This newsletter is brought to you by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) and the Community Health Systems Development Team at the Georgia Health Policy Center.
GRANTEE SPOTLIGHTS
Network Planning Grantee
The Georgia Health Policy Center recently spoke to Kansas Justice, chief operating officer; Lisa Estep, vice president of development; and Shannon Deskins, executive director of marketing and public relations; from Pikeville Medical Center (PMC) about these efforts. 
Network Development Grantee
The Georgia Health Policy Center recently spoke to Kay Balcer, network director for The Thumb Community Health Partnership (TCHP), about participation in the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy’s Network Development grant program. 
PROGRAM-SPECIFIC UPDATES
Network Planning Announcements from FORHP
Upcoming Deliverables
  • The External Environmental Scan is due on February 11, 2022. Please submit the completed template to your Technical Assistance (TA) provider and project officer by email on or before that due date. The template and supporting resources can be found here.
  • The Network Statement is due on March 11, 2022. Please submit the draft statement to your TA provider and project officer by email on or before that due date. The template and supporting resources will be shared with you on January 19 during a short webinar with the TA team (see below).

Rural Health Network Development Announcements from FORHP
Upcoming Deliverables
  • Year 2 Non-Competing Continuation (NCC) Progress Report Opens March 3, 2022: All grantees are required to submit a NCC Progress Report in the electronic handbook (EHB). The purpose of this report is to demonstrate adequate progress of grant projects to secure Year 3 funding. Report template will be available in EHB on March 3, 2022. A request for an updated Work Plan demonstrating proposed vs. actual progression of activities will be included. The NCC Progress report is due April 2, 2022.

FORHP Funding Opportunities
  • Rural Communities Opioid Response Program (RCORP) – Implementation, Due January 13, 2022: This funding opportunity will advance RCORP’s overall goal by strengthening and expanding prevention, treatment, and recovery services to enhance rural residents’ ability to access treatment and move towards recovery.
  • Delta Region Rural Health Workforce Training Program, Due January 25, 2022: The purpose of this program is to educate and train future and current health professionals in the rural counties and parishes of the Mississippi River Delta Region and Alabama Black Belt in the following critical administrative support occupations: medical coding and billing, claims processing, information management, and clinical documentation.
  • Rural Health Network Development Planning Program, Due January 28, 2022: This program supports one year of planning and brings together key parts of a rural health care delivery system, particularly those entities that may not have collaborated in the past, to establish and/or improve local capacity in order to strengthen rural community health interventions and enhance care coordination.
  • Keep your eyes peeled for the forthcoming release of a new funding opportunity, The Rural Public Health Workforce Training Network Program (HRSA-22-117), funded through HRSA’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy.
QUARTERLY TA-RELATED ACTIVITIES FOR RURAL HEALTH NETWORK PLANNING GRANTEES
Quarterly Peer Group Calls 
Network Planning grantees are invited to register for ongoing, topic-specific peer group calls with other FORHP grantees. Topics include chronic disease management, behavioral health, Community Health Worker programs, Social Determinants of Health, and more. You can register here to be included on the January Peer Call of your choice. The registration deadline is December 15.

Network Planning Grantee Meeting
Mark Your Calendars! This year, the Rural Health Network Development Planning Program Meeting will take place virtually over two half-days, February 2 -3, 2022. The objectives of this grantee meeting are to:
  • Provide timely updates from FORHP on reporting and grants administration requirements
  • Open opportunities for sharing, learning, and networking among your peers and program cohorts
  • Build capacity for the successful development of rural health networks through the focus of key topics 

Upcoming Webinars
Building Your Adaptive Leadership Skills
Wednesday, December 8, 2021, 2:00 p.m. ET
Please join us for a webinar that will explore the leadership aspect of developing your adaptive capacity. Click here to join the Zoom.

Make a Statement
Wednesday, January 19, 2022, 3:00 - 3:30 p.m. ET
During this 30-minute web blast, attendees will learn how to write a compelling Network Statement that will be included in the Source Book and Strategic Plan.

