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NCHN eNews
May 10, 2011
Dear NCHN Members and Friends,

Welcome to the latest issue of the NCHN Weekly Digest. This week, we have an article about NRHA's Annual Conference (held last week in Texas), a link to AHRQ's report on HIT's impact on medication management, and a final reminder for those of you who will be submitting a proposal for HRSA's Rural HIT Grant Program.

It has been a quiet week as far as member news goes, so please send us news about your network. We know you are up to good things! If you have information you would like to share, or have any feedback, please email us.

NCHN NEWS

MEMBER BLURBS

UPCOMING EVENTS

NATIONAL NEWS

FUNDING

NCHN NEWS  

Membership Directory

We recently sent emails to each member network requesting a photo of you (our primary NCHN contact) and a paragraph or two describing your network. Please send these as soon as you can. We are excited to get the directory out to you! We hope it will enhance your connections and help you know who might have information that can help your network.

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

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From the Forum

There are no new Topics posted this week. Have a question for the members?
» POST A NEW TOPIC

From rinkworks.com

What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?

» VIEW THE ANSWER

MEMBER BLURBS  

No new member news this week! If you have network news, send it to csullenberger@nchn.org for inclusion in the next newsletter.

We have, however, gotten word that a few of our members received HRSA Network Development Grants. Hopefully, we will have more on this next week!

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UPCOMING EVENTS  

Technical Assistance Call for Rural Health Information Technology (HIT) Grant Program

Tuesday, May 10, 2011 @ 2:00 ET

There will be a technical assistance call for the Rural HIT Grant Program funding announcement which will be held May 10th at 2pm eastern. The toll-free number to call in is 1-888 -577-8992.  The Passcode is HIT.   For your reference, the Technical Assistance call will be recorded and available for playback within one hour of the end of the call and will be available until June 10, 2011 11:59 PM (ET). The phone number to hear the recorded call is: 1-866-420-5718.

For questions on this funding opportunity, please contact the program coordinator, Marcia Green at 301-443-3261 or mgreen@hrsa.gov

Premier Healthcare Alliance Experts Address Reform, ACOs and HIT in May

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Experts from the Premier healthcare alliance will address pressing issues such as health reform, accountable care organizations (ACOs) and healthcare information technology (HIT) around the country in May.

On May 23, Premier President and CEO Susan DeVore will be an opening keynote at The World Congress 2nd Annual Leadership ACO Summit in Vienna, Va. She will address how hospitals and other providers can integrate quality, patient safety, cost, and information technology into a single improvement agenda. By leveraging data and collaborative strategies that link payment to clinical quality and patient outcomes, hospitals can achieve high quality care at the lowest possible cost with greater accountability.

» MORE INFORMATION

Place and Health: Why Conditions Where We Live, Learn, Work and Play Matter (Webinar)

Hosted by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

May 11, 2011
12:30 - 2:00 PM ET

On May 11, 2001, from 12:30 p.m. – 2 p.m. ET, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Vulnerable Populations Portfolio will host a roundtable discussion among experts in the fields of housing and neighborhoods, violence prevention, and the growing use of health impact assessments to determine the health implications of community development and other programs and policies. This webinar is the third in a series to examine the non-medical factors that shape health.

» MORE INFORMATION

Other Events

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NATIONAL NEWS  

HRSA Network Development Program Grantees

A list of the new HRSA's Network Development Program Grantees is available on HRSA's web site.

To access the list:

1. Go to http://www.hrsa.gov/ruralhealth/about/community/networkprogram.html
2. Click the button that says "Go"

Congratulations to the NCHN Members who received awards!

» Get the List

NRHA’s Meeting Brings Hope for Rural Health

May 7, 2011 (topnews.us) - Most of the experts have been of the belief that rural health is enjoying a very limited role in healthcare reform but at the same time the National Rural Health Association's annual meeting in Austin, Texas, came up with a couple of decisions which can bring hope for several people.

