This newsletter is brought to you by the Community Health Systems Development Team at the Georgia Health Policy Center, funded through a contract with the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP).
Welcome to the Rural Health Link: Rural Health Services Quarterly Digest. This newsletter will share program updates, the technical assistance (TA) schedule of events, as well as a variety of resources focused on rural health services. Each issue will also feature a grantee spotlight article. We welcome your feedback. If you have any comments or recommendations for future content, please reach out to us at chsdteam@gsu.edu.
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The Georgia Health Policy Center recently spoke to Stephanie Van Ruler, population health manager at the Promise Community Health Center (Sioux Center, Iowa), about how addressing social determinants of health has become a focal point of quality improvement.
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The Georgia Health Policy Center recently spoke to Amy Karam, project director for EatMoveGrow, and Donna Newton, executive director for the Health Enrichment Network in Allen Parish, about how using a tailored approach and accountability have been key to their success in creating a culture of health in 40 schools in 17 rural Louisiana Delta parishes.
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Rural Health Care Coordination
Program (Care Coordination)
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Last month, you received the Sustainability Formative Assessment template and resources to support you and your Care Coordination consortium partners in conducting the self-assessment and developing an action plan that will strengthen the sustainability potential of your initiative. Over the coming months, you are encouraged to reach out to your technical assistance (TA) provider for support. Your TA provider can:
- Provide guidance on using the Formative Assessment Tool to you and your team
- Help interpret assessment results
- Assist in identifying priorities and next steps from assessment
- Plan and/or facilitate conversations with partners via virtual site visit
- Work with your team to retrofit other assessment tools for this purpose
Please refer to the Formative Assessment template and quick course posted in the webinars section of your Grantee Portal.
The Non-Compete Continuation Progress Report will be due on June 3, 2022. You will receive a message generated through the Electronic Handbook when the report is ready in the system.
Virtual Program Meeting (May 4-5, 2022) – Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement and Rural Care Coordination Programs
We look forward to seeing you at our Virtual Program Meeting on May 4-5, 2022, from 12:00-4:00 p.m. ET for grantees of the Quality Improvement and Rural Care Coordination programs. This meeting is being brought to you by your TA team at the Georgia Health Policy Center (GHPC) and the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP). The objectives of this virtual meeting are to:
- Open opportunities for sharing, learning, and networking among your peers and program cohorts
- Offer relevant capacity-building opportunities for program staff on topics including data utilization, patient engagement, and sustainability
- Provide updates from FORHP on federal policy, program priorities, and reporting and grants administration requirements
You are encouraged to invite key members of your team, including partners, to attend. We ask that you commit a minimum of two attendees from your grant-funded initiative to attend both half-day sessions.
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Delta States Rural Development
Network Program (Delta States)
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Announcements from FORHP
Chinyere Amaefule took the reins as the program coordinator of the Delta States grant program on March 1. We are grateful for the leadership that Patricia provided for the Delta grantees and for helping to ensure a smooth transition to the new coordinator. We wish her luck in her position with the Healthcare Workforce grant.
The FY 2022 Non-Competing Continuation (NCC) Progress Report is due on May 3. The NCC Report includes the third quarter COVID-19 Supplemental Funding Quarterly Report. For more details, please review the email Chinyere sent on March 23 with the NCC Progress Report Template.
Webinar
The presentation materials and recording from the What’s Race Got to Do with It: The Impact of Racism on Health in the Delta States webinar on March 15 with RACE for Equity can be found here on the grantee website.
Upcoming Learning Opportunities with RACE for Equity
There will be two to three more learning opportunities with RACE for Equity, focused on addressing the social determinants of health with an antiracism approach. Your TA provider will be discussing these opportunities with you further.
COVID-19 Supplemental Funding Peer Call (this summer)
We will have one more peer call focused on your experiences regarding the COVID-19 Supplemental Funding. We will highlight your successes, innovation, lessons learned, and any questions you have for your peers.
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Small Health Care Provider Quality
Improvement Program (Rural Quality)
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Sustainability planning resources are available
The slides and recording of the Planning for Sustainability webinar as well as the sustainability template are available and can be accessed here under the webinar section of the grantee website. Please reach out to your project officer or TA provider with any questions on sustainability planning. The plan is due in EHB on June 1, 2022.
Integrating Care to Improve Quality And Value Virtual Program Meeting (May 4-5, 2022) – Small Health Care Provider Quality Improvement and Rural Care Coordination Programs
We look forward to seeing you at our Virtual Program Meeting on May 4-5, 2022, from 12:00-4:00 p.m. ET for grantees and their partners of the Rural Quality Improvement and Rural Care Coordination programs. This meeting is being brought to you by your TA team at the Georgia Health Policy Center (GHPC) and the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP). The objectives of this virtual meeting are to:
- Open opportunities for sharing, learning, and networking among your peers and program cohorts
- Offer relevant capacity-building opportunities for program staff on topics including data utilization, patient engagement, and sustainability
- Provide updates from FORHP on federal policy, program priorities, and reporting and grants administration requirements
You are encouraged to invite key members of your team, including partners, to attend. We ask that you commit a minimum of two attendees from your grant-funded initiative to attend both half-day sessions.