Learning from Successful Rural Health Networks
Wednesday, February 16, 2022, 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. ET
In this webinar, we will review the attributes of networks with a strong “Core” and hear from Rural Health Networks about the importance of a strong “Core” for sustainability and adaptation.
QUARTERLY TA-RELATED ACTIVITIES FOR RURAL HEALTH NETWORK DEVELOPMENT (RHND) GRANTEES
Value-Based Payment (VBP) Resource
In mid-December, a Value-Based Payment Primer will be distributed to RHND grantees as a resource for your reference. Be on the lookout for the email.

Marketing Planning Resources
As you work to complete your RHND marketing plan deliverable by December 13 in the EHB, don’t forget the resources shared in earlier editions of this newsletter currently housed online. You will find relevant articles and resources in the Quarter 3 and Quarter 4 editions. If you need assistance with your marketing plan, feel free to reach out to your TA Provider. The RHND Ten-Point Marketing Plan Template provided in September is an optional format and may be found here. The companion recording with a review of the template and some basic marketing tips is also available Your Project Officer and TA Provider are looking forward to reading your marketing plan and discussing it with you on the January or February 2022 TA call.

Business Model and Funding Plan Template and Office Hours on February 23
To support you with the August 31, 2022 deliverable of the Business Model and Funding Plan, your TA Team is working with Business Planning Consultant Heather Gowdy to provide a template and resources to support the development of your plan. The template will be available in early February and an Office Hours event with Heather Gowdy is scheduled for Wednesday, February 23, at 2:00 p.m. ET. Mark Your Calendars!

Another Installment in the RHND Landscape Analysis Series is Underway
The working title of the next installment in the RHND Landscape Analysis Series has a working title of Rural Health Networks’ Potential to Navigate the Emerging Healthcare Landscape. Both the report and the companion webinar will be available in late March 2022. Stay tuned!
ARTICLES
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is making it easier for healthcare providers to use telehealth to deliver mental health and substance abuse care to patients in their homes. The move highlights the increase in mental health and substance abuse issues as a result of the pandemic and allows providers more opportunity to deliver care through telehealth and to be reimbursed by Medicare and Medicaid for those services. Click here to read the update.
RESOURCES, NEWS AND UPDATES
The National Rural Health Association (NRHA) has developed a grassroots initiative to help rural health stakeholders build vaccine confidence at the local level:

  • Rural hospital CEOs will champion the initiative, inviting local business, nonprofit, and faith leaders to partner in a community effort to help ensure everyone has access to facts about the COVID-19 vaccine. 
  • While hospital CEOs will share this campaign with anyone involved in marketing, the key to success is C-suite involvement, including serving as community champions. 
  • To maximize the effectiveness of this effort, it is important to utilize the toolkit to provide ongoing communications now through 2022.  

Click here to view the toolkit.

This brief from the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center examines the successes and challenges to network sustainability, as well as barriers to and facilitators of success among the 2019-2020 cohort grantees in the Rural Health Network Development Planning Grant Program.

Click here to read the brief.

The Maine Rural Health Action Network released findings from a recent project that aimed to identify strategies for building community and regional systems of care to better address the social needs of patients in the health system. The project goal was to inform the design of community-level rural health transformation initiatives, pilots, or demonstrations in rural Maine.

Click here to access the full report.
UPCOMING EVENTS 
January 26, 2022, at 12:00 P.M. ET
Please join System in Action’s webinar on aligning services for rural children impacted by the opioid crisis. Children affected by the opioid epidemic need an array of services to safeguard their health and wellbeing, including child protective services, legal representation, educational services, comprehensive physical and mental health care, and more. Timely access to these services is especially difficult in rural areas. Researchers will present strategies that use regional, multi-sector governing boards to help organizations work together in coordinating services for children and families in rural areas.
January 31 – February 3, 2022 
National Harbor, Maryland 
Join the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) Forum in National Harbor, Maryland. The CADCA Forum is the largest training event for community-based substance use and misuse prevention leaders. The event offers training, resources, and connections to create healthy, safe, and drug-free communities at home.