Spooky October Network News

Dear Friends of UTN,

This month, we are bringing attention to a recent Forbes article that ranks the states with the least access to healthcare. Unfortunately, Utah is ranked #1—for the worst access for healthcare.

“Utah tops our list as the worst state for healthcare access due to its lack of resources, including low numbers of qualified healthcare professionals and an insufficient number of hospital beds.”

Although this is not good ... and, yes, spooky news for Utah, it is also a call to action for a coordinated and strategic effort to address the barriers to access and increase healthcare availability and affordability. That includes supporting telehealth in rural communities and school-based telehealth.

In this newsletter, you will find resources and information about trainings related to improving access to healthcare, cybersecurity essentials for healthcare providers, and online courses to support digital navigators and help patients utilize the technology needed to participate in telehealth appointments.

UTN’s intention is to work with stakeholders across sectors in our state to better understand telehealth needs, share resources, and work collaboratively to support access to telehealth in Utah. We are grateful for your partnership and look forward to working together to turn the tide and ensure access to high quality, affordable healthcare for all.

Sincerely,

Sarah Bauman

Director, UTN

Online Event: Futureproofing Access to Care:

A Discussion With Healthcare Leaders

Tuesday, October 29, 2024 | 1 p.m. ET

This session, sponsored by the American Telemedicine Association (ATA), will bring together industry experts to explore the evolving landscape of healthcare and the strategies necessary to maintain and enhance access to care. The discussion will focus on addressing current challenges, such as clinician shortages and health disparities, while examining the future of healthcare delivery in an ever-changing environment. Attendees will hear from leaders at the forefront of healthcare innovation, sharing their perspectives on how to ensure continuity, equity, and quality in care delivery.

Learning Objectives 

• Understand the evolving landscape of healthcare access by exploring key challenges such as clinician shortages and health disparities through expert insights.
• Identify innovative strategies and ideas discussed by healthcare leaders that aim to enhance and maintain access to care in an ever-changing environment.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of various approaches to futureproofing access to care, comparing the strengths and weaknesses of different solutions highlighted during the webinar.

Don’t Miss the Free Cybersecurity Webinar Sponsored by the Northwest Regional Telehealth Resource Center (NRTRC)

National Rural Health Resource Center Awarded $12M to Help Rural Hospitals Keep Care Close to Home

The National Rural Health Resource Center (The Center) provides technical assistance, information, tools, and resources for the improvement of rural health. It serves as a national knowledge center and strives to build state and local capacity. The Center has been awarded a three-year, nearly $12 million cooperative agreement from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to provide in-depth technical assistance to rural hospitals across the country—to help them add or expand health care services to meet community needs and keep care close to home. The goal of the Rural Hospital Stabilization Pilot Program is to strengthen rural health care delivery nationwide by improving hospital financial stability. To learn more, visit here.

AnchorNets Conference Highlights!

This year’s AnchorNets Conference, sponsored by The Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition, had a special focus on the wide variety of federal broadband funding opportunities, including the Emergency Connectivity Fund, the Treasury Department Capital Projects Fund, as well as E-rate, rural healthcare, and digital equity programs. SHLB is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., striving to close the digital divide by promoting high-quality broadband for anchor institutions and their communities.

One of the presenting agencies was the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and we wanted to share that CISA has curated a database of free cybersecurity services and tools as part of their continuing mission to reduce cybersecurity risk across U.S. critical infrastructure partners and state, local, tribal, and territorial governments.

What’s Included:

• CISA’s no-cost, in-house cybersecurity services, designed to help individuals and organizations build and maintain a robust and resilient cyber framework
• An extensive selection of free cybersecurity services and tools provided by the private and public sector to help organizations further advance their security capabilities

CISA has also initiated a process for organizations to submit additional free tools and services for inclusion on this list.

Top 3 Foundational Measures to Implement a Strong Cybersecurity Program:

1. Connect with your Regional Cybersecurity Advisor (CSA)—CISA’s program of work is carried out across the nation by personnel assigned to its 10 regional offices. Regions are based on your state: contact your region's office here.

2. Sign up for Cyber Hygiene Services—CISA’s Cyber Hygiene services help secure internet-facing systems from weak configurations and known vulnerabilities.

3. Cybersecurity Performance Goal (CPG) Assessment—CISA’s CPGs are a common set of practices all organizations should implement to kickstart their cybersecurity efforts. Small- and medium-sized organizations can use the CPGs to prioritize investment in a limited number of essential actions with high-impact security outcomes. CISA has mapped the free services in its Free Cybersecurity Tool & Services database to the CPGs to aid prioritization of risk-reduction efforts.

UTN and NRTRC represent at AnchorNets! Left to right: Spencer Jenkins (Executive Director), Jerome Browning (State E-Rate Coordinator), Sarah Bauman (Director), Nicki Perisho (NRTRC Program Director), Kelleigh Cole (Director of Strategic Partnerships)

Trick or Treat?! Check Out These Free Resources!

Self-Paced Skill-Building Courses

The University of Maryland (another incredible presenter at AnchorNets) shared a series of free, self-paced online modules available for current and prospective digital navigators to gain the tools and skills needed to bring digital navigation and tech support to their communities. To learn more, visit here.

Digital Navigation Toolkit

The National Consortium of Telehealth Resource Centers (NCTRC) released a new digital toolkit that provides helpful resources links about digital health navigation. The toolkit helps communities address digital inclusion holistically and ensure access to healthcare for all.

Critical Access Hospital Telehealth Guide

This guide, created by NRTRC and the National Rural Health Resource Center, provides guidance on implementing and sustaining a telehealth program. From reimbursements to building digital equity and program design, this guide has it all! Check it out here!

Telehealth Access Points (TAPs) Map

Find a telehealth resource or a facility offering telehealth services by using the

NRTRC’s Telehealth Map and Facility Finder. A TAP is a public-facing space that furnishes a device with a working camera, speaker and microphone, an internet connection, and privacy considerations in the form of a dedicated room or kiosk for the general public to access a telehealth appointment. TAPs are found throughout the nation at community anchor institutions like libraries, social service agencies, and community health centers. 

October UTN Advisory Council ReTREAT (No Tricks!)

On October 10, the UTN Advisory Council convened for an all-day retreat that included digging into the Utah state statute to better understand the objectives outlined by the Utah legislature. In addition, we spent our time workshopping together to explore challenges, opportunities, the problems we wanted to solve, and what services and resources were needed to solve those problems. Along the way we visited the ghosts of UTN past, our present state, and the future we want to realize.

We also had a special treat—a tour of the Network Operations Center (NOC), provided by James Hodges, UEN Video Operations Center Manager. As you will see from the photos, we covered a lot of ground, figuratively and literally, using low-tech (post-it notes galore and flip chart paper for strategic planning activities) and high-tech (video surveillance of all network sites and security activities) and a lightsaber (for special effects)!

Visiting the lights, camera, action room where formal interviews take place, including interviews with Utah's elected officials.

50 pages of flip chart paper and 1000 post-it notes later, we made excellent progress: stay tuned for the 2025 UTN Strategic Plan!

The Network Operations team is keeping watch 24/7 to keep the network secure and operational!

2024 Rural Health Association of Utah

Annual Conference