Greetings Northwest Region:

NRTRC Monthly Highlights

The Northwest Regional Telehealth Resource Center and the National Rural Health Resource Center recently released a Critical Access Hospital Telehealth Guide. This guide provides practical guidance on implementing and sustaining a telehealth program. The guide covers all the basics related to telehealth, and including expertise about billing and reimbursement, vendor selection, health equity barriers and potential solutions. It also covers how to engage key stakeholders and assess privacy and legal issues. Please access the guide for further information.

New Telehealth Resources!  You’ve asked and we’ve listened. Check out the NRTRC’s up-to-date current procedural terminology (CPT) Telehealth Services and Codes table. The table includes Category 1, 2 and 3 along with interim codes valid during the public health emergency (PHE).  Thinking of starting a telehealth program, or assessing the program you are running? Take the interactive Telehealth Program Assessment here.

Join the National Rural Health Day Celebration November 18

The National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health sets aside the third Thursday of every November (Nov. 18), to celebrate National Rural Health Day. This year's theme is the Power of Rural: Resiliency, Resolve, Relationships & Readiness. Check out the Promotional Toolkit at PowerofRural.org for free downloads, including logos, posters, coloring books (English & Spanish), graphics, idea guides and more! Use these tools at your National RuralHealth Day events!

SEARCH 2021: The National Telehealth Research Symposium connects health researchers, academicians and visionaries in telehealth and telemedicine to share findings and foster research partnerships. Keynote speeches and panelists will discuss federal research resources and priorities. More than 30 researchers will discuss innovative studies and their outcomes via 12 sessions. This three-day virtual event runs Nov. 8-10. For more information and to register.

Telehealth News: The Center for Care Innovations has refreshed its Telemedicine for Health Equity Toolkit. This toolkit includes new evidence about equity in telemedicine among diverse patient populations. It also includes additional resources and guidance documents.    The Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board has released a manual of Telehealth/Telepsychiatry Training and Technical Assistance Related to COVID-19. This guide will be circulated among tribal health directors and delegates.  HRSA Health Centers to Get $1B for Telehealth, Other Upgrades: The Biden Administration is awarding nearly $1 billion in American Rescue Plan funding through the HRSA to about 1,300 health centers across the country for capital improvements, including telehealth expansion.  The Southwest Rural Health Research Center at Texas A&M University, with funding support from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, is conducting a survey as part of Rural Healthy People 2030 — a project designed to understand the most important health priorities for rural Americans. The survey should take about 20 minutes. Contact Timothy Callaghan if you have any questions. callaghan@tamu.edu. Health insurance provider Regence has launched an eHealth program to help patients who've put off visits to the doctor's office during the pandemic. The American Board of Telehealth (ABT) will be managed by the American Heart Association (AHA). The telehealth board will retain its brand and mission, and its courses will remain available at the ABT Education Hub using your existing login information. For questions, please contact ABT@heart.org. The American Medical Association's (AMA) stance on telehealth is that, "Now is the time for doctors to shape what telehealth looks like in the future." FCC Announces Latest Awards From COVID-19 Telehealth Program: More than 70 healthcare organizations will receive funding from the Federal Communications Commission's COVID-19 Telehealth Program. This funding is aimed at projects that will expand connected health platforms to improve access to care during the pandemic. 

Upcoming Events & Webinars:

P2P Workshop, Improving Rural Health Through Telehealth-Guided Provider-to-Provider Communication: Speakers in this Pathways to Prevention workshop will assess the scientific evidence to better understand the effectiveness of telehealth-guided provider-to-provider communication to improve health outcomes in rural settings. Oct. 12-14.   Telehealth Best Practices, Lessons Learned from the Pandemic: The last session of an interactive four-week mini-series will explore next steps in telehealth development after the pandemic, Oct. 19, 1 p.m. Mountain Time.   Provider Burnout and the Electronic Health Record: Physician burnout was deemed a public health crisis in 2019. Growing research in the field suggests that physician/provider burnout has detrimental effects on healthcare quality. Oct. 13, 10–11 a.m. Mountain Time.   Remote Specialty Coverage, Telehealth Beyond Telestroke: Rural hospitals face challenges in staffing specialty services such as infectious disease, neurology, pulmonology, psychiatry and similar services. Examine the options for specialty care. Oct. 26, 10 a.m. Mountain Time. Part 3 of a Three-Part Series on Patient Engagement, Health Equity and Access to Telehealth: Examine approaches from specialty providers and telehealth managers who will inspire innovative approaches providers can use. Oct. 27, noon-1 p.m. Mountain Time.   Search 2021 National Telehealth Research Symposium: The National Telehealth Research Symposium will showcase connected health efforts, strategies and partnerships, specifically those that focus on the research in telemedicine, telehealth, eHealth, mHealth, and other healthcare technologies. Nov. 8 -10.

Grant Funding Opportunities: Please refer to the funding page on the NRTRC website for grant opportunities.

Telehealth Resources: Telehealth Tools and Resources: Find up-to-date telehealth tools & resources. Professional Development: Visit NRTRC's catalog of online telehealth training courses.  Emergency Declarations: Public Health Emergencies in most of the seven states in the Northwest Region have ended or will end soon. Check on the emergency status in your state.  Updated legislation and regulations: Keep up with regulations and proposed legislation for the states of the Northwest Region.

NRTRC Online Course Offerings NRTRC has created a slate of online telehealth educational courses available at no cost. Upon completion of these courses, you will be able to implement, sustain and assess your telehealth program. Over the past 10 months, more than 41,000 professionals have enrolled in the six online courses, 65 percent have completed those courses and professionals have the option to claim continuing medical education credits (CME). Register now for one of our courses offerings.

Thank You! The NRTRC would like to say “thank you” to all who made the 2021 Annual Telehealth Survey a success. The results of the survey help us understand the current state of telehealth. Survey results will be available in November's newsletter.

Northwest Regional Telehealth Resource Center “This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under G22RH31114, Coronavirus Telehealth Resource Center’s Grant Program in the amount of $325,000. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.”