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On-line registration for the Virginia Rural Health Summit will end March 5th. Individuals and exhibitors will still be able to register after that date, but will need to contact the VRHA office directly. For additional information about the rural health summit, including the Workforce Summit and the Telehealth Summit, click the logo below.

Registration is now open for the 2010 Small Rural Hospital Conference. This year the event will be held in conjunction with the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association Spring Conference.

The Small Rural Hopsital Conference will take place April 13 & 14 at the Williamsburg Woodlands Resort. For the agenda, registration and information on lodging, please visit: http://www.vrha.org/Conference/2010conference/srhc.html

By Stephanie Porter-Nichols - Southwest Virginia Today

Patients have been seen there already, but construction is expected to begin this week in the transformation of the second floor of the T.K. McKee Hospital building into the Saltville Dental Clinic.

“We’re meeting today with the contractor for a preconstruction meeting,” Howard Chapman, executive director of Southwest Virginia Community Health Systems, said last week. “Hopefully by Monday we’ll see some activity.”

On Monday, a sign on the front door directed patients to the Saltville Clinic during construction.
Chapman said the clinic “has been somewhat operational since January in limited space.” That space is Dr. Richard Schambach’s former office in the building that six months from now should house a 4,500-square-foot dental suite, serving patients with 15 dental chairs, five of which will be used by a private practice dentist. Ten chairs will be used by fourth-year dental and dental hygiene students from the dental school at Virginia Commonwealth University. The clinic will be open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Read the full article.

Virginia has been awarded $11.6 million over a four year period of time to advance health information exchange. The Governor's Health Information Technology Advisory Commission will lead the planning and implementation of this initiative under the leadership of Secretary of Health and Human Resources Dr. Bill Hazel. To coordinate health IT initiatives across the Commonwealth, the Office of Health Information Technology has been established. The state will conclude its planning process in the fall and then begin to phase in implementation.

In addition, Virginia has been awarded $12.4 million over two years to help physicians acquire and adopt electronic health records for their practices. The Virginia Health Quality Center, in partnership with the Center for Innovative Technologies, will lead this effort to provide physicians with technology options and IT expertise. This initiative will also work in collaboration with the Medical Society of Virginia.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that Marilyn Tavenner has been named as the principal deputy administrator, the No. 2 position at CMS. Tavenner’s previous experience includes positions as group president of outpatient services at Hospital Corporation of America and CEO of Johnston-Willis Hospital and Chippenham Medical Center in Richmond, Va. Most recently, Tavenner served as Secretary of Health and Human Resources for the state of Virginia, where she oversaw 18,000 employees and a $9 billion annual budget, and directed the state’s Medicaid program.

Tavenner’s appointment is part of a “proposed modest realignment” to allow CMS to focus on the key areas of beneficiary services, program integrity, and strategic planning. Along with the position of principal deputy administrator, the realignment establishes the Office of External Affairs and Beneficiary Services, and four Centers led by deputy administrators (Center for Medicare; Center for Medicaid, CHIP and Survey & Certification; Center for Program Integrity; and Center for Strategic Planning).

Senate Majority Leader Reid is advancing a new “jobs bill” that contains the rural Medicare extenders as well as a temporary fix to the looming Medicare cuts for physicians and others paid under the Sustainable Growth Rate formula.  Reid sent the text of his next jobs bill, the American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010, to the CBO for a score. This proposal would retroactively reinstate funding for the rural extenders. It also contains the extension of COBRA, certain expiring tax incentives, as well as a host of other provisions. Specifically, this bill would:

• Extend the current payment rate for the physician fee schedule for seven months until September 30, 2010;
• Extends until December 31, 2010 a host of expiring health provisions including  mental health reimbursements (5% increase); reimbursement increases for ambulance services;· the geographic floor for work; the technical component of certain physician pathology services; the outpatient hold harmless provision; reimbursement for Part B services provided at Indian hospitals and clinics; payment rules for long-term care services through July 2011 (and a moratorium on new facilities); rural hospital flexibility program which is due to expires at the end of FY 2011; Medicare Advantage plans for special needs individuals; and provisions concerning reasonable cost contracts;
• Extends Section 508 hospital reclassifications until September 30;
• Extend COBRA Subsidies through December 31, 2010;
• Extend the therapy caps exception process through the end of this year;
• Waive accreditation requirements for certain pharmacies.

Majority Leader Reid hopes to take up and pass this legislation with the next two weeks.  The House will also need to act.

The Health Summit clears the path for Democrats to push through health care reform through the reconciliation process.  Though substantive at times, at the end of the six-hour talk-a-thon, both Republicans and Democrats held press conferences stating that the other party wasn’t willing to come to agreement. 

Despite President Obama’s efforts to have Republicans in the room focus on provisions in the current health care reform bill that both parties support and that could be built upon, Republicans instead stayed united with the theme that the current bill should be shelved and a new bill should be drafted from scratch.  Senator Coburn of Oklahoma was the only Republican who broke ranks (somewhat) and offered suggestions that the President said he could work on to incorporate into the bill.

The “news” from the summit is that the President outlined a specific time frame to allow any last efforts at achieving some Republican support (a 4-6 week period).  If reaching 60 votes cannot be achieved in that time frame, the Senate will likely pursue the 51-vote reconciliation.  Many on the Hill are now placing the Easter recess as the new deadline for health care reform.

