NCHN Reminders

Save the Date: The 2015 NCHN Leadership Summit will be January 19-20, 2015 in Clearwater Beach, Florida. More details will be coming via email this week.

Celebrate the Power of Rural with your Success Stories: To celebrate National Rural Health Day, NCHN will be compiling your stories and sharing them on November 20th. Submit your network's program/project/story to Celebrate the Power of Rural.

Leadership Corner

Communicating Power
by Jo Anne Preston, RWHC
People are weird about power, often quite uncomfortable with it. Many people I know will say, “I just don’t think I am that powerful.” While humility is a fine quality, you are probably wrong. One of those qualities that leaders don’t self-assess very accurately, it is likely that you have more power than you think you do, but you also may not be taking full advantage of it to make things happen.

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NCHN Calendar

Executive Committee Call
October 14 @ 4:00 PM ET

Member Orientation Calls (Rescheduled)
October 17, 2014 @ 10:00 AM ET
October 23, 2014 @ 1:00 PM ET

Membership Task Force Call
October 21 @ 11:00 AM ET

VIEW THE NCHN CALENDAR

NCHN News

Member Orientation Calls
NCHN will be holding a Member Orientation Call on October 17th at 10:00 AM ET. The Orientation Session will provide an overview of the programs and services of NCHN and review the benefits of your membership. To register and receive call information and materials, please email Christy.

NCHN Quarterly Information Call: Recording Available
A recording of the September 15th call, Tips & Tricks for Smooth Board Meetings & Organizational Operations with Heman A. Marshall, III, JD,is available. Contact Christy to get the recording.

Member News

HCC of Rural Missouri's newsletter is online

RWHC's Tim Size: Speak Your Piece: Healthcare's Future

RWHC's Eye on Health (October 2014) is online

Sunflower Health Network Celebrates 20th Anniversary (pdf)

Texas Organization of Rural & Community Hospitals (TORCH) hosting 10th Annual Rural Hospital Information Technology Conference & Exhibition

Associate Member News

National Rural Health Resource Center: Flex Program Workshop (10/14 - 10/16)

Partner News

Still time to order: HCAHPS Breakthrough Webinar Series started September 9th. Archived recording available. (Contact Christy to order)

NOSORH's October 2014 issue of The Branch is online

Partners and SORHs Gearing Up For National Rural Health Day

Funding Announcements

Rural Health Care Services Outreach Grant Program
ORHP is pleased to announce a unique three-year funding opportunity for a community-driven program targeted to improve outreach and services delivery in local and regional rural communities. The Rural Health Care Services Outreach grant program is a 3-year grant program through which eligible applicants can request up to $200,000/year for projects that expand health services in order to meet their rural community’s need. ( Deadline: November 14, 2014)

There will be a technical assistance webinar on Wednesday, September 24, 2014 from 1:00-2:30pm EDT to assist applicants in preparing their applications
» MORE INFO

FCC Rural Broadband Experiments
On July 11, 2014, the Commission adopted a $100 million budget for the rural broadband experiments and established an objective methodology for selecting projects among formal applications, which will be due 90 days after release of the order (due date: October 14, 2014)

» MORE INFO
RELATED LINK: Rural Assembly FCC Broadband Webinar Recording

USDA Requests Applications for Rural Child Poverty Nutrition Center » MORE INFO

National Headlines

HHS: $22.1 Million to Improve Access to Health Care in Rural Areas » READ

VA and ORH Adopt New System to Define “Rural” » READ

The Wild Wild West of Community and Rural Health: Hospitals that Attend to the Nation's Underserved are Achieving New Levels of Innovation » READ

Country Doctor of the Year: Nominations due October 15, 2014 » VIEW

Fourth annual National Rural Health Day set to take place on Nov. 20 » READ

AHRQ: View state snapshots and explore the quality of your State's health care or compare it with national rates or data from best-performing States » VIEW

Integrating Mental Health and Primary Care » READ

The Physician Payments Sunshine Act » READ

Emergency Department Patient Experience of Care Survey: Development and Field Test » READ

When the tiny hospital can't survive: Free-standing EDs with primary care seen as new rural model » READ

Many Rural Hospitals Are Excluded From Government's Push For Better Quality » READ

More critical-access hospital closings likely » READ

American Sentinel University Announces Education Partnership with National Rural Health Association » READ

When A Hospital Closes » READ

100 percent of graduating family medicine residents at Marshall University will practice in Appalachian communities » READ

Sometimes Signs Make All the Difference in Emergency Response » READ

A Guide To Medicare’s Readmissions Penalties And Data » READ

CDC: The Facts about Ebola » READ

ACA News

Expanding Medicaid Increases Rural Health Care Access and Use » READ

Four takeaways on the recent ACO results » READ

Obamacare Hasn’t Saved Our Rural Clinic » READ

HHS: Obamacare coverage is reducing hospitals’ unpaid bills » READ

Obamacare's First Year: How'd It Go? » READ

Geographic Variation in Plan Uptake in the Federally Facilitated Marketplace » READ

The Role of Hospitals in Medical Home Initiatives and Strategies to Secure their Support and Participation » READ

HIT News

Improving Access to Health Care (Information): How You Can Help » READ

As Meaningful Use Reporting Deadline Approaches, CMS Announces Hardship Exception Figures » READ

Federal HIT Strategic Plan to Look Beyond Meaningful Use » READ

HealthIT.gov Updated: Information Technology in Health Care: The Next Consumer Revolution » READ

Hospital blames EHR workflow in Ebola case » READ

Billions in MU Penalties Start Hitting in 2015 » READ

Reports: Will Digital Health Transform U.S. Health Care? » READ

Health IT Survey Compendium Updated » READ

Upcoming Events

Keeping the Patient and Family in a Patient-Centered Medical Home Transformation
October 7, 2014 | 4:00 - 5:00 PM ET
(Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative)

ORHP Office Hours
October 8, 2014 | 3:00 - 4:00 PM ET
Sept. 24 (Recording available)
(HRSA-ORHP)

Marketplace 101
October 8, 2014 | 2:00 - 3:00 PM ET
(CMS)

Hospital Compare Star Ratings: Overview of HCAHPS Star Ratings
October 8, 2014 | 1:30 - 3:00 PM ET
(MLN Connects)

Marketplace: Successful Recipes to Reach Rural Communities
October 8, 2014 @ 4:00 PM ET
(Enroll America)

Identifying Value in Multi-Payer Payment Reform: The Nuts and Bolts of Quality Measurement
October 16, 2014 | 12:00 - 1:30 PM ET
(National Academy for State Health Policy)

Federal Laws and Regulations That Hospital Leaders Must Know: Ensuring Compliance
October 21, 2014 | 12:00 - 1:30 PM CT (webinar, registration fee)
(Nebraska Hospital Association)

340B Audit Readiness Webinar Series: Confirming and Documenting Eligibility
October 22, 2014 | 2:00 - 3:00 PM ET
(HRSA)

National Rural Health Day
November 20, 2014
(NOSORH)

HIMSS Meaningful Use Regional Event Series
5:00 PM - 9:00 PM ET
December 11, 2014 | Cleveland, OH
January 29, 2015 | Orlando, FL