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Greetings Flex Program Colleagues,
We hope at this point the bulk (and stress) of Flex grant writing is behind you. If you have last minute questions, please reach out - we're here to help!
Save-the-date for an April 2nd webinar on the prevalence and impact of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in rural America. This webinar is a special education event for the state Flex Programs, supported by supplemental funding to TASC this program year. Look forward to more resources rolling out in the near future to support you and your hospitals related to COPD.
A reminder to save-the-date for the
2019 Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) Flex Program Reverse Site Visit (RSV)
: July 10 - 11, 2019 in Washington, D.C. at the
Marriott Wardman Park
. The theme is
Building Healthy Rural Communities
and will focus on the Flex Program Areas and improving on the Core Competencies for State Flex Program Excellence. An emergency medical services (EMS) pre-meeting will be held at the same location the afternoon of July 9, 2019. All state Flex Programs are invited to attend the EMS Pre-Meeting.
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Andy Naslund, Program Coordinator |
And, we wanted to introduce you to the newest TASC team member, Andy Naslund! Andy joins TASC as a Program Coordinator. He is a recent graduate from the College of St. Scholastica with a double major in Finance and English. You'll be receiving many more communications from Andy over the coming weeks as he spearheads coordination of upcoming events like the Flex Workshop and RSV, as well as taking over as editor of Rural Route.
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 FORHP Updates
Updates include:
- Reminder to reach out for assistance as you complete your Flex applications (Flex due 3/29, EMS Supplement due 4/5)
- FORHP is reviewing Medicare Beneficiary Quality Improvement Project (MBQIP) reporting data and determining potentially ineligible Critical Access Hospitals (CAH) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019. This list will be disseminated to you the second week of April
- Links to the Flex eligibility criteria and MBQIP waiver templates
CAH Regulatory Update
Updates include:
- Proposal for Interoperability for Health Information Technology (IT)
- Request for Information (RFI) on Hospital Star Rating System
- RFI on Selling Insurance Across State Lines
- CMS Opioid Prescribing Mapping Tool Improved with Medicaid and Rural Data
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Newsflash
Topic: Innovative telehealth services
UPMC Susquehanna Muncy, located in Muncy, Pennsylvania, was recently recognized for the development of the innovative telehealth services, including stroke. Through the telehealth program they have provided effective onsite, high quality, timely healthcare services for patients. Patient satisfaction scores have increased across multiple measures. Emergency department and medical-surgical staff have significantly increased their skills and understanding of community needs, time-critical diagnoses, and best practices in standards of care. Overall, they have decreased the need to transport patients, lowered overall costs, and improved financial and operational outcomes.
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| Pictured: Sharon Adams, Unit Director Emergency Department (ED), UPMC Susquehanna Muncy; Dr. John Moskaitis, Medical Director of Hospitalists for Medical-Surgical Unit, UPMC; Dr. Mark Beyer, Medical Director of ED, UPMC; Matt Mclaughlin, Chief Operating Executive, UPMC; Jennifer Edwards and Lannette Johnston, Pennsylvania Flex Program; Peter Strecker, Regional Program Coordinator, Telehealth, UPMC; Janai Arbogast, Unit Director Medical-Surgical Unit, UPMC; Andrea Reed, Director of Nursing, UPMC. |
TASC staff hosted a Rural Emergency Care Integration Summit earlier this month in Florida. The purpose of the Summit was to identify the key strategies for rural emergency medical services (EMS) and hospital leaders to engage collaboratively in the transition to value-based payment and care delivery models that include Flex Program support for related activities. The Summit participants discussed the 2019 Rural and Frontier Three Year EMS National Plan. They also reviewed the EMS 3.0 transformation initiatives. Participants then focused their time discussing the opportunities and challenges for rural EMS and rural hospital collaboration in the transition to value. We can't wait to share the results with you in the near future!
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Participants at the 2019 Rural Emergency Care Integration Summit
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Upcoming Webinar to Help CAHs Manage ACO Payment Uncertainty
Caravan Health is offering a FREE upcoming webinar for CAHs and their partners to understand how to manage payment uncertainty when joining an accountable care organization (ACO).
Learn more about this April 12th webinar.
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TASC Updates
We can help with those last-minute questions!
We likely don't need to remind you, but you still have two days to submit your Flex application and the EMS Supplement applications are due April 5th. If you need quick support, please don't hesitate to email or call TASC with questions big or small.
Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 Supplemental Funding Projects
This article has been in here for the last month, but we want to be sure you know this is coming up.
With supplemental funding from FORHP, TASC is working on projects to address COPD, and EMS needs in rural communities.
COPD
The goal of the COPD Supplemental Project is to address rural disparities in COPD services and to provide resources and technical assistance to rural hospitals and provider-based clinics in order to address these
disparities
. The COPD Supplemental Project will result in the creation of a manual, a podcast series, dissemination of an assessment, and three webinars.
The components of the COPD Supplemental Project will address the following topics: the importance of addressing COPD services in rural America, the current landscape in rural, payment, workforce needs, clinical treatment, and technology. Please contact Caleb Siem at
[email protected] with any questions.
A webinar to provide information on the prevalence and impact of COPD will be held on April 2, 2019 from 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Central Time. The audience for this webinar is state Flex Programs. The webinar will be recorded and we encourage you to share the recording with your state partners and CAHs, particularly those interested in providing COPD services.