According to reports, Democratic senators are already discussing a reconciliation strategy that would include a written “guarantee” that the Senate would make agreed-upon fixes to its original legislation — if the House clears that measure for President Obama’s signature.

Under the approach, key senators and House members would agree to a set of changes to H.R. 3590, which passed Christmas Eve by the Senate. (Much of these changes are reflected in the President’s proposal which was the focal point of the summit.) Legislative language would be sent to the House, along with a letter signed by 51 or more senators pledging to pass the modifications using the budget reconciliation process, which requires only a majority vote and would protect the second bill from a filibuster. The developing tactic is intended to assure anxious House Democrats that the Senate would act on a package of corrections to the Senate bill.

The Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention (RCAP) is currently developing a web-based tool called CREATE (create rural education AIDS tailoring effort). Developing HIV/STD prevention materials specifically for rural communities is important given the unique traits of rural areas. CREATE is being designed to offer a cost-effective way for rural communities to develop targeted visuals, such as posters, that include taglines and other text that is individually tailored to reach rural audiences.

Two areas in which RCAP is looking for assistance with this project:

• RCAP is in the process of building a comprehensive library of images so users may have access to a variety of pictures that represent rural communities. 
• RCAP is seeking "taglines" from people who have experience successfully developing HIV/STD prevention materials designed for rural audiences.

If you would like to learn more about CREATE, or assist with the project, please visit the RCAP website.

Mark your calendar

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

March 16: Rural Health Workforce Summit - Danville
March 17: Annual Rural Health Summit - Danville
March 18: Telehealth Summit - Danville
April 13 & 14: Virginia Small Rural Hospital Conference - Williamsburg
May 17 & 18: Statewide Summit on Childhood Obesity - Richmond
May 19 - 21: NRHA's Annual Rural Health Conference - Savannah, GA

Resources

New From the Medicare Learning Network -

The MLN Matters Article #MM6782 - Dialysis Adequacy, Infection and Vascular Access Reporting - has recently been released.  This article is of particular interest to Renal Dialysis Facilities (RDFs) who need to be aware of some new quality data reporting for dialysis adequacy, infection and vascular access on all End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) claims and all ESRD Hemodialysis claims with dates of service on or after July 1, 2010.  This new data reporting will allow the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to implement an accurate quality incentive payment for dialysis providers by January 1, 2012.  

The revised Medicare Appeals Process brochure(January 2010), which provides an overview of the Medicare Part A and Part B administrative appeals process available to providers, physicians and other suppliers who provide services and supplies to Medicare beneficiaries, as well as details on where to obtain more information about this appeals process, is now available.

The MLN Matters Special Edition Article #SE1010 entitled, “Questions and Answers on Reporting Physician Consultation Services,” has just been released.  This article is intended for physicians and non-physician practitioners (NPPs) who perform initial evaluation and management (E/M) services previously reported by Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) consultation codes for Medicare beneficiaries and submit claims to Medicare Carriers and/or Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) for those services.  The article pertains to change request (CR) 6740, which alerts providers that effective January 1, 2010, the CPT consultation codes (ranges 99241-99245 and 99251-99255) are no longer recognized for Medicare Part B payment.

Consequently, MLN Matters Article #MM6740 entitled, “Revisions to Consultation Services Payment Policy,” is being revised to clarify language contained in the original CR and to add a reference to MLN Matters Article #SE1010.  All other information remains the same. 

Health Reform Side-by-Side and Calculator Now Reflect White House Proposal
The Kaiser Family Foundation has updated its interactive, side-by-side health reform comparison tool to reflect provisions included in President Obama’s health reform proposal, unveiled last week in advance of Thursday’s reform summit with congressional leaders. The new proposal is based on the bill passed by the Senate in December, but incorporates some elements from the House-passed bill and other changes outlined in the new White House summary.

Funding Opportunities

Promote Healthier Communities
The Recovery Act supports several programs that directly improve healthcare services and promote preventative measures through improvements in environment, neighborhoods, and homes. Both access and prevention are important in resolving the health disparities in disadvantaged communities. 

Build-A-Bear Workshop Bear Hugs Foundation
The Build-A-Bear Workshop Bear Hugs Foundation supports nonprofit organizations in the United States and Canada that enhance the quality of life for children, families, and pets. The Foundation’s grant categories include children's health and wellness, domestic pets, and literacy and education. Individual project grants as well as organization program grants are provided. Priority is given to organizations located near Build-A-Bear Workshop stores. Online applications may be submitted throughout 2010 beginning on March 2. Visit the Foundation’s website to review the funding guidelines for each of the grant categories.

New Connections: Increasing Diversity of RWJF Programming (for Junior Investigators)
Brief Proposal Deadline: April 7, 2010
New Connections: Increasing Diversity of RWJF Programming aims to expand the diversity of perspectives that inform RWJF programming and introduce new researchers and scholars to the Foundation, while simultaneously helping to meet staff needs for data analysis. The program invites Junior Investigators—scholars from historically disadvantaged and underrepresented communities—to address specific questions posed by one of RWJF's program areas including: Childhood Obesity, Coverage, Human Capital, Public Health and Vulnerable Populations.

More details and how to apply