NCHN NEWS

MEMBER BLURBS

PARTNER BLURBS

UPCOMING EVENTS

NATIONAL NEWS

FUNDING

New NCHN Office Phone Number

The NCHN office phone number has changed to 970-712-0732.Complete contact information is below.

NCHN
624 South 1st Street
Montrose, CO 81401
Phone: 970-712-0732
Fax: 970-417-4186

» TOP

from riddles.com

What is once in a minute, twice in a moment, and never in a thousand years?

» VIEW THE ANSWER

Upcoming NCHN Calls & Events

2012 Conference Planning Committee Call
Monday, February 6 @ 2:00 PM ET
Monday, February 20 @ 2:00 PM ET

Coffee Chat with Dr. Mary Kay Chess
Wednesday, February 15 @ 11:00 AM ET

Program Development Committee Call
Tuesday, February 21 @ 1:00 PM ET

Executive Committee Call
Monday, February 27 @ 2:00 PM ET

NCHN Transformer Leadership Learning Community Session
Friday, March 16 @ 11:00 AM ET

» VIEW THE NCHN CALENDAR

» TOP

Spectrum Health Targets ED Frequent Fliers for Primary Care
by John Commins

January 17, 2012 (HealthLeaders Media) - A new program at Spectrum Health in Grand Rapids, MI is identifying "frequent fliers" at the system's emergency departments and placing those patients with a multi-specialist intervention team.

The program, while only six weeks old, has steered more than 140 patients to the less-expensive coordinated care program and has saved the health system a net total of about $300,000.

» CONTINUE READING

» SUBMIT YOUR NEWS

» TOP

NRHA: White House outlines progress, plans
by Lindsey Corey

January 18, 2012 (Rural Health Voices) - It’s been six months since the White House announced its new Rural Council.

We know health care impacts everything from a community’s life expectancy to its economy, but we didn’t know how the new council planned to impact rural health across America.

So the National Rural Health Association’s  Rural Roads magazine asked Doug McKalip, White House senior policy advisor for rural affairs, to fill us in on the council’s plans.

» CONTINUE READING

» TOP

In case you missed it: HRSA's Grants Process webinars are available online

HRSA's December and January webinars covering the grant submission process are viewable online. Posted are the following:

• Navigating and Preparing a HRSA Application: Responsing to a Funding Opportunity Announcement
• Tips for Writing and Submitting Good Grant Proposals
• HRSA's Objective Review Process
• HRSA's Grants Process: Pre-Award, Award Post-Award, and Grant Closeout
• HRSA Objective Reviewer Training: Roles and Responsibilities

» MORE INFORMATION

Webinar: Meaningful Use and Medical Home Alignment
National Association of Community Health Centers

Webinar: Tuesday, January 24, 2012 | 2:00 - 3:00 PM

During this session, participants will explore the overlap between both sets of standards and learn how to exploit the alignment to derive the maximum benefit; two outcomes for one effort.  Benefits are viewed as not only achieving recognition and attestation but also as turning these two projects into sustainable practice programs. The core MU standards will be compared and contrasted with their PCMH counterparts as a way to understand their similarities and differences, and as a way to approach compliance, and documentation as well as redesign requirements.  The presentation relies heavily on real world examples, sample documentation, illustrative problems, simulations, scenarios and quiz styled questions developed to reinforce the content while providing a more interactive learning experience in a webinar setting. The session also includes practice focused discussion of best practices for achieving both PCMH and MU in their clinics and organizations.

» MORE INFORMATION

ACO Webinar
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Chicago Regional Office

When: January 31, 2012
Time: 6-7pm CST

You are invited to participate in a webinar hosted by the CMS-Chicago Regional Office about the Medicare Shared Savings ACO Program.

Presenter: Dr. Derek Robinson, Chief Medical Officer

» REGISTER

NRHA Rural Health Policy Institute

January 30 - February 1, 2012
Washington, D.C.

Join NRHA for the largest rural advocacy event in the country. Learn firsthand about the development and implementation of health care policy at the federal level and meet with your members.

» MORE INFORMATION

Wipfli Rural Health Clinic and Critical Access Hospital Conference

January 31 - February 2, 2012
Bloomington, MN

The 12th Annual Rural Health Clinic Forum and Critical Access Hospital Conference are again being held together, giving you the chance to attend one or both! This event is designed to help organizations like yours succeed through quality education and the opportunity to communicate directly with regulators and existing RHCs and CAHs.

