, this committee of local leaders embraced a regional mindset to drive the process. Looking forward, the authority will enable each of the member municipalities to ensure that EMS services continue to be available with readiness to respond.”
The board of the authority consists of a representative from each of the authority’s founding municipalities. The board will be responsible for determining the authority’s services and fees.
Instead of generating operating revenue through municipal and membership contributions, the authority will set a reasonable and uniform annual fee to property owners, on par with Northwest EMS subscription rates. As a regional municipal entity, the authority will hold public hearings, enabling community members to have a voice regarding any changes to services or rates.
The authority will begin holding board meetings in March. A public hearing is expected to be held in late summer on the authority’s emergency services and fee structure. The authority plans to be operational and begin providing services by early 2024.
“It is our hope that the Municipal Emergency Services Authority of Lancaster County will serve as a model for other municipalities in Pennsylvania facing an EMS crisis,” Hershey said. “Paving a path to this solution took hard work, but there was never a question that a municipal-led solution was needed. EMS is an essential public service. As municipal leaders, we recognized that we not only needed to solve this problem to meet our statutory obligation. We needed to solve this together to potentially save the lives of our neighbors, family members and friends.”
CMS Proposes Benefit Expansion for Mobility Devices, Advancing Health Equity for People with Disabilities
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposed National Coverage Determination (NCD) decision that would, for the first time, expand coverage for power seat elevation equipment on certain power wheelchairs toMedicare individuals. The proposed NCD is open for public comment for 30 days.
“Millions of people with Medicare rely on medically necessary assistive devices to perform daily tasks that directly impact their quality of life. CMS remains committed to ensuring persons with disabilities are receiving available benefits that improve their health,” said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. “Today’s proposal promotes a first of its kind benefit expansion providing people with Medicare additional tools to improve their lives.”
If finalized, power seat elevation equipment would be covered by Medicare for individuals with a Group 3 power wheelchair, which are designed to meet the needs of people with Medicare with severe disabilities, in order to improve their health as they transfer from the wheelchair to other surfaces. Transfers often strain shoulder and back muscles and constrain an individual’s daily mobility at home and other customary locations.
CMS follows a long-standing process established by Congress to determine whether a medical item or service can be covered nationally by Medicare, including when an item or service is reasonable and necessary for the diagnosis of and/or treatment of an illness or injury. Today’s proposed NCD follows an evidence-based clinical analysis CMS initiated in August 2022 to examine whether the use of power seat elevation equipment on power wheelchairs: 1) falls within a Medicare benefit category and 2) if yes, whether it is reasonable and necessary.
Today’s NCD proposal incorporates feedback from interested parties, particularly those who are focused on eliminating health disparities for people with disabilities. CMS encourages comments from all interested parties, in particular, people with Medicare and their families, providers, clinicians, consumer advocates, health care professional associations, and from individuals serving populations facing disparities in health and health care. Additionally, CMS is specifically interested in gathering additional scientific literature that provides evidence surrounding the medical necessity for seat elevation systems through studies that include measurable characteristics related to the performance of transfers.
The proposed National Coverage Determination decision memorandum is available to review here. The 30-day comment period will close March 17, 2023.
For more information on the Medicare coverage determination process, please visit: Medicare Coverage Determination Process