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November 27, 2012 LinkedInTwitterFacebook
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rebeccaFrom the Executive Director

Oh my, did you realize that there are only 35 days left in 2012? I didn’t until just now, thinking about what to write for the November eNews and thinking ahead to the holidays and end of year activities and peeking at plans for 2013 made me realize that 2012 has almost vanished!   As network leaders at this time of year, we start to review the year’s accomplishments, lessons learned, and activities we hoped to get to, but haven’t quite yet.  That’s what we are doing here at NCHN.  One task on our to-do list is a comprehensive membership survey.  The Program Development Committee is charged with oversight for this process and plans to distribute the link to the survey to NCHN members’ email boxes sometime next week.  I encourage each one of you to take the time to complete the survey. The survey is designed to not only collect information about the NCHN membership, but also provide the membership an opportunity to give input on current and future NCHN programming.  

According to some news outlets and bloggers, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been put to both the legal (Supreme Court ruling earlier this summer) and political (2012 Presidential election, hard to believe that was three weeks ago today) test and “is now the indisputable law of the land.” No longer can health care administrators, including network leaders, wait to explore strategies and develop plans to assist their network members implement the provisions of the ACA.  Where do health networks fit into this overall changing health care delivery system?  As you review, revise and update your annual work plans, prepare the network’s budget, and look toward 2013, please let us know how NCHN can assist you in your efforts to support your network members as they move forward with the implementation of the ACA.

Quarterly Membership Call
Monday, Dec. 3 @ 2:00 PM ET

2013 Conference Planning Committee Call
Wednesday, Dec. 4 @ 2:00 PM

2012 NCHN Leadership Learning Community Call
Wednesday, Dec. 5 @ 10:00 AM ET

2011 Transformer Leadership Learning Community Call
Wednesday, Dec. 5 @ 11:00 AM ET

Coffee/Tea Chat with Mary Kay Chess
Wednesday, Dec. 5 @ 12:30 PM ET

RHNR Consulting Task Force Call
Thursday, Dec. 13 @ 12:00 PM ET

NCHN Executive Committee Call
Monday, Dec. 17 @ 2:00 PM ET

Program Development Committee Call
Tuesday, Dec. 18 @ 1:00 PM ET

» VIEW THE NCHN CALENDAR

NCHN’s Quarterly Membership Call on Monday, December 3 at 2:00 PM ET will provide an opportunity for us to revisit some of the provisions of the ACA that health networks can assist their members implement. We will also have an update from NRHA on the election’s impact on rural health. We will continue to monitor the developments of the ACA and provide updates through the Weekly Digest, tweets on the NCHN website, and status updates on NCHN’s Facebook page. If you have a Facebook account, please like our page, so that you can get the latest updates and notices. 

Dr. Mary Kay Chess will lead the final Coffee/Tea Chat of 2012 on Wednesday, December 5th at 12:00 PM ET. The monthly Coffee/Tea Chat is your opportunity to connect with peers for a lively discussion about your challenges, successes, and/or funny happening throughout the month.  This is your time and I encourage you to take advantage of this network hot line!  This may be the only group that can totally relate to what you do on a daily basis and that will appreciate and celebrate with you!  

The 2013 Annual Conference Committee is planning an exciting event in New Orleans for April 16-19, 2013.  It is not too early to make your hotel reservations and start planning your travel to the only national event that brings health network leaders together to share best practices, network, and explore solutions to the challenging work we all do.  We anticipate that our room block may sell out early, so make your reservations today.

November was a fun month – on a personal note, Michael and I visited our son, Logan in Boca Raton, Florida.  We made our first trip to the Florida Keys and loved it!  I’m thinking maybe a great place for future NCHN meeting?  I decided to share a couple of photos with you – The Davis Family at the southernmost point in the continental US and one of some of the wildlife we saw on Key West – yeah, I got close enough to take the photo! 

Rebecca J. Davis, Ph.D.
Executive Director

November 2012 Rebecca on vacation

December Coffee/Tea Chat
Wednesday, December 5th at 12:30 PM ET; 11:30 AM CT; 10:30 AM MT; 9:30 AM PT
Welcome to our last Coffee/Tea Chat of 2012!  This Chat is open for any and all network and leadership questions and issues.  We invite you to bring your observations, your challenges, your successes and your perspectives on 2012 to this call.  We look forward to a lively and invigorating wrap up and celebration of this wild and wooly year!  And, in this last conversation, we'll launch ourselves into possibilities for 2013. We'll see you on Wednesday, December 5th! (Details to call in for the Coffee/Tea Chat will be posted on the NCHN On-Line Forum and distributed through a save the date.)