EMS
The goal of the EMS Supplemental Project is to better position state-wide and community-level EMS agencies to move toward value-based care. The EMS Supplemental Project will result in the creation of three manuals and an online assessment for EMS providers to determine their readiness for value-based payment systems in rural communities. A small group meeting was held this month with rural EMS experts from around the country to develop key strategies to support the transition of rural EMS services to value models. In addition, there will be an RSV pre-event learning session held in Washington, D.C. on July 9, 2019 for Flex Programs to share progress, challenges, successes, and lessons learned. Please contact Nicole Clement at
[email protected] with any questions.
Save the Date - April 2 webinar on COPD Prevalence and Impact
Please join TASC for the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Prevalence and Impact Webinar on April 2nd at 2:00 p.m. Central Standard Time. A calendar appointment has been emailed to all state Flex Programs.
This webinar is for state Flex Programs.
Speakers include:
- Kristi Martinsen, Director, Hospital State Division, Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP)
- Grace Anne Dorney Koppel, MA, JD, President, Dorney-Koppel Foundation
- Lannette Johnston, MS, BSN, RN, CHC, Quality Improvement Coordinator with the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health
Learning Objectives for the Webinar include:
- Discover the scope and scale of COPD matters in rural America
- Understand the personal impact of COPD
- Learn about national initiatives and FORHP efforts
- Hear an example of state-level efforts underway with COPD
Flex Program Reverse Site Visit
The Flex Program Reverse Site Visit (RSV) is coming up July 10-11 in Washington, DC. This year's theme is
Building Healthy Rural Communities. We will be in contact with those that submitted a proposal to present in a breakout session shortly with the outcome of the Planning Committee's review. We intend to have registration open in late April. There will be an option this year to pre-order a meal through the conference location. And, don't forget that there is an EMS pre-meeting on the afternoon of July 9 for all state Flex Programs to attend!
Welcome to Rachel Chandler, SORH Director in Mississippi.
We bid a fond farewell to Meredith Guardino who is leaving her position in Oregon, and Hannah Robinson who is leaving her position in Utah. Best wishes to Sharla Allen, SORH Director in Wyoming, who is retiring. We wish you all well!
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FORHP Update on MBQIP Eligibility
The below message was emailed: by Yvonne Chow to all state Flex Coordinators on March 25, 2019:
Dear Flex Coordinators,
We would like to share a few important updates regarding MBQIP eligibility and waivers for FY 2019.
1. Timeline for MBQIP eligibility and waivers
a. March 11 - April 5: FORHP is finalizing the list of eligible and potentially ineligible CAHs for FY 2019
b. April 8 - 12: Flex Project Officers will send list of potentially ineligible CAHs to state Flex Coordinators
i. As a reminder the FY 2019 Eligibility Criteria can be found
here.
c. April 15 - May 17: Waivers can be submitted and are reviewed by Flex Project Officers
i.
May 17: Last day to submit MBQIP waivers for FY2019
2. Waiver template
b. A few reminders
i. All submitted waivers need to be thorough and complete. Waivers are subject to be returned if insufficient detail is provided.
ii. All submitted waivers are requests to FORHP for consideration, but approval is on a case-by-case basis.
iii. If a CAH submitted a waiver for FFY18, they will need to detail progress made to date.
iv.
(New) All CAHs submitting a waiver agree to follow-up by RQITA and FORHP throughout the year to ensure progress made on action steps.
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to your Flex project officer or
[email protected]
Thanks,
Yvonne Chow
MBQIP Coordinator
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MBQIP Updates
Updated Resources
Please send your MBQIP questions to the TASC email address
. TASC will ensure your question reaches the appropriate person.
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Webinars, Recordings & Events
Save the Dates
April 2, 2019 | 2:00 p.m.
Central Time
May 15, 2019 | 2:00 p.m. Central Time
June 3, 2019 | 2:00 p.m.
July 9, 2019 | Washington, D.C.
July 10-11, 2019 | Washington, D.C.
August 5, 2019 | 2:00 p.m. Central Time
August 14, 2019 | 2:00 p.m. Central Time
Webinar Playbacks
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New and Updated Resources
A full list of resources is available in the
TASC resource library
.
Many more resou
rces can be found on the
TASC website
by searching for key words in the search field.
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New Flex Monitoring Team Research
A full list of research can be found on the Flex Monitoring Team website.
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Rural Interview with CDC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is focusing on rural health. Take some time to
read the RHIhub interview with CDC on their work with rural, and the need for storytelling and data collection.
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EMS Payment Model Opportunity
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) has released a voluntary five-year payment model for emergency medical services (EMS) called ET3 (Emergency Triage, Treat and Transport). This model seeks to provide flexibility to the care provided by EMS to Medicare beneficiaries, with the goals to reduce expenditures and stabilize or enhance quality by:
- providing person-centered care
- encouraging appropriate utilization of services
- increasing efficiency in the EMS system
More about ET3 can be
read on the CMMI page, and
two webinars have been recorded about this opportunity. The Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) will be released in Fall 2019.
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The most recent interviews are on the topics of agriculture and mental health, various aspects of rural health, PAs and NPs in CAHs, and HIV, immunization, and billing.
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