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Hello everyone,
Happy holidays! I hope you all have a joyous holiday season with family and friends, and a great start to your 2020!
In early January, we'll be holding the year's first Virtual Knowledge Group (VKG) on Mental and Behavioral Health. Please reach out to me if you have any questions related to this upcoming webinar.
Also, be sure to read the updates from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy for information on the new Flex Coordinator Victoria Leach!
As always, thank you for taking some time to read Rural Route. If you have questions or need assistance, please reach out to me or TASC.
Thank
s,
Andy Naslund
Program Coordinator
Technical Assistance and Services Center (TASC)
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Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) Updates
Happy Holidays, Flex Coordinators!
It's hard to believe another year is over. As we look into the new year, we are excited to continue the work of Flex, and pleased to have Victoria (Tori) Leach on board as the new Flex Coordinator beginning January 13, 2020. Tori has worked as a public health analyst at the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) for the past three and a half years. In her previous role, Tori worked within the Hospital State Division as a Project Officer for the State Office of Rural Health (SORH) grant, Regions C and D. Tori also served as Program Coordinator for the State Office of Rural Health Coordination and Development (NOSORH) Cooperative Agreement. Tori is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer from the Kyrgyz Republic where she worked in a small rural health clinic, focusing on Women's Health and HIV/AIDS issues in her small rural community. Tori graduated from Union College with degrees in Health Systems, Biology and Religious Studies and is currently a MBA candidate at Georgetown University. She enjoys hiking and yoga, and spending time with her pup, Eagle.
As a reminder, the final reports for the Fiscal Year (FY) 18 Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Supplements are due Friday, January 17, 2020. The
Flex EMS End of Year Report template is available on the TASC website. This will be submitted in the EHB under your previous H54 grant number folder for the Flex grant, not the new FY19 U2W folder. For those states that still have some EMS Supplement activities underway as part of a no-cost extension, please send an email to your project officer and Owmy Bouloute with the anticipated completion date.
Thanks for all the work you've done to help support rural hospitals this year and beyond. This program has an impact because of the work you do and we appreciate what you do!
Kristi Martinsen,
Hospital State Division Director
CAH Regulatory Update
The December 2019 FORHP Regulatory Update explain's the Center for Medicare and Medicaid's (CMS) announcement that they are accepting applications for the Implementation Period of its Direct Contracting Model Options. There are two application submission periods: one for the Implementation Period and a second for applications to start the model in the first performance year, opening in Spring 2020.
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Welcome to
Samra Hiros
of Iowa and
Sara Davenport of Missouri.
We are happy to have you as part of Flex!
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We bid a fond farewell to Kathryn Metzger of Missouri. We wish you well!
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Coming Up:
Flex VKG webinar -- Monday, January 6, 2020 from 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Central Time.
Stratis Health webinar training --
Wednesday, January 8, 2020 from 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Central Time.
SRHT HELP webinar -- Wednesday, January 15, 2020 from 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Central Time.
Stratis Health office hours --
Wednesday, January 22, 2020 from 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Central Time.
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New from Rural Health Value: Updated Catalog of Value-Based Initiatives for Rural Providers
The Rural Health Value team recently updated its Catalog of Value-Based Initiatives for Rural Providers. Learn which Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) value-based programs are appropriate for rural participation.
Please share this resource as it makes sense for your networks and stakeholders:
The Catalog of Value-Based Initiatives for Rural Providers summarizes rural-relevant, value-based programs to help rural leaders and communities identify Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) value-based programs appropriate for rural participation. It covers programs recently implemented by HHS, primarily by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and its Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. Recent catalog additions include 1) the Emergency Triage, Treat, and Transport Model 2) the Maryland Total Cost of Care Model, and 3) Primary Care Initiatives
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TASC Updates
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Spring 2020 FORHP Flex Program Workshop
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Flex Program Colleagues,
You are invited to participate in the FORHP Flex Program Workshop to be held March 31 - April 2, 2020 at
Fitger's Inn in Duluth, Minnesota. This Workshop is supported by FORHP and coordinated by TASC, a program of the National Rural Health Resource Center (The Center).
