NRHA's Rural Health Voices blog offers informed commentary on the latest news in rural health care from NRHA staff and editorials from selected contributors.
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Author:
Jessica Seigel
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This afternoon, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released their latest research, compiling facts and figures about the effects of the opioid crisis on our nation.
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Author:
Geoff Caplea, MD, MBA
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Evolving legislative and regulatory demands require health care organizations to better manage their health IT strategies. Health care providers in rural areas feel this impact more intensely. Dr. Geoff Caplea, Allscripts medical director of regulatory affairs, quality assurance, and patient safety, outlines how rural health care organizations can use health IT to drive smarter health care delivery, including how it can help engage patients with their care plans and confront the opioid crisis.
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Author:
Alex T. Olson
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The National Rural Health Association is excited to announce the final selections for its 2019 Rural Health Fellows program. After the completion of a competitive review process, 15 fellows were selected to participate in this yearlong, intensive program aimed at developing leaders who can articulate a clear and compelling vision for rural America.
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Author:
Whitney Faler
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Did you know that if you participate in CME activities, you could already be on your way to satisfying your Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) requirement? Because MIPS falls under the Quality Payment Program, CME can count towards your MIPS requirement if the activities are designed and executed in alignment with the QPP guidance. 91% of clinicians participated in MIPS in QPP’s first year. You could already be eligible to use CME to meet your MIPS requirements.
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Author:
Jessica Seigel
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The National Rural Health Association (NRHA) today announced that it will partner with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support capacity building for rural health facilities.
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Author:
Jessica Seigel
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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has just finalized two rule proposals on site neutral payments and cuts to the 340B Program.
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Author:
Carl E. Couch, MD, MMM
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Most of us would agree that controlling costs while providing high-quality, coordinated health care is a financial and moral imperative. This is especially true in rural markets, where household incomes are approximately four percent lower than urban areas and about 13.3 percent of families live below official poverty thresholds. But creating health solutions infrastructure to deliver value and provide an exceptional level of care comes at a cost, often requiring hard choices on where to...
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Author:
Diane Calmus
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Late this week, CMS released a proposal to reduce the cost of Medicare Part B Drugs. What would its impact be for rural America?
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Author:
Jessica Seigel
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According to the Susan G. Komen Foundation, breast cancer deaths have decreased by as much as 34% and continue to decline. Unfortunately, improvement has not occurred equally among all populations. Just as with so many other diseases, those with breast cancer in rural America are less likely to have the cancer diagnosed early and to receive the treatment necessary.
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Author:
Jessica Seigel
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For a brief time, the number of rural hospital closures seemed to have stalled. Despite a rising number of hospitals operating at a loss, and regardless of Congressional inaction, rural hospitals were managing to hold on. Then the summer brought a rush of hospital closures, a landslide that’s continued into the fall.
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