» MORE INFORMATION

HRSA Health IT & Quality Webinar

Tips for Preventing Scope Creep and Cost Over Runs When Implementing a Health IT System

Friday, February 17 @ 2:00 PM ET

» REGISTER

» TOP

Rural Community Health Needs Assessment Tool Kit Available
The National Center for Rural Health Works has released its rural hospital Community Health Needs Assessment template

January 2012 (ruralhealthworks.org) - With the passing of the “2010 Affordable Care Act,” all 501(c)(3) hospitals (not-for-profit or non-profit hospitals) must conduct a community health needs assessment process to meet the U.S. Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules. The “NEW” process is a more streamlined process, referred to as the Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) template. The CHNA template was developed over the last year by the National Center for Rural Health Works.

The CHNA template will enable hospitals to conduct the process themselves or allow other organizations to facilitate the process for the hospitals. The CHNA template includes the documents for each product in their original formats, i.e., Microsoft Word, Excel, and/or Powerpoint, in order for the documents to be easily utilized and replicated.

» CONTINUE READING/ACCESS THE TEMPLATE

ERS State Fact Sheets Updated

January 18, 2012 (USDA ERS E-Mail Updates) - The ERS State Fact Sheets provide information on population, income, poverty, food security, education, employment, federal funds, organic agriculture, farm characteristics, farm financial indicators, top commodities, and exports, for each State in the United States. Links to county-level data are included when available. The State Fact Sheets have been updated with 2006-10 education data from the American Community Survey.

» VIEW STATE FACT SHEETS

Oregon is National Leader in Electronic Health Record Adoption

January 18, 2012 (PR Newswire) - In a state where technology is dominant - Oregon health care providers are rapidly adopting EHRs and advancing both state and national health reform initiatives. In December of 2011, OCHIN O-HITEC reported that they'd surpassed the goal of their 2009 federal grant award by signing on more than 2700 Oregon primary care providers to receive help selecting, implementing and effectively using EHR technology to improve patient care and reduce costs. This ranks O-HITEC in the top 10 out of 62 regional extension centers in the nation.

» CONTINUE READING

An Executive Director’s Guide to Financial Leadership
by Kate Barr and Jeanne Bell

December 25, 2011 (The Nonprofit Quarterly) - There is an important distinction between financial management and financial leadership. Financial management is the collecting of financial data, production of financial reports, and solution of near-term financial issues. Financial leadership, on the other hand, is guiding a nonprofit organization to sustainability. This is the job of an executive director. He or she is responsible for developing and maintaining a business model that produces exceptional mission impact and sustained financial health. To do that successfully, the executive director has to be ever mindful of essential nonprofit business concepts and realities. The following is a guide to this way of thinking for an executive—a summary of what we see as the eight key business principles that should guide financial leadership practice.

» CONTINUE READING

Inside a Critical Access Hospital's IT Decision-Making Process
by Alexandra Wilson Pecci

January 19, 2012 (HealthLeaders Media) - Steven L. Kelley, president and CEO of Ellenville Regional Hospital in Ellenville, NY, admits that he's a bit "fanatical" when it comes to efficiency. To show just how efficient things are at Ellenville, Kelley offered this little fact: In 2011, the average length of stay in the 25-bed, rural critical access hospital's ED was 93 minutes.

» CONTINUE READING

» TOP

Northwest Regional Telehealth Resource Center Special Projects Grants

Purpose: The NRTRC is an organization that supports growth in telemedicine and telehealth through the sharing of information, leveraging a community of experience and expertise, and collaborative activities that benefit communities served through increased access to healthcare delivered through telehealth. Projects selected will be requested to share tools developed and information and lessons learned with NRTRC membership.

Applications are due by February 3, 2012.

» MORE INFORMATION

State Implementation Grants for Systems of Services for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs (CYSHCN)
HRSA

Purpose: This grant program improves access to a quality, comprehensive, coordinated community-based systems of services for CYSHCN and their families that is family-centered and culturally competent. This grant program improves access to a quality, comprehensive, coordinated community-based system of services for CYSHCN and their families that is family-centered and culturally competent.

The initiative supports grants to assist State Title V Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) programs, family organizations, providers, and other partners to implement the six core outcomes of a system of services based on evidence based practices for CYSHCN.

Applications are due by March 1, 2012.

» MORE INFORMATION

» TOP