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December 19, 2011- January 3, 2012 |
VRHA News Virginia News National News Mark your calendar Resources Funding Opportunities VRHA Site |
Newsletter available |
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VRHA Office ScheduleThe VRHA office will be closed December 22 - January 3. There will be no Update the week of December 26. Members in the NewsBy Katrina Koerting - Lynchburg News and Advance The newly completed Blue Ridge Medical Center [a VRHA member] will open to the public on Tuesday, Dec. 20. “We’re just glad to be able to bring this to the community,” said Peggy Whitehead, the executive director of the Blue Ridge Medical Center. About 20 more patients can be seen a day with the opening of the new two-floor building. The new 28,600-square-feet building a little more than triples the size of the current center. Currently the center treats between 120-140 patients a day, or 9,000 a year. There are 30,000 patient charts in the system, Whitehead said. Read the full article.
RN Volunteers NeededA study to explore rural registered nurses’ perceptions of their role in influencing healthcare in the rural community is looking for Virginia participants. Two groups of nurses are needed:
Click here for full details. Tavenner At CMS HelmBy Mary Agnes Carey and Phil Galewitz - Kaiser Health News Marilyn Tavenner was tapped by President Barack Obama to succeed Dr. Donald M. Berwick as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Before coming to CMS, Tavenner served as secretary of Virginia’s Health and Human Services where she oversaw 12 agencies that employed 18,000 people. Her career also included 25 years working for the Hospital Corporation of America where she started as a staff nurse and became president of outpatient services. She has also previously served as acting CMS administrator. Read the full article.
ACTION ALERT!Contact your Representatives and Senators now to support vital rural Medicare "extenders". Speaker of the House John Boehner announced early Sunday morning that House Republicans would oppose the Senate passed extension of various Medicare provisions, including rural specific provisions. The Senate passed package would extend, for a two-month period, the outpatient hold harmless provision, Medicare Section 508 reclassification, reimbursement increases for ambulance services, rural mental health add-ons, extension of therapy cap exemptions and an update for the sustainable growth rate within the physician fee schedule. The Senate package modified House legislation that failed to include a number of these provisions and cut payments for bad-debt reimbursement, outpatient hospital visits and DSH facilities. Speaker Boehner advocated a formal conference between the House and the Senate that would reconcile these differences. It is imperative that you call your Representatives and Senators now to make sure these vital provisions are included in any conference agreement. Please visit the NRHA Congressional Action Kit for more information about these extenders and contact information for your Representatives and Senators. Time is short and action is critical.
When CAHs Are Not So CriticalBy Jenny Gold - Kaiser Health News Hood Memorial Hospital is just the kind of health care facility where the federal government hopes to save money. The two-story brick hospital, about an hour north of New Orleans, hasn’t been full in at least two decades, and the yellowing hallways are lined with empty rooms. CEO Hoppie Jones says that on an average day, fewer than four of the hospital’s 25 beds are occupied. Jones is a slight man in his 60s, and his face is creased with the stresses of his monumental task: keeping the doors of the hospital open despite losing money 11 out of the past 12 years. One of the only bright spots on Jones' balance sheet is the extra money he receives from the federal government through a program for critical access hospitals —small, rural facilities that receive a higher Medicare reimbursement rate to help keep them afloat. But while Hood is in a small town, it is not geographically isolated: there are at least four other competitor hospitals within a 26 mile radius, including three other critical access facilities. Read the full article. Rural PublicationsProject Talent: Nursing Quantifies the role that affinity for community and desired work specialization play in the migration decision of nursing students and reveals whether those raised in rural towns would like to return to rural communities. Diabetes and stress: an anthropological review for study of modernizing populations in the US-Mexico border region One framework for understanding diabetes in developing nations and Indigenous peoples can be provided by a focus on the impact of stress. Prevention and intervention efforts should consider more than just a biomedical model. Nature and nurture in the family physician's choice of practice location Nature versus Nurture is the age old question of rural workforce. How do nations address populations suffering a shortage of physicians? Studies should consider both Nature and Nurture, as well as involving multiple institutions. Handling the Handoff: Rural and Race-Based Disparities in Post Hospitalization Follow-up Care Among Medicare Beneficiaries with Diabetes This report uses information regarding Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes to examine the provision of care in rural America. It provides estimates of hospital admission rates for rural Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes, tracks the proportion of patients who receive adequate outpatient care post discharge, and assesses subsequent readmissions to the hospital. It also explores the potential for race-based disparities in care for diabetes. ORH Fact Sheet: Information About the Office of Rural Health and Rural Veterans Lists data and statistics related to rural veterans and the work of the VHA Office of Rural Health. Will Bundling Work in Rural America? Analysis of the Feasibility and Consequences of Bundled Payments for Rural Health Providers and Patients (Policy Brief & Final Report) Rural America at a Glance, 2011 Highlights the most recent indicators of social and economic conditions in rural areas for use in developing policies and programs to assist rural areas. The 2011 edition focuses on the U.S. rural economy, including employment trends, poverty, education, and population trends. The High Performance Rural Health Care System of the Future The RUPRI Rural health panel has written a description of a future rural system that would be built on foundations of affordability, accessibility, community focus, high quality, and patient centeredness, The paper develops the Panel’s vision of rural health care that is affordable and accessible for rural residents through a sustainable health system that delivers high quality, high value services. Patient-Centered Medical Home Services in 29 Rural Primary Care Practices: A Work in Progress Weight status and health characteristics of rural Saskatchewan children There are few studies that examine the health of rural children. In an attempt to address this gap, the authors of this cross-sectional study used a health questionaire with rural children in Saskatchewan, Canada. Their data reveals much about participating childrens' food intake, activity levels and weight status.