Rural Health Policy is considered to be a crucial part of HHS Health Resources and Services Administration and Tom Morris, Associate Administrator for rural health policy and head of the Office of Rural Health Policy, believes that the main source of hope would be the current administration which has put leadership in place that is giving rural health more attention than previously given.

» CONTINUE READING

AHRQ Report Examines Health IT's Impact on Medication Management

Enabling Medication Management with Health Information Technology, a new evidence report from AHRQ, examines the impact – clinical, economic, and effectiveness -- of health information technology (HIT) applications on medication management.  The review, conducted by McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, of more than 400 studies found that health IT-enabled applications, especially clinical decision support and computerized physician order entry systems, show evidence of improved care processes.  However, the review also showed that few studies examined economic or clinical outcomes, and mixed findings about clinician effectiveness and cost-effectiveness were found when these topics were examined.

» GET THE REPORT

Community Health Centers To 'Turn The Promise Of Coverage' Into Better Care—The KHN Interview

May 4, 2011 (Kaiser Health News) - The role of community health centers, which serve about 23 million people, is expected to grow as part of the national health care overhaul. A recent report by the National Association of Community Health Centers found that the nation's 8,000 centers provide one-quarter of all primary-care visits for low-income people and saves the health care system $24 billion a year. Such low-cost primary care will be critical as more people receive coverage for the first time under reform and centers prepare to serve 40 million patients by 2015.

That need led to a big increase in federal funding over the past several years. The stimulus bill gave the centers about $2 billion, and the health care overhaul law increased funding by $11 billion over 10 years. Yet, as Congress and the White House looked for ways to trim back the budget this month,they cut $600 million from that funding. And funding from some states, such as California, has dropped dramatically as state officials are forced to cover shortfalls associated with the recession.

» CONTINUE READING

SAMHSA: New Toolkit on Suicide Prevention for Senior Living Communities

Promoting Emotional Health and Preventing Suicide: A Toolkit for Senior Living Communities is now available from SAMHSA. This cutting-edge toolkit equips senior living staff with resources to promote emotional health and prevent suicide among residents. It includes guidelines for integrating suicide prevention into ongoing programs, hands-on tools, and comprehensive training manuals.

» FIND OUT MORE

Majority of U.S. hospitals meet all-hazards preparedness measures

National Hospital Preparedness Program Report highlights state-by-state accomplishments

May 5, 2011 (HHS News Release) - More than 76 percent of hospitals participating in the National Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) met 90 percent or more of all program measures for all-hazards preparedness in 2009, according to a report released today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response.

» CONTINUE READING

Other News Links

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FUNDING  

ORHP: Rural Health Information Technology (HIT) Grant Program

Deadline: May 27, 2011

ORHP is pleased to announce the release of the Rural Health Information Technology (HIT) Grant Program (HRSA-11-137). HIT is critically important for rural communities and while a lot of the early innovation in the use of electronic records and HIT networks was done in rural communities, many challenges still remain. This pilot program was developed as a result of the President’s Rural Health Initiative which identifies HIT as a priority area and the Secretary’s Rural HIT Taskforce.  To address these and other HIT issues, Secretary Sebelius established an HHS Rural HIT task force co-led by HRSA Administrator Dr. Mary Wakefield and the Office of the National Coordinator.  The purpose of the taskforce is to discuss the challenges rural communities face in adopting HIT, ways to address these challenges, and how to coordinate resources from the federal level.  One of the major challenges that the taskforce has identified is access to capital and ORHP anticipates that this program will assist rural communities in addressing this challenge.

Due to the unique broadness and flexibility of the 330a authorization, ORHP had a great opportunity to develop this grant program in response to these initiatives. The rural HIT program was developed out of the Network Development Program legislation (330a authority), keeping the focus on rural networks.

For further questions on this funding opportunity, please contact the program coordinator, Marcia Green at 301-443-3261 or mgreen@hrsa.gov

» FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DETAILS

» APPLY

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