Nearly $220M to Increase Rural Veterans’ Access to Health Care and Services

November 17, 2016

VA Awards $219.2M to Increase Rural Veterans’ Access to Health Care and Services

The 2.9 million rural Veterans who rely on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for health care will benefit from a recent award of $219.2 million in health care programs and services by VA’s Office of Rural Health (ORH).

“Our mission is to improve the health and well-being of rural Veterans by increasing their access to care and services,” said Gina Capra, ORH Director. “To do this in a more uniform manner nationwide, we shifted our focus from local pilot programs to spread what we refer to as enterprise-wide initiatives – or proven solutions designed to bring care and services closer to home for rural Veterans.”

In fact, this funding translates to more than 40 enterprise-wide initiatives at 400 VA medical centers and community based outpatient clinic sites in more than 45 states across the U.S., with more sites expected throughout fiscal year 2017.

The initiatives reach 75 percent of the 167 VA medical centers across the nation. ORH estimates these initiatives will impact more than 570,000 rural Veterans.

ORH’s fiscal year 2017 enterprise-wide initiatives are grouped into five categories, listed below with corresponding funding amounts:

  • Primary care services – $61.7 million
  • Mental health services – $22.5 million
  • Specialty care services – $57.4 million
  • Workforce training and education services – $10.7 million
  • Ancillary support services – $66.9 million (comprised mostly of transportation-related programs)

“This year and beyond, we will continue to develop programs that address rural Veteran health care needs and deliver high-quality care across the VA system,” said Capra.

Examples include free transportation for rural Veterans to or from medical appointments, physical rehabilitation at home, training for rural providers and support for caregivers of Veterans.

To view a full list and learn more about ORH’s enterprise-wide initiatives, visit http://www.ruralhealth.va.gov/providers/collaborativeaccess.asp. For more information about the VA Office of Rural Health, visit www.ruralhealth.va.gov.

 

Get Link’d follow-up & Webinar invite

November 17, 2016

If you or others at Mo. Dept of Health & Senior Services would like to find out more about Regroup’s approach to mental health telehealth, we’d like to invite you to attend our upcoming 30-min webinar:

  • Overcoming Clinician Shortages Through Integrated Behavioral Telehealth
  • December 15th at 1:00to 1:30 PMCST
  • Please sign up at link below (also feel free to forward to others)

Webinar sign up: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/rt/1853726405583728643?source=TG

We’ll be discussing Regroup’s approach to “virtual staffing” of psychiatrists/NPs and therapists into health care entities facing shortages via a video platform optimized for the unique requirements of behavioral health.

We hope you and/or your colleagues will be able to join the webinar. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions.

RuralPolicy@hrsa.gov is the new ‘go to’ email for all rural health policy questions

November 17, 2016

FORHP, Health Policy, and You

In celebration of National Rural Health Day, the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) is proud to announce a new email box to answer all of your rural health policy questions, including Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance.

RuralPolicy@hrsa.gov is a resource for providers, advocates, and stakeholders to ask questions and get updates on the health care issues most important to rural communities.

If you would like to be added to the RuralPolicy@hrsa.gov listserv, please send an email with “Subscribe” in the subject line (you can unsubscribe at any time by sending “Unsubscribe” in the subject line).

Feel free to forward this e-mail widely to anyone interested in rural health policy issues.

We look forward to working with you!!

Happy National Rural Health Day! Community Stars 2016 Book Now Available

November 17, 2016

Happy National Rural Health Day!

Just want to thank you for all you do each and every day with us and for millions of people across the country! We don’t take it for granted. Special thanks to Sahi and Michelle for being along on this ride with us today. Hope you have a fabulous day!

Check out and remember the rural people we all work for in our newly-released “Community Stars 2016” book!

Let’s roll!

Teryl

Get ready to apply for the FY17 NURSE Corps Loan Repayment Program

November 17, 2016

Get ready to apply for the FY17 NURSE Corps Loan Repayment Program

The next NURSE Corps Loan Repayment Program (LRP) application cycle is expected to open in January 2017.  To expedite the application submission process, potential applicants and facility administrators are encouraged to have their Critical Shortage Facility (CSF) reviewed for eligibility for participation in the NURSE Corps Loan Repayment Program. Eligible NURSE Corps sites or CSFs are defined as a health care facility located in, designated as, or serving a mental health or primary medical care Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA). Additional information about eligible health care facilities can be found on page 8 on the NURSE Corps LRP Application and Program Guidance.

For those who have already submitted your site for review, please disregard this message.

