Greetings Northwest Region:

NRTRC Monthly Highlights

Telehealth Implementation: A Guide for Critical Access Hospitals: This webinar showcases a new resource from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy and National Rural Health Resource Center that provides practical guidance on implementing and sustaining telehealth to optimize healthcare service delivery, expand access and enhance care coordination for Critical Access Hospitals. Just as healthcare organizations strive to take a person-centered approach to healthcare, this guide seeks to take a Critical Access Hospital-centered approach to telehealth.

New Telehealth Mapping Tool: Findtelehealth.nrtrc.org is an interactive map that allows patients and providers to find facilities that provide telehealth services in your area. This mapping tool is available for Montana, Idaho and Wyoming. Later this fall, Alaska, Oregon, Washington and Utah will be added.

2022 Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule The deadline to post a formal response to the 2022 Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule is Sept. 13 at 5 p.m. EDT. Submit comments. Learn more about what the National Association of Rehabilitation Providers and Agencies are sharing about preserving telehealth opportunities for physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech language pathologists post public health emergency.

Telehealth Program Assessment Tool: Have you or your organization been delivering telehealth or other remote services for years? Or maybe, you are thinking of starting a telehealth program but don’t know where to begin? The NRTRC has a Program Assessment Tool to identify parts of your plan that might need improvement. The tool also recognizes the time and effort necessary for the success and sustainability of a telehealth program.

Telehealth Awareness Week: The inaugural Telehealth Awareness Week is September 19-25. This event celebrates the role that telehealth plays in the delivery of healthcare services. Telehealth Awareness Week promotes the message: "Telehealth Is Health." Help spread the word by sharing telehealth awareness information, images and graphics for #TelehealthAwareness.

Telehealth, love it or hate it!  Researchers want to hear from primary care providers providing telehealth services. Researchers from the MedStar Health National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare are conducting interviews with primary care physicians to understand their experience with telehealth during the COVID-19 outbreak. They are looking for physicians (primary care providers) from community health centers, and small and mid-size practices to participate in a 45-minute phone interview. The study is sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and study results will help improve telehealth technology design, development and implementation.

If you are willing to participate in the interview, email julia.g.sheehan@medstar.net. Participants are compensated with a $150 gift card for the interview.

Telehealth News: The federal government is issuing more than $19 million in grants to several key connected health projects, including the National Consortium of Telehealth Resource Centers and the Telehealth Centers of Excellence program. The updated CMS 2021 Medicare Telehealth Fact Sheet is available online. This document from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services outlines how the federal government considers and pays for telehealth visits. Telehealth helped physical therapists to provide essential care for pediatric patients during pandemic, researchers from the University of Missouri found. But their study also identified challenges to providing physical therapy services to rural areas, where broadband Internet connections are often spotty. 

Upcoming Events & Webinars:

What’s Next for Telehealth? A State and Federal Policy Debrief: The Center for Telehealth and e-Health Law presented initial findings of its cost-impact research and how the research could affect public policy. Topics included reducing health disparities, trends among the public health emergency declarations, and a discussion of fraud, waste and abuse. A recording of the Sept 2, session is available. Telehealth Implementation; A Guide & Case Study for Critical Access Hospitals: Showcasing a new resource from the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy and National Rural Health Resource Center on implementing and sustaining a telehealth program from the perspective of Critical Access Hospitals. The target audience is people, teams or organizations seeking to implement or expand telehealth services in the Critical Access Hospitals setting. Sept. 16 at noon, MDT. Fall 2021 Policy Webinar Series Medicaid & Audio Only: During the COVID-19 pandemic policymakers allowed audio-only telehealth visits. Now, policymakers are deciding whether the temporary audio-only policies should be made permanent. Panelists will discuss Medicaid programs proposals and decisions. Sept. 17 at noon, MDT. Annual IIBHN 2021 Conference: The Idaho Integrated Behavioral Health Network conference will allow participants to network with peers and experts in the behavioral health field. It will also offer practical advice and clinical expertise for running a behavioral health program. Sept. 17-18. Fall 2021 Policy Webinar Series: Medicaid & Telehealth Data Collection: Surveys, Studies & Advisory Groups: Learn about Medicaid efforts to collect data and work with other groups as they weigh the next steps in telehealth policy development. Sept. 24 at noon, MDT. Part Two of a Three-Part Series on Patient Engagement: Caregiver and Patient Engagement Through Telehealth: This webinar series will provide a foundation in understanding how telehealth providers can identify the best candidates for telehealth, how to keep patients engaged throughout their visit, and how to create more health equity through telehealth. Sept. 29 at noon, MDT. For more webinars, check out the Webinars page at NRTRC.org,

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

Telehealth Resources: Professional Development: Visit NRTRC's catalog of online telehealth training courses.  Emergency Declarations: Read each state's updated Public Health Emergency declarations for the seven states in the Northwest Region. (AK, ID, MT, OR, UT, WA, WY)  Updated legislation and regulations: Keep up with regulations and proposed legislation for the states of the Northwest Region.

A note from Dr. Kanan Silvas, Medical Director of Telehealth at Kootenai Health in Coeur d’Alene, ID.   "I am a tremendous fan of the NRTRC and use it quite frequently. Our organization is new to telehealth, but we are certainly eager and optimistic about its potential, particularly given that we are the regional referral center for northern Idaho. Kootenai Health is very passionate about telehealth advocacy and education and would certainly make ourselves available to help further this cause if needed."

The NRTRC would like to say “thank you” to all of you who made the 2021 Annual Telehealth Survey a success. Also, congratulations to the ten lucky winners of the Amazon gift cards. The results of the survey will help us understand the current state of telehealth and how to best serve, support and respond to those providing telehealth services.

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.”