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Virginia Rural Health News
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>>Health Reform Fact Sheets
>>CMS Proposes New Process

By Frank Delano - Fredericksburg.com

The ribbon-cutting for a new maternity center in Lancaster County comes just in time for a pregnant Northern Neck lady whose baby is destined to be the center's firstborn.

"She's due June 15, plus or minus 14 days," said Jessica Jordan, the certified nurse midwife who will manage the $2 million Family Maternity Center of the Northern Neck.

The first birth will occur in one of two homey delivery rooms complete with birthing tubs. The mother has participated in weeks of prenatal care, including group meetings with about 20 other expectant moms, Jordan said.

About half of them will deliver babies at the center in coming months, Jordan said. The other half will deliver in hospitals "because some of them are high-risk pregnancies and others just prefer hospitals," she said.

Jordan said she expects 25 babies to be born in the imposing 9,765-square-foot, two-story building now surrounded by a field of barley. In three years, 100 babies may be born each year at the birthing center, she said.

Read the full article.

VRHA members Neal Graham and Blue Ridge Medical Center were two of the honorees at the Virginia Health Care Foundations annual Heroes in Health Care recognition ceremony.

Graham of the Virginia Community Healthcare Association was co-winner of the NETworthy award that recognizes efforts to strengthen the health-care safety net. The Blue Ridge Medical Center and the Free Clinic of Central Virginia in Lynchburg were honored for collaborating on the Nelson County Dental Taskforce.

Read more about the awards and other honorees.

VRHA member Southwest Virginia Community Health Systems, Inc will be of the organizations receiving a total of $83.9 million in grants to help networks of health centers adopt electronic health records (EHR) and other health information technology (HIT) systems.

The funds are part of the $2 billion allotted to HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to expand health care services to low-income and uninsured individuals through its health center program. Forty-five grants will support new and enhanced EHR implementation projects as well as HIT innovation projects.  Funds will allow grantees to use EHR technology to improve health care quality, efficiency, and patient safety. 

Read the full article.

By Alex Cook - UVA

Recently, a group of eleventh and twelfth grade students from the Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) program at Louisa County High School visited the University of Virginia School of Nursing (SON). They came to see what goes on in an academic nursing education program, and, hopefully, to be inspired to continue their education to become registered nurses.  Students received a tour of the SON and visited the Clinical Simulation Learning Center (CSLC) where they enjoyed hands-on experience with new lift equipment, used basic physical assessment instruments on each other, and got to hear SimMan 3G’s heartbeat and to practice calming the crying SimNewB and SimBaby.

The students felt the day encouraged them to continue their nursing education.  One graduating senior hopes to join the Air Force as a military nurse to both serve her country and lend a hand to those injured in the field.  As the students were leaving the CSLC, one young man turned to Reba Moyer Childress, MSN, RN, APRN-BC, FNP, FAANP, ANEF, the Director of the CSLC, and hugged her, saying, “I hope to become even a small fraction of what you are.

HHS Files Motion to Dismiss

Senator Mark Warner has issued a series a fact sheets about health reform and how the federal health reform legislation will affect certain individuals and groups and a time line for the implementation of the legislation.

• How health reform affects Veterans & TriCare
• What are the First-Year Benefits of Health Reform
• What’s in Health Reform for Cost Containment
• Implementation Timeline
• What’s in Health Reform for Consumers
• What’s in Health Reform for Health Care Providers
• What’s in Health Reform for Me
• What’s in Health Reform for Small Businesses
• What’s in Health Reform for Women
• What’s in Health Reform for Rural Virginia
• What’s in Health Reform for Virginia
• What’s in Health Reform for Young Adults
• What’s NOT in Health Reform
  

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued a proposed rule that would revise its conditions of participation for hospitals and critical access hospitals to allow for a less burdensome credentialing and privileging process for physicians and practitioners providing telemedicine services. Specifically, the rule allows hospitals whose patients receive telemedicine services from physicians located in a distant location to rely on information from the distant site in making credentialing and privileging decisions.

"Upon reflection, we came to the conclusion that our present requirement is a duplicative and burdensome process for physicians, practitioners and the hospitals involved in the process, particularly small hospitals, which often lack adequate resources to fully carry out the traditional credentialing and privileging process for all of the physicians and practitioners that may be available to provide telemedicine services," CMS states. The rule will be published in the May 26 Federal Register with a 60-day comment period.

Mark your calendar

For more information about these and other events, visit http://www.vrha.org/events.html

June 9 - December 15: NOSORH Grant Writing Institute: Rural Health Grant Writing
June 16-18: Medication Use in Rural America Conference - Kansas City, MO
July 11-14: School Health and Education Partnership Conference - Farmville
July 21-23: NRHA's Quality and Clinical Conference - Portland, ME
August 24: Engaging the Community - webinar
September 14: Stewardship Essentials - webinar

Resources

New from the Medicare Learning Network

Do you ever wonder about how to utilize search tools in selected areas of the CMS website? The searchable Medicare Coverage Database (MCD) contains all Medicare National Coverage Determinations (NCDs), National Coverage Analyses (NCAs), Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs), and local policy articles. The Medicare Learning Network (MLN) has produced a "How To" booklet (2.5 MB), that provides an explanation of the MCD, as well as how to use the Search, Indexes, Reports and Downloads features. The revised How to Use the Medicare Coverage Database booklet can be located at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNProducts/MPUB/list.asp on the MLN Publications page. Use search key words "how to" to locate this publication quickly. Understanding the search tool is the best way to find the information for which you are looking!

Feeling Lost in Your Search for Medicare Knowledge? Let MLN Guided Pathways Get You Back on Track. With the revised (April 2010) Guided Pathways to Medicare Resources, finding Medicare information has never been so easy!  Guided Pathways leads Medicare Fee-For-Service providers through a variety of resources that are organized by important topics such as billing, coverage, and reimbursement, and are offered in basic, intermediate, and advanced levels. Explore these easy-to-navigate online guides to quickly find the information you need on important Medicare policy and requirements. Available at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNEdWebGuide/30_Guided_Pathways.asp  on the CMS website.

Funding Opportunities

NEW! Funding Opportunities without specific deadlines are now listed on the VRHA Resources webpage.

American Legion Child Welfare Foundation
The mission of the American Legion Child Welfare Foundation is to provide nonprofit organizations with a means to educate the public about the needs of children across the United States. The Foundation supports organizations that contribute to the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual welfare of children through the dissemination of knowledge about new and innovative programs designed to benefit youth, or through the dissemination of knowledge already possessed by well-established organizations. Grant requests should have the potential of helping American children in a broad geographic area (more than one state). Application forms must be postmarked no later than July 15, 2010. Specific application procedures are available on the Foundation’s website.

BJ’s Charitable Foundation
Funding for safety, security and well-being of children and families, education and health programs, community service opportunities, and hunger and disaster relief.
Geographic Coverage: Connecticut, Georgia, New Jersey, North Carolina, Maine, Delaware, Maryland, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Virginia and New Hampshire. Application Deadline: Applications accepted on an ongoing basis.

2010 Supporting the Safety Net
Funding to support programs that improve access to quality breast diagnostics and access to breast health care for the medically underserved.
Geographic Coverage: Nationwide Application Deadline: Applications accepted on an ongoing basis

Community Based Doulas Program
Grants to rural and urban communities to support community-based doulas.
Application Deadline: Jul 1, 2010

Regional Community Health Grants Program
This program provides funding focused on reducing disparities in health care among racial and ethnic populations in eligible geographic areas.
Application Deadline: Applications accepted on an ongoing basis