For more information about these and other events, visit the VRHA Calendar. December 21:
Privacy and Security Under HIPAA & HITECH -
webinar
Medicare Advantage From the Medicare Learning Network: The revised “The Medicare DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program Repairs and Replacements” fact sheet (ICN 905283) is designed to provide education on repairs and replacements under the DMEPOS competitive bidding program. It includes information on which items and services can be provided by contract versus non-contract suppliers. The revised “Medicare Disproportionate Share Hospital” fact sheet (ICN 006741) includes the following information: background; methods to qualify for the Medicare disproportionate share hospital (DSH) adjustment; Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 and Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 provisions that impact Medicare DSHs; number of beds in hospital determination; and Medicare DSH payment adjustment formulas. The new MLN Matters® Special Edition Article “2012 Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Payment Adjustment: Assessment and Application” (#SE1141) is designed to provide education on how the 2012 eRx payment adjustment was calculated and applied for individual eligible professionals, and group practices participating in eRx Group Practice Reporting Option (GPRO). It includes guidance on how eligible providers should assess and apply the 2012 eRx payment adjustment. The MLN has released the next in a series of podcasts designed to provide education on how to avoid common billing errors and comply with requirements of the Medicare Program. The new “Medicare Overpayment Collection Process” podcast (ICN 907563), posted Thu Dec 8, is designed to provide education on the Medicare Overpayment Collection Process. It includes information from the MLN fact sheet titled "The Medicare Overpayment Collection Process," which describes the collection of Medicare physician and supplier overpayments. Please visit the MLN Multimedia webpage to download this and other podcasts from the MLN. We also encourage you to visit the MLN Provider Compliance webpage for the latest educational products designed to help Medicare FFS providers understand–and avoid–common billing errors and other improper activities identified through claim review programs. Stay tuned for future podcasts from the MLN!
National Health Service Corps Critical Access Hospital Pilot Program CAHs and interested clinicians should review the 2012 guidance. CAHs that want to become service sites have to be in a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) and meet other basic program requirements. Currently, approximately 64 percent of CAHs are located in HPSAs. Of these, 36 percent have HPSA scores of 14 or more. Once they are approved as service sites, their clinicians can apply for loan repayment. The NHSC will pay up to $60,000 for an initial 2 years of full‐time clinical practice to clinicians serving at an NHSC‐approved service site with a HPSA score of 14 or higher. Applicants working at NHSC‐approved service sites with HPSA scores of 13 or lower are eligible to receive up to $40,000 for an initial 2 years of full‐time clinical service. The NHSC will pay up to $60,000 for an initial 4 years of half‐time clinical practice to clinicians serving at an NHSC‐approved service site with a HPSA score of 14 or higher. Applicants working at NHSC‐approved service sites with HPSA scores of 13 or lower are eligible to receive up to $40,000 for an initial 4 years of half‐time clinical service. HIVMA Minority Clinical Fellowship Program Center for Dental Informatics at the University of Pittsburgh Georgetown University Community Health Center Director Development Fellowship Students to Service HIV Care Grant Program Part B Traveling Professorship in Rural Areas 2012 Minority Nurse Scholarship Program American Psychiatric Foundation 2012 Awards for Advancing Minority Mental Health Award for Excellence in Medication-Use Safety Nurse I Am Scholarship |
