Email not displaying correctly? Click here to display this email in your web browser.

NCHN enews
NCHN E-News | Issue 1 | December 22, 2008
In This Issue...
+ Update from the Board of Directors
+ Spotlight on NCHN Business Partner
+ Members News
+ Upcoming NCHN Events
+ An Update on The Conference
+ Member Success Story
+ Elsewhere in the News
In appreciation of your association with NCHN...
the NCHN Board of Directors and staff extend our Best Wishes for a happy Holiday Season and a successful 2009!   We look forward to continuing our relationship in the New Year.
Update from the Board of Directors
During 2009, NCHN will be implementing a monthly e-News! We are looking for success stories from our members, network news, Business Partners updates and other information that would be of interest to health networks across the nation.  The first issue will be distributed around January 15.  Please make a commitment now to submit an article or news item for NCHN e-News!

*******

NCHN Executive Coaching Program --- During 2008, NCHN implemented an Executive Coaching Program. We currently have five “coachees” being coached by NCHN members. Watch the January issue for more information and to sign up to be a coach or a coachee. 

--top--

Spotlight on NCHN Business Partner
NCHN would like to thank our Business Partners for their support and commitment to the membership during 2008. We encourage all NCHN members to look at their services and/or products and contact the Business Partner for additional information or to begin a business relationship.

  • Gold Level Partners
    • Fukuda Denshi
    • PolicyTech
    • Thermo Fisher Scientific
  • Silver Level Partners
    • LoneStart Wellness
    • Wipfli
  • Partners
    • CareerStaff Unlimited
    • Hylant Group
    • MedAssets
    • Tillinghast-Towers Perrin
  • Member Business Partners
    • Healthcare Management

All Business Partners can be accessed on the NCHN website at http://www.nchn.org/members.php?type=1

--top--

Members News
NCHN Welcomes two new Members!

Lakelands Rural Health Network, located in Greenwood, SC recently joined NCHN.  Dawn Wichmann is the Executive Director and contact for NCHN activities. The network was organized in 2004. Its mission is to develop a collaborative, economically viable health network to improve the quality of care in their service area, with the purpose of improving the health status of the Lakelands area. 

The network has the following program objectives:

  • To increase the percentage of the Lakelands population, age 65 and older, who have been immunized to prevent pneumonia to the Healthy People 2010 goal of 90% - Pneumonia Awareness Campaign.
  • To implement patient education, control, and continuity of care for diabetes – I Can Control Diabetes.
  • To promote early cancer detection and prevention, Screening Saves Lives, an educational campaign targeting colon, rectum, and prostate cancer.
  • To develop a regional collaborative for technology development and health information exchange (HIE)
  • To expand utilization of electronic health records (EHR) among primary care providers.

The network has 15 members located in its geographic area, which includes Abbeville, Edgefield, Greenwood, McCormick and Saluda counties.

North East Oregon Network, located in La Grande, Oregon also recently jointed NCHN. Miriam Lederer is the Regional Coordinator and contact for NCHN activities. The network was organized in 2003 and focuses on meeting the diverse health needs of rural communities in Baker, Union, and Wallowa counties. The Network’s 64  members include representatives from the areas of primary care, long-term care, public health, mental health, and alcohol and drug services.

Program strategies include:

  • integrating expertise and efforts
  • expanding resources
  • grant writing
  • advocacy
  • joint planning
  • community education

--top--

Upcoming NCHN Events
NCHN’s 15th Annual Conference --- Hold these dates! Mark your calendar! Plan to attend the 15th Annual NCHN Conference, April 20-22, 2009 in Charleston, SC. Tom Morris, Associate Administrator for the HRSA - Office of Rural Health Policy is the confirmed speaker for the Opening Session. The Conference agenda and registration materials will be available in the January issue.

*******

Change is coming to Washington. You need to be there too!  NCHN has partnered with the National Rural Health Association on their upcoming annual Policy Institute to be held January 26-28, 2009 in Washington, DC. NRHA and Partners Policy Institute provides you with an opportunity to participate in the policy-making process with access to:

  • Members of Congress
  • Members of the Administration
  • Key public health officials
  • Nationally known health care experts

For more information or to register, visit www.RuralHealthWeb.org/pi

Registration is also available by calling 816-756-3140 x 10

Institute rates are:
$495 Early Registration - before January 9
$595 Advance Registration - January 10 - 23
$645 - On-site Registration

One person can make a difference. Discover how to advocate for change in rural health care --- attend the NRHA’s  “Advocacy 101 Pre-conference Workshop” -- on January 25 from 3:00 - 4:30 PM ET.  Registration fee is $25. For more information on the Policy Institute or the pre-conference workshop, please contact NRHA at 816-756-3140.  See you in DC! 

*******

Crucial Conversations® -- will be offered as a post-conference workshop in Charleston, SC on April 23-24, at the conclusion of the NCHN 15th Annual Conference. Tina Sundly, Health Care Strategic Alignment Manger, with Wipfli, LLC, one of NCHN’s Business Partners, has agreed to offer the workshop.  This is an intensive two-day workshop, starting at 8:00 AM and ending at 5:00 PM each of the two days. Total instruction time is 16 hours.

The registration fee will be $895 and will include two continental breakfasts, two lunches, beverage breaks; along with all training materials - book, tool kit, CD series and on-line follow-up. Participants are responsible for their own lodging and transportation. The workshop will be offered at the Francis Marion, the NCHN Conference Hotel. Registration materials will be available in January, 2009.

For more information about Crucial Conversations®  and how the American Association of Critical Care Nurses are embracing the Crucial Conversations®  philosophy in their health environments initiative, please visit the following link http://www.aacn.org/AACN/hwe.nsf/vwdoc/HWEHomePage   In addition, here’s a link to VitalSmarts Web site (they authored the book Crucial Conversations®) www.vitalsmarts.com  

--top--

Member Success
NCHN will be collecting “Network Success Stories” during 2009 for posting on both NCHN”s website and the Rural Assistance Center (RAC) website.  Please plan to submit a success story in January or February for inclusion in the NCHN 2009 Success Story Report. To access 2007 and 2008 success stories, click here.

--top--

Elsewhere in the News
IRS Announces 2009 Standard Mileage Rates --- On November. 24, 2008, the Internal Revenue Service issued the 2009 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2009, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

55 cents per mile for business miles driven
24 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes
14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations

--top--

National Cooperative of Health Networks Association
400 S. Main Street, Hardinsburg, Kentucky 40143
270-925-5611 info@nchn.org
To unsubscribe from the NCHN e-news, send a reply to this email with the subject "Unsubscribe."

Copyright © National Cooperative of Health Networks, 2008
Design by Christy Sullenberger