Potential applicants and facility administrators may submit their facility information to CSF_Request@hrsa.gov beginning November 14 through November 30, 2016.  Notifications of facility eligibility will be confirmed by the NURSE Corps staff no later than December 31, 2016, via email.  Please note:  All notifications will be sent to the email address initiating the request.

When submitting a health care facility to the NURSE Corps LRP for consideration, please provide the following information:

  1. Your Name
  2. Name of the facility and its specific location (i.e., satellite facility cannot use main facility address)
  3. Full mailing address of the facility including street address, City, State, and Zip code
    (Do not use P.O. Box)
  4. Profit Status
  5. Your site type. (Review the list of eligible facilities.)

If you have any questions about this process, you may contact our Customer Care Center at 1-800-221-9393, Monday through Friday (except Federal holidays) from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET.

Resources

Site Registration Now Open for the November 17 Virtual Job Fair

October 27, 2016

Virtual Job Fair for Rural Sites
Thursday, November 17
7:00 – 10:15 p.m. ET
Register Now

Is your site in a rural area and has vacancies to fill? Participate in the upcoming Virtual Job Fair to promote your vacancies to health care providers across the country.

Participation is free! Site registration closes on Thursday, October 27.

To participate, your site must:

  • Be an active National Health Service Corps (NHSC) site or NURSE Corps critical shortage facility
  • Need to fill at least one vacancy in a category (Primary Care, Nursing, Mental and Behavioral Health, or Dental) for which you have a HPSA score of 14 or above
  • Have a completed NHSC Jobs Center Site Profile (Learn more about creating a Site Profile)
  • Have access to a computer, internet and a phone line

During the Virtual Job Fair, your site will have approximately 15 minutes in your own “virtual room” to present your site and job opportunities, the community you serve, and answer questions from participating job seekers. After the event, your site contact information will be provided to registered participants, and your site will be listed on our Virtual Job Fair web page.

For more information, please visit the Virtual Job Fair web page or email us at NHSCVirtualJobFair@hrsa.gov.

Don’t miss this opportunity to promote your job vacancies – register today!

 

Sneak Preview of Presenters

October 19, 2016

We want to take a moment to share a few of our Get Link’d Conference SPEAKERS AND PRESENTERS!

Just $59 to attend

November 15-16, 2016
Hilton Garden Inn in Columbia, MO.
DON’T FORGET TO REGISTER ON-LINE TODAY!
www.morha.org

Senior Health Policy Advisor for the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (HRSA) , DR. PAUL MOORE will the general session speaker.  His lifetime of experience related to rural healthcare from both his family heritage and more than 30 years in community and hospital pharmacy.

Judy Shanley, Vice President, Education and Youth Transition at Easterseals will be sharing her knowledge of Mobility Management and Design Thinking Principals from the National Center for Mobility Management. Judy is working with NCMM, Easterseals, and Federal Transit Administration in developing Mobility Management certification program.

Carrie Porter,  Transportation Specialist/ Older Americans Act Sonusltant for the Greater Wisconsin Agency on Aging Resources.  Serving 70 counties and 11 tribes in Wisconsin, she provides training and technical assistance to programs across the state. Carrie takes mobility management seriously and is working to bring Mobility Management Certification to a new level.

Visit our Website for more information about the Get Link’d Conference and Register On-Line Today!

Announcements from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy

September 2, 2016

What’s New

New Report:  Rural-Urban Differences in Coverage from Private Insurers.  Today, the Minnesota Rural Health Research Center released a new brief on the number of insurers available to consumers in rural and urban counties through the Federally-Facilitated Marketplace (FFM).  The researchers found that, of the 2,512 counties served by FFMs, 34% had only one or two insurers offering coverage. Of those, 80% of the counties were rural.

To access the MN brief, visit: http://rhrc.umn.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Marketplace-Insurer-Participation.pdf

In June of this year, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation released analysis of the Affordable Care Act’s impact on individuals living in rural communities.  Key highlights from that report:

  • Coverage: Rural individuals, like those living in urban and suburban areas, have seen large coverage gains under the ACA – about an 8 percentage point increase from before the first open enrollment period through early 2015.
  • Premium tax credits: Among the 88 percent of rural HealthCare.gov consumers with premium tax credits, the average net monthly premium increased by $5, or 4 percent, between 2015 and 2016.
  • Access to care: Individuals in rural areas have seen improvements in access to care; the share who report being unable to afford needed care declined by nearly 6 percentage points from before the first open enrollment period through early 2015.

Continue reading “Announcements from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy”