|
RURAL ROUTE
December 2021
| |
The Center's DEI Statement
The National Rural Health Resource Center (The Center) is the organization that provides technical assistance to the Flex and SHIP Programs under a cooperative agreement with FORHP. The Center has established a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) and Anti-Racism statement to support our mission, vision, core values, and guiding principles. These principles will be practiced within our organization and shared with our customers, grantees, vendors, and partners to express our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of our work. Watch The Center's DEI video.
"The Center is committed to DEI and anti-racism. We create an environment that reflects the communities we live in and serve; a place where everyone feels accepted and empowered to be their full, authentic selves; and where everyone belongs.
We understand the impact of and seek to defeat racism and discrimination in ourselves, our workplace, and the world. This guides how we cultivate leaders, build our programs and resources, and deliver our technical assistance.
We are an organization that honors, celebrates, and respects all dimensions of diversity. These principles are central to our mission and to our impact."
See our DEI Definitions.
| | |
Federal Office of Rural Health Policy Updates | |
Dear Flex Program Coordinators,
What a year it has been! Your continued support of your critical access hospitals and state Flex programs has been humbling to witness. The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP) project officers have reviewed your End of Year Reports and have been so impressed by your significant accomplishments. Thank you for all that you do!
Please see the upcoming Federal Financial Report (FFR) and carryover request deadlines:
-
FY 2020 FFR – due January 30, 2022 (Friday, January 28)
-
NOTE: You must use the FFR Remarks Section to express your intent to carry over funds. If you intend to carry over funds and do not make a note in this section, you will be required to resubmit your FFR.
-
Questions related to issues with the FFR: PMS Self-Service Web Portal
-
Help Desk Number: Telephone #: 877-614-5533 E-Mail: PMSFFRSupport@psc.hhs.gov
-
Prior Approval Carryover Request - due 30 days after the FFR is submitted.
-
If you have an Unobligated Balance (UOB) for your U2W award, you can carry over those funds to your current budget period, to be spent by August 31, 2022. Please discuss your plan to utilize your carryover with your Project Officer. You can then submit a Prior Approval – Carryover Request in EHB, which should include:
- Cover Letter – detailing the reason for the UOB and your plan to spend down the funds in the current budget period making direct connections to your work plan.
-
Please note: you can use carryover funds to complete an activity that was delayed in the previous budget year or expand upon an existing work plan activity. You cannot use carryover funds for NEW activities.
- Budget Justification – for the carryover amount only
- SF424A – for the carryover amount only
-
SF424A Form template can be found here
-
Please see this helpful video about the carryover request process
We wanted to thank you all for your participation in the FORHP Fireside Chat. It was an excellent opportunity to hear your feedback on the Flex Year 3 Quality Improvement (QI) Project and Quality Innovation Labs (QIL). If you were unable to attend the meeting, please find the recording and an overview of the feedback provided on the QIL Hub. We encourage you to share additional feedback with your FORHP project officer or MBQIP@hrsa.gov about possible extension times for the Year 3 QI Project.
I wish you all a happy and healthy holiday season and a wonderful start to the new year.
Thanks for all that you do,
Tori
| | | |
|
New TASC Staff Member
Caroline Bell began her work with The Center in November of 2021 and currently serves with both the TASC and SHIP teams as a Program Coordinator II which includes providing support and technical assistance, coordinating educational webinars, and facilitating program events.
Raised in Reno, Nevada, Caroline’s first exposure to rural health was during her time as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Sewanee, Tennessee. This experience spurred her passion for rural communities. She brings over four years of experience working in rural Appalachia in both the health care administration and community health fields.
Caroline received her Bachelor of Public Health degree from the University of Nevada, Reno, and her Master of Public Health degree from East Tennessee State University. She currently resides in North Carolina. Her email is cbell@ruralcenter.org
| |
State Flex Profile Updates | |
|
It is time for State Flex Profile updates. For our newer State Flex team employees, State Flex Profiles are a snapshot of the beneficial activities occurring at the state level to support the critical access hospitals (CAHs) and their communities. It is also a chance to showcase your team, their backgrounds, and contact information. No two states have the same approaches or team makeup. These profiles are updated annually as an opportunity for states to share their excellent work, learn from one another, and keep contact information up to date.
Please keep your eyes out for an email from a TASC program specialist with a copy of your state's profile from last year, to which you can make any appropriate changes. This should allow you to make any updates to projects, staffing, or goals from 2020 rather than starting a profile from scratch. If you have had staffing changes, don't forget to include your new team member's photo and current contact information in your updated profile. After you make any changes, please email your 2021 profile updates to Caroline Bell at cbell@ruralcenter.org.
We aim to get everyone's up-to-date profiles back to Caroline by January 24th. We can't wait to show off everyone's hard work on The Center's website!
| |
FMT Updates and Briefs: December 2021 | |
|
Critical Access Hospitals' Initial Response to COVID-19 by System Affiliation
This report presents data on the initial response to COVID-19 in system-affiliated and independent Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Data in this report come from a survey of CAH CEOs in eight states about their response to COVID-19 from February to August 2020, and the report includes information on COVID-19 case volume, personal protective equipment (PPE) supply, and the perceived impact of being a system-affiliated or independent CAH on their overall response to COVID-19.
| |
|
Outcomes Measures for State Flex Program Financial and Operational Improvement Interventions
This brief looks at outcome measurement issues for state Flex Program (SFP) interventions conducted under Program Area 2: Financial and Operational Improvement (FOI), a mandatory area of SFP activity. It presents a set of short- and intermediate-term FOI measures for common categories of FOI interventions. Given that SFPs tend to focus primarily on output and long-term, high-level outcome measures, these short- and intermediate-term outcome measures provide a bridge between project activities and long-term outcomes within the course of the funding cycle. The brief describes a set of common FOI interventions as well as the theory of change and a set of short- and intermediate-term measures for each intervention.
TASC 90: Flex Program Outcome Measures
A companion brief provides an inventory of all SFP FOI initiatives and a more detailed analysis of the interventions undertaken by a subset of 14 SFPs.
| |
|
The MBQIP Monthly includes:
- CAHs Can! Quality Time: Sharing PIE (performance improvement experience) Conversations
-
Data: CAHs Measure Up – How EDTC Measures Are Calculated
-
Tips: Robyn Quips – Chart Abstracted MBQIP Measures
- Tools and Resources – Helping CAHs Succeed in Quality Reporting & Improvement
Please send your MBQIP questions to tasc@ruralcenter.org. TASC will ensure your question reaches the appropriate person.
| | | |
Webinars, Recordings, and Resources | |
This project is/was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under grant number UB1RH24206, Information Services to Rural Hospital Flexibility Program Grantees, $1,560,000 (0% financed with nongovernmental sources). This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. | | | | |