The goal of the Flex Program Workshop is to provide new or existing Flex Program staff an orientation to the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program. The Workshop covers multiple topics including basic critical access hospital (CAH) finance, quality and performance improvement concepts, information on emergency medical services (EMS), population health, and Flex Program core competencies and best practices. Each session will be presented by either staff from The Center or a subject matter expert, including speakers from FORHP, the Flex Monitoring Team, and Rural Quality Improvement Technical Assistance (RQITA). All speakers have vast knowledge and rural experience in the above-mentioned subject areas. Upon Workshop completion, participants will better understand Flex Program goals and services available to support Flex Program excellence.
The Flex Program Workshop consists of two full-days and one half-day of training beginning the morning of Tuesday, March 31 and ending the morning of Thursday, April 2. There is no fee to attend the Workshop; however, attendees are required to pay lodging and travel, both of which are allowable expenses of your Flex award.
Please reach out to
Andy Naslund if you would like to participate or have questions about the Flex Program Workshop. Space is limited so reserve your spot as soon as possible!
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EMS Resources Available Now!
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The primary goal of the Rural Community Ambulance Agency Transformation Readiness Assessment and associated resources is to help ambulance agency leaders in rural America assess the state of their agency's readiness in the core competency areas outlined below. This assessment follows the Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Blueprint for Performance Excellence, adapted specifically for rural ambulance agencies, from the Baldridge Excellence Framework for Health Care. It provides resources and tools to assist rural ambulance agency leaders to succeed in moving from volume to value in their agency's culture and operations. Leaders are encouraged to complete the assessment periodically to monitor their progress and receive updated resources to guide their journey.
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This is a practical guide for ambulance services to use in their pursuit of sustaining effective and efficient delivery of patient care and developing into an integrated system with other agencies. It provides insights from agencies to promote integration for the benefit of the agencies, staff, and, most importantly, the patients.
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This report is a summary of the 2019 Rural Emergency Care Summit held in March 2019 to discuss rural emergency care integration. The report incorporates the meeting proceedings, and a list of key strategies for rural ambulance services and hospital leaders to deploy when engaging collaboratively in transition to value-based payment and care delivery models.
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New Hospital Spotlights:
Hospital Spotlight for Leadership Development: Blue Mountain Hospital, Blanding, Utah
Blue Mountain Hospital
(BMH) is a non-profit CAH
providing services to the residents of Blanding, Utah, and surrounding communities. In 2017, BMH received a supplement through the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program which provided an opportunity for in-depth technical assistance on quality improvement. BMH leveraged the supplement to continue leadership development projects which have improved staff and patient satisfaction since the initiation of Leadership Development Institutes (LDIs), the
Studer Group's extensive development sessions
which aims to improve organizational and individual leadership in order to meet organizational goals. Continue reading BMH's spotlight here.
Hopi Health Care Center
(HHCC) is a CAH located in Polacca, Arizona. In 2017, HHCC received a supplement to the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Grant Program which helped support staff and community efforts with the Opioid Reduction Program. Within the first six months of project implementation, the team identified many steps that produced great outcomes for their opioid reduction program. Continuing reading HHCC's spotlight
here.
Mary Breckinridge Appalachian Regional Healthcare (ARH)
, located in Hyden, Kentucky, is a 25-bed critical access hospital (CAH)
. In 2017, supplemental funding was awarded to the Kentucky Office of Rural Health's Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program to support CAHs located in communities with high rates of poverty, unemployment, and/or substance abuse. Mary Breckinridge ARH utilized the supplemental funds based on needs identified around substance abuse. Continue reading ARH's spotlight here.
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Webinars, Recordings & Events
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Webinar Playbacks
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New and Updated Resources
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A full list of resources is available in the
TASC resource library
Many more resou
rces can be found on the TASC resource library
by searching for key words in the search field.
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MBQIP Updates
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Updated Resources
Please send your MBQIP questions to
[email protected]. TASC will ensure your question reaches the appropriate person.
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Flex Monitoring Team
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The Flex Monitoring Team released a new policy brief in October
on CAH participation in Flex Financial and Operational Improvement (FOI) activities. The brief aims to identify the patterns of CAH participation in Flex-funded activities from 2015 to 2018 and to investigate whether CAHs at greater risk of financial distress were more likely to participate in FOI activities.
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The most recent interviews are on leadership, recruiting in rural areas, turning around distressed industries, work done through rural health organizations, and pharmacy in rural areas.
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