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NCHN eNews
May 31, 2011
Dear NCHN Members and Friends,

This is the latest issue of the NCHN e-News.

This issue includes information on the next quarterly membership call and a sample entry for the newly developed Membership Directory. If you have not sent your network description and photo of your NCHN contact, please email them to csullenberger@nchn.org

Please note that I will be out of the office and on vacation this week and will return on Tuesday, June 7th, so you will receive the next weekly on the afternoon of the 7th.

We hope you enjoy this issue and, as always, if you have information you would like to share, or have any feedback, please email us.

Christy

NCHN NEWS

MEMBER BLURBS

UPCOMING EVENTS

NATIONAL NEWS

FUNDING

NCHN NEWS  

Membership Directory

We sent emails to each member network requesting a photo of you (our primary NCHN contact) and a paragraph or two describing your network. For the directory to be useful for you, we need to include information for all networks, not only a few.

If you are looking for ideas, here is a sample:

Network Information
Health Care Coalition of Lafayette County
811 D Highway 13
Lexington, MO  64067

Web Address: hccnetwork.org

Toniann RichardNCHN Contact
Ms. Toniann Richard
Executive Director
Ph: 660-259-9019
Fax: 660-259-9019
Email: toniann@hccnetwork.org

Network Description
The HCC has a mission of securing comprehensive health services across the continuum of care and utilizes a systems of care, community-based planning model.   The initial focus of the Network was on establishing a collaborative approach to identifying and addressing the health care and social service needs of Lafayette County residents.  Within the last two years, however, the HCC has gradually been broadening its scope of work to include neighboring counties, specifically in the areas of health insurance, HIT and telemedicine.

» SUBMIT YOUR NETWORK DESCRIPTION AND PHOTO

Quarterly Membership Call

“Is it a Bull You Need to Consider Riding? – ‘Accountable Care Organizations’ --- The latest since Scottsdale!”

Monday, June 13 at 12:30 – 1:30 PM ET

Heman A. Marshall, III, Principal, Woods Rogers, PLC, Roanoke, Virginia, will provide a follow-up to his presentation in Scottsdale on the Affordable Care Act’s provision related to the formation of Accountable Care Organizations. Mr. Marshall will lead a discussion with network leaders regarding the latest information about this proposed program that will assist them in their role of providing the latest and most up to-date information to their members.

There is no charge for the call, but registration is required. Please email Debbie at dcomeau@synernet.net if you plan to be on the call. You will receive instructions via email. Please feel free to share this information with your network members. If they would like to participate they need to pre-register with Debbie.

» Register via email

Featured Partner

IPI Logo
Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative is a Member Partner
» FIND OUT MORE

From the Forum

NCHN Members: Register to access Coffee/Tea Chats with Mark Kay Chess
» REGISTER


From braingle.com

There was once a college that offered a class on probability applied to the real world.

The class was relatively easy, but there was a catch. There were no homework assignments or tests, but there was a final exam that would have only one question on it.

When everyone received the test it was a blank sheet of paper with a solitary question on it: "What is risk?"

Most students were able to pass, but only one student received 100% for the class! Even stranger was that he only wrote down one word!

What did he write?

» VIEW ANSWER

» TOP

FEATURED PARTNER  

Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative

Infant Parent Institute

RWHC (Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative) is owned by 35 rural, general medical surgical hospitals in Wisconsin. Since 1979, RWHC has been providing affordable and effective services to rural health entities. Let us put our experience to work for your members today!

RWHC offers professional, educational, and technology services, as well as quality programs.

Contact:
Dave Johnson
Ph: 608-644-3227
880 Independence Lane, Sauk City, IW 53585
Email: djohnson@rwhc.com
Web: www.rwhc.com

» TOP

MEMBER BLURBS  

Dean of VCOM Meets with Coal Coalition

May 25, 2011 - Dr. Dixie Tooke-Rawlins, Dean and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM), was the invited keynote speaker at the recent meeting of the Eastern Coal Council in Kingsport Tennessee.  Dr. Tooke-Rawlins spoke about how to build healthy coal mining communities in the region.    Specifically, Tooke-Rawlins emphasized way to improve and promote health in the coal mining communities through Appalachia.    Since its inception in 2002, VCOM's mission has been to educate community-focused  physicians to serve the rural and medically underserved populations of the Appalachian region.  

» VCOM WEB SITE

» TOP

UPCOMING EVENTS  

NRHA: Quality and Clinical Conference

July 20 - 22, 2011
Rapid City, SD

The Quality and Clinical Conference is an interactive conference for quality improvement coordinators, performance improvement coordinators, rural clinicians, quality improvement organizations, and nurses practicing on the front lines of rural health care.

» MORE INFORMATION

HIT Policy Committee Advisory Meeting; Notice of Meeting

June 8, 2011 @ 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM ET
Renaissance Dupont Circle Hotel,
1143 New Hampshire Ave., NW.
Washington, DC.

This notice announces a forthcoming meeting of a public advisory committee of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). The meeting will be open to the public.

