RHC Articles in This Newsletter
• NARHC Pitches RHC Modernization Legislation
• Forums Have Replaced Listserv
• Certified RHC Professional Training (CRHCP)
• Surprising Barrier to Patients Getting Flu Shots
• 2019 NARHC Board of Director Candidates
• TN Moratorium Proposed Regulations Released
• New Medicare Card Progress Updates
• Louisiana Rural Health Assn Conference
• Barriers to Healthcare Access in Rural Comm.
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• CMS Proposes to Lift Unnecessary Regulations
• HRSA Awards Rural to Combat Opioid Crisis
• Rural Workers Get Fewer Benefits to Help With Elder Care
• RHC versus Urgent Care
• Who is Your Business Associate?
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NARHC Pitches RHC Modernization Legislation on Capitol Hill
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Left to right: Nathan Baugh, Kate Hill, Teresa Treiber, Jennifer O’Riley, Patty Harper, Jeff Harper, Angie Charlet, Charles James, Dr. Keith Davis, Bill Finerfrock, John Gill, Amanda Shelast
On September 20th, a small contingent of individuals from across the Rural Health Clinic (RHC) community and country came to Washington D.C. for a series of meetings with Congress on modernizing the RHC statute. This “fly-in” was organized and coordinated by NARHC as part of an effort to build support for legislation that we hope will pass this year or early next year.
Jeff Harper from the RHC consulting firm inQuiseek was one of the attendees. “For NARHC’s first Fly-in,” Jeff tells me, “we were encouraged by the welcome we received from each legislative office. The Hill expressed a real interest in knowing more about RHCs and how they can assist us in providing healthcare to the rural communities we serve and they represent.”
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Forums Have Replaced Listserv
NARHC-NEWS & TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Listserv has been DISCONTINUED. Instead, it has been replaced by the NARHC News Forum and the Technical Assistance Forum.
The NARHC News Forum will operate in much the same way as listserv: Subscribers will receive and post notifications directly into your email. The Technical Assistance Forum will continue to be a one-way only communication tool to subscribers. This is where NARHC staff and the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy staff post announcements about the RHC Technical Assistance webinars or other important information.
In order to subscribe to either Forum, you must have an account on the NARHC website. There is no charge to set up an account and you DO NOT need to be a member of NARHC to create an account. This is being done as a security feature to prevent future spam/hacking attempts.
Many Listserv participants already have a NARHC account because you are a member of NARHC or you engaged in some type of transaction with the Association. If you already have an account, you can skip the “create account” step and just login using the login username and password you have already established with NARHC.
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Mark Your Calendar...
Certified RHC Professional Course
(CRHCP)
ONLINE TRAINING* will prepare you to successfully manage and run an RHC. Learn the latest information on RHC rules, regulations, and laws. Study nights, weekends, or whenever your schedule permits! Course takes approximately 30 hours. No prerequisite! Coursework is broken into 4 modules with video presentations & a series of short knowledge-based tests for each module. This course is designed to give you a well-rounded, ground level knowledge base of the major facets of RHC management.
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- Module 1: Administration & Finance
- Module 2: Billing & Coding
- Module 3: Human Resources
- Module 4: Regulatory Compliance & Quality
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The Surprising Barrier to Patients Getting Their Flu Shots
On the heels of one of the worst flu seasons on record, a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association identified one of the biggest barriers preventing patients from receiving their flu shot: the time of day the patient sees their doctor.
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2019 NARHC Board of Director Candidates
There are 5 candidates for 3 openings on the NARHC Board of Directors. These positions will be voted into office by NARHC Members at the Annual Meeting in Lake Tahoe on Tues., Oct. 23, 2018. Absentee ballots will also be accepted in advance. Only RHC member-types may vote. All primary contacts were emailed Survey Monkey ballots. The top 3 candidates with the most votes will serve 3-year terms: January 1, 2019 — December 31, 2021. The candidates’ biographies follow.
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Tennessee Moratorium Proposed Regulations Released
On September 26, 2018, Tenncare released proposed regulations for RHCs and lifting the moratorium on paying the enhanced reimbursement to new RHCs. The purpose of the moratorium was to allow for the creation of rules by the Division of Tenncare, in consultation with the Comptroller’s office, to address issues concerning the RHC payment methodology.
The new TennCare rules will allow for greater clarity concerning:
1) What constitutes permissible, reasonable cost elements that are includable in the cost report which is basic element of Medicaid RHC payments and
2) What counts as a countable visit for purposes of Medicaid payment
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New Medicare Card Progress Updates
CMS continues to successfully mail newly-designed Medicare cards with the new Medicare number and we are excited to share important progress updates with you.