MEMBER NEWS

HCC Executive Director Accepted into Community Health Center Executive Fellowship Program (Nov. 13, 2012, HCC of Rural Missouri)

RWHC's Eye on Health newsletter (December 2012) issue is online

The Hospital Cooperative's Cooperative Connections newsletter (November 2012) issue is available online

PARTNER NEWS

Modern Healthcare Selects MedAssets as Recipient for Community Leadership Award (Nov. 19, 2012, Daily Finance)

NRHA announces election results (Nov. 20, 2012, Rural Health Voices)

» FIND SERVICES THROUGH NCHN PARTNERS

NATIONAL NEWS

Obama administration moves forward to implement health care law, ban discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions (Nov. 20, 2012, HHS News Release)
The provisions of the Affordable Care Act also would make it easier for consumers to compare health plans and employers to promote and encourage employee wellness.

The Rural Differential: Drilling down into the data (Nov. 19, 2012, RUPRI, Rural Futures Lab)
For this very first edition of The Rural Differential, I thought we should talk about data in general. Where do we get data for rural America?

Stakeholder Recommendations for Enhancing Access to Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs through Health Information Technology (Nov. 26, 2012, ONC Health IT email)
Prescription drug misuse and overdose is one of the fastest growing health epidemics in the United States. The goal of the Enhancing Access to Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs Project is to use health information technology to increase timely access to prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) data in an effort to reduce prescription drug misuse and overdose.

Meaningful Use, Stage 3: Request for Comment (Nov. 26, 2012, Federal Register)
This notice announces the HIT Policy Committee's request for comments on its draft recommendations for meaningful use Stage 3.

Just Released: The Role of Telehealth in an Evolving Health Care Environment - Workshop Summary (Nov. 20, 2012, Board on Health Care Services)
Since the 1996 IOM report, Telemedicine: A Guide to Assessing Telecommunications for Health Care, attention to telehealth has continued to grow in both the public and private sectors. Peer-reviewed journals and professional societies are devoted to telehealth, the federal government provides grant funding to promote the use of telehealth, and the private technology industry continues to develop new applications for telehealth. However, barriers remain to the use of telehealth.

Geographic payment adjustments: Medicare’s disputed borders (Nov. 26, 2012, amednews.com)
The map Medicare uses to set physician pay rates based on location could become more nuanced if Congress adopts recommendations for revised localized payments.

NIST director explains the basics of meaningful use (Nov. 21, 2012, EHR Intelligence)
Less than a week ago, five witnesses went before the Subcommittee on Technology and Innovation to answer questions about meaningful use, particularly the progress of promoting interoperability among the EHR systems used by participants in the EHR Incentive Programs.

Baucus pushes for rural priorities in face of 'fiscal cliff' (Nov. 25, 2012, Great Falls Tribune)
As chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Baucus could influence a final deal. He said he will push for priorities such as abolishing the estate tax and protecting rural hospitals.

Healthcare reform: Clock ticking on states to set up exchanges or bow to feds (Nov. 26, 2012, HealthLeaders Media)
Deadlines are looming for states to set up healthcare exchanges mandated by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

UPCOMING EVENTS

National Provider Call: CMS Plans for the Initial Implementation in 2015 of the Physician Value-Based Payment Modifier under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (Nov. 28, 2012 | 3:00 - 4:30 PM ET, CMS)

NRHA's Rural Multiracial and Multicultural Health Conference (Dec. 4 - 6, 2012, Asheville, NC, NRHA)

Methodology for Designation of Frontier and Remote Areas (Dec. 10, 2012 | 3:30 - 5:00 PM CST, NRHA, NCFC, NOSORH)

Telecommunications and Internet Funding for Rural Health Care Providers: Rural Health Care Program Application Process (Dec. 12, 2012, Arizona Center for Rural Health)

9th Annual 340B Coalition Winter Conference (Jan. 23 - 25, 2013, San Francisco, CA, The 340B Coalition)

 

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