General Function of the Committee: To provide recommendations to the National Coordinator on a policy framework for the development and adoption of a nationwide health information technology infrastructure that permits the electronic exchange and use of health information as is consistent with the Federal Health IT Strategic Plan and that includes recommendations on the areas in which standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria are needed.

» MORE INFORMATION

2011 National Rural Assembly

June 28 - 30, 2011
St. Paul, MN

Join the National Rural Assembly in St. Paul, Minnesota, on June 28-30 for a jam-packed agenda that addresses the most critical issues affecting rural communities today. Register today at www.2011gathering.org.

Is your organization sorting through the Affordable Care Act? Following broadband discussions? Developing a climate change plan? Or encouraging entrepreneurship and wealth creation in your small town? Rural leaders from across the country will come together over a two-day period to discuss these issues and more.

A series of work sessions will provide participants with the opportunity to go deep and build a set of recommendations that will then be carried forward to policymakers by the Rural Assembly in the coming year. Sessions will offer collaboration around topics such as housing, energy and natural resources, tribal issues, philanthropy, immigration, the farm bill, youth policy and rural education grants, Social Security, and green jobs. Participants will also hear from key rural leaders and policymakers with insight into the status of rural America in the national policy scene.

The objectives for this gathering include developing a common language and tools for participants to use in framing rural issues powerfully in a national context. Our collective voice can carry the common message that rural America offers innovative solutions for some of the nation's greatest challenges.

» GET MORE INFORMATION

HRSA Health IT & Quality Webinar

Tips on Using Health IT Within A Patient Centered Medical Home For The Safety Net Community

June 24, 2011 @ 2:00 PM EST
Webinar - Registration Required

» REGISTER

» TOP

NATIONAL NEWS  

Medicare ACO options added after criticism

May 30, 2011 (amednews.com) - The Medicare agency unveils a shared savings pathway for early adopters and weighs startup funding for practices and hospitals.

The Obama administration has offered new options for Medicare accountable care organizations to entice wary physicians and other health care professionals to participate in the shared savings concept.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation on May 17 unveiled a pioneer ACO model for doctors and hospitals that are deemed ready to start coordinating their Medicare patients' care as soon as October instead of waiting until January 2012.

» CONTINUE READING

ORHP Announces New Rural Network Planning Awards (FY 2011)

May 27, 2011 - ORHP is pleased to announce 15 new Network Planning awards in FY 2011. This one-year rant program provides funding to rural entities to plan and develop a formal health care network. Network Planning grantees use funds to lay the foundation of a rural health network by and can also focus on conducting a community needs assessments, HIT readiness assessment or an Economic Impact Analysis. ORHP plans to hold the next competition in FY 2012.

» VIEW THE LIST OF NEW GRANTEES

ORHP Announces New Network Development Awards (FY 2011)

May 27, 2011 - ORHP is pleased to announce 20 new Network Development Awards in FY 2011. The purpose of the Network Development program is to expand access to, coordinate and improve the quality of essential health care services, and enhance the delivery of health care in rural areas. The ultimate goal is to strengthen the rural health care delivery system by 1) improving the viability of the individual providers in the network, and/or 2) improving the delivery of care to people served by the network. ORHP plans to hold the next competition in FY 2014.

» VIEW THE LIST OF NEW GRANTEES

Statement from HHS Deputy Secretary Bill Corr on retrospective review of existing rules

May 26, 2011 (HHS News Release) - Earlier this year, President Obama outlined his plan to create a 21st-century regulatory system that is simpler and smarter and that protects the health and safety of the American people in a pragmatic and cost-effective way.  He called for a change in culture to incorporate ongoing review of regulations into our operations. We can target rules already on the books to increase flexibility and remove regulations that are out-of-date, unnecessary, excessively burdensome, or in conflict with other rules.

Today, the Department of Health and Human Services released its Preliminary Plan for Retrospective Review of Existing Rules based on a comprehensive inventory of each agency’s existing, significant regulations. The Plan highlights regulations already being modified or streamlined and identifies additional candidates for further review.

 » CONTINUE READING

Tar Heel Of The Week: Tom Ricketts

May 29, 2011 (newsobserver.com) - Tom Ricketts has always had a pickup truck. He lives on a dirt road, gets his water from a well and doesn't have cable TV. Yet despite his "rural credentials," the University of North Carolina professor is as worldly as they come.

Whether he is biking across the state, visiting rural community clinics or teaching his students in Chapel Hill and France, the locally, nationally and internationally engaged scholar is a leading force in the field of health care workforce research and an inspiration for those who know him.

In rural and medically underserved areas in North Carolina, Ricketts, 62, works on tracking where doctors and nurses are located, who is going to the hospital, why they are going and how much their care is costing. "In health care, there is a lot of 'Gee, I believe' and 'Gee, I wish,'" says Ricketts, "but we have to face up to what really is happening."

» CONTINUE READING

» TOP

FUNDING  

There are no new funding announcements this week. However, remember that you can always visit the RAC web site or use GrantStation (if you are a subscriber) to search funding opportunities. Both sites have excellent listings.

Please send us any announcements you would like to share witht he NCHN membership.

» TOP

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