As of August 31, we mailed nearly 35 million cards and continue to mail more every day. We are processing claims and eligibility requests with the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI), showing that providers are successfully using the new number.
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Louisiana Rural Health Association Conference
Oct. 29 & 30 - Baton Rouge
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Whether you’re from LOUISIANA, or if you are one of our NEIGHBORS, please be our guest at the Louisiana Rural Health Association Conference to be held October 29th and 30th in Baton Rouge!
If you are in Rural Health, we have a great conference for you! Topics include Policy and Regulatory Updates from Inside the Beltway (NRHA Government Affairs Communications Coordinator Jessica Seigel), Integration of Care for Improved Outcomes, Chronic Care Management and Novitas Updates, Best Practices in Infection Prevention from a Surveyor’s Perspective, “If We Keep Hem Hawing around, the Big Boys are going to get Our Cheese,” and Improving Rural Health Through School-Based Telehealth Model Innovation!!
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Barriers to Healthcare Access in Rural Communities
Access to healthcare services is critical to good health, yet rural residents face a variety of access barriers. A 1993 National Academies report, Access to Healthcare in America, defined access as the timely use of personal health services to achieve the best possible health outcomes. A 2014 RUPRI Health Panel report on rural healthcare access collects additional definitions of access, along with measures that can be used to determine access.
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CMS Proposes to Lift Unnecessary Regulations & Ease Burden on Providers
On September 17, CMS announced a proposed rule to relieve burden on health care providers by removing unnecessary, obsolete, or excessively burdensome Medicare compliance requirements for health care facilities. Collectively, these updates would save health care providers an estimated $1.12 billion annually. Taking into account policies across rules finalized in 2017 and 2018, as well as this and other proposed rules, savings are estimated at $5.2 billion.
CMS developed the proposed rule in response to President Trump’s charge to federal agencies to “cut the red tape” and reduce burdensome regulations. In addition, feedback from Requests for Information the agency issued seeking stakeholder input on regulatory burdens helped inform this proposed rule.
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HRSA Awards Rural Communities to Combat Opioid Crisis
In addition, nearly $400 million is going to support 1,232 health centers across the country. To learn about HRSA-supported resources, please visit HRSA's Opioid Crisis page.
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Rural Workers Get Fewer Benefits to Help With Elder Care
Rural employees who care for elderly family members are less likely than urban employees to receive helpful workplace benefits like flex time, paid leave or the option of telecommuting. While rural caregivers receive fewer workplace benefits that could help them accommodate their caregiving role, rural caregivers are also likely to face special geographic challenges, says one of the authors of a study on workplace benefits for elder care.
"All of the issues around caregiving are heightened in rural areas," said Carrie Henning-Smith, an assistant professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health.
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CONSULTANTS' CORNER
Does Having Extended Hours Make You an Urgent Care Clinic?
RHC VERSUS URGENT CARE
The Forum has been abuzz with questions about operating a Rural Health Clinic as an Urgent Care Clinic. Can we operate an Urgent Care Clinic in our RHC space on the weekend? Can certain providers see only walk-in patients? How do we bill for services performed outside our normal hours? Are walk-in visits considered Primary Care? Can we be both an RHC and an Urgent Care Clinic? What about signage and advertising?
The simple answer is that your RHC can operate with extended hours, be open on weekends, or offer flexible scheduling and still keep your RHC identity as long as you follow all the RHC rules and regulations. Nothing prohibits it. In fact, you should do these things to remain competitive.
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Who is Your Business Associate?
The purpose of this article is to clarify who is and who is not your business associate (BA). We are all in agreement concerning the importance of protecting PHI when we share it with other parties—one such party is your Business Associate.
When you assign a service to be performed by another person or agency on your behalf, and it involves the use or disclosure of PHI, you are entering into a contract that allows you to share the PHI with said party. This contract is referred to as a Business Associate Agreement or BAA and the other party then becomes your business associate. The BAA spells out the duties the party will perform as well as what steps the BA will take to protect the PHI. The primary focus and purpose of the BAA is to provide “assurances” from the party that they will in fact protect the PHI they use or disclose on your behalf. So, who is your Business Associate? This question can still cause some confusion, but if you apply this two-part test, you can quickly make the determination.
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Consultant members of NARHC may contribute articles to the quarterly NARHC-news.
Email newsletters@narhc.org for more information & include your topic idea!
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National Association of Rural Health Clinics | NARHC | Ph. 866-306-1961 | Fax 866-311-9606
| newsletters@narhc.org | www.narhc.org
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