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Rural Health Care Services
Outreach Program (Outreach)
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Rural Health Care Services Outreach Program Virtual Meeting June 22-23, 2022
We look forward to seeing you at the Rural Health Care Service Outreach Program Virtual Meeting June 22 and 23 for two, half days of interactive workshops, expert speakers, and peer learning. This meeting is being brought to you by your TA team at the Georgia Health Policy Center (GHPC) and the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (FORHP). You are encouraged to invite key members of your team, including partners, to attend the conference. We ask that you commit a minimum of two attendees from your grant-funded initiative to attend both half-day sessions. Additional information regarding the meeting details, registration, and agenda are to come.
Strategic Plan and Community Assessment Phase 3 Reviews
Thank you for your recent submission of your Strategic Plan and Community Assessment Phase 3 deliverables. We will review the plans on an upcoming monthly call.
Outreach Performance Improvement Measurement System
The annual performance reporting requirement for your grant will occur in May 2022, with the Performance Improvement Measurement System (PIMS) module in the Electronic Handbook (EHB) opening May 3, 2022, for completion of responses to the PIMS measures by the system’s closings date for the year on May 31, 2022. There will be a webinar to provide additional reporting guidance in April (date TBD).
Rural Health Care Services Outreach Program Directory, 2021-2025
Now available on the Rural Health Information Hub website, the 2021-2025 Rural Health Care Services Outreach Program Directory provides contact information and a brief overview for each of the program’s 61 currently funded initiatives. This include 45 initiatives working to address a wide variety of rural healthcare needs through funding under the program’s general outreach track, and 16 initiatives funded under the program’s Healthy Rural Hometown Initiative (HRHI) track focusing on efforts to improve health outcomes and reduce rural health disparities related to the five leading causes of avoidable death: heart disease, cancer, unintentional injury, chronic lower respiratory disease, and stroke.
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Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management
Strategies Program (RMOMS)
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March Learning Opportunity - A Toolkit for Identifying, Deconstructing, and Reducing Stigma
To assist you in providing support to clients who may struggle with substance use, you received the Toolkit for Identifying, Deconstructing, and Reducing Stigma. The toolkit provides an overview and discussion of the definition of stigma, the three categories of stigma, and various ways to identify and understand stigma. It reviews ways that sustain stigma, the effects of stigma, exercises to determine whether you are contributing to stigma, and an overview of several theories that address and attempt to deconstruct and eliminate addiction-related stigma.
April Learning Institute (RMOMS Grantee Meeting)
In partnership with the Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center, we are excited to welcome Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (RMOMS) awardees, along with State Maternal Health Innovation programs, for the April Learning Institute on Tuesday, April 5 and Wednesday, April 6, 2022. This two-day, hybrid (in-person, virtual) event will include peer-led learning sessions, team learning time, and a focus on program sustainability. The in-person components of the Learning Institute will be held in Durham, N.C. at the 21c Hotel in downtown Durham, N.C. An optional networking session – open to all in-person Learning Institute attendees – will be held on Monday, April 4 at 5:30 p.m. If you are attending in person, plan to come meet and network with your colleagues from across the country! Virtual participants will attend via Zoom or a similar online platform. To stay abreast of conference updates, you can access the conference website here.
Program Summaries
Fiscal year (FY) 22 funding opportunity for the RMOMS Program
The FY22 funding opportunity for the RMOMS Program is open on grants.gov (Announcement Number: HRSA-22-115). The application deadline is April 5, 2022. A total of $5 million is anticipated to fund up to five health networks in the next cohort of this cooperative agreement program.
HRSA Maternal Health Roundtables
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Maternal Health Learning and Innovation Center (MHLIC) will host virtual roundtables for HRSA Maternal Health grantees and partners through 2022. The roundtables are spaces for HRSA maternal health partners to hear updates from HRSA and MHLIC, ask questions, learn about related maternal health initiatives, and share with one another. Please save the below dates for the remaining Maternal Health Roundtables of 2022.
- Wednesday, April 27, 2022 (3:00-4:30 p.m. ET)
- Thursday, July 28, 2022 (3:00 PM – 4:30 p.m. ET)
- Thursday, October 27, 2022 (3:00 PM – 4:30 p.m. ET)
If you have ideas for topics you’d like to see covered during the roundtables, please email Alice Pollard.
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Social determinants of health, such as transportation and cultural or literacy barriers, can affect a patient during their pharmacy encounter. This article highlights how pharmacists can assist in addressing social determinants of health. The article includes a resource guide developed by the Pharmacy Quality Alliance, to assist pharmacists with navigating concerns that may arise during their encounter. Click here to access the article. Click here to access the resource guide.
As you address health disparities and social determinants of health, you may find this article helpful as you work towards improving health outcomes in the communities you are serving. This article defines and provides examples of systemic and structural racism and explains how they damage health (i.e., limiting access to health-promoting resources and opportunities) through many causal pathways. Additionally, the article provides suggestions on how to dismantle both systemic and structural racism. Click here to access the article.
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RESOURCES, NEWS AND OTHER UPDATES |
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The Georgia Health Policy Center recently published a report that presents actionable, emerging, insights shared by and learned from state coalitions and subject matter experts who participated in the Earned Income Tax Credit Policy Implementation Lab. The intended audience is public health practitioners and allies in other sectors working to address health disparities exacerbated by income insecurity. In addition to providing actionable insights, the report includes suggested resources and tools. Click here to access the report.
The Georgia Health Policy Center is proud to announce the release of localwellnessfunds.org. The site is filled with practical tools and information for those developing a local wellness fund, as well as anyone looking for a way to grow the impact of collective investments in community health and well-being.
The site contains resources on
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Sources: Where does the money come from?
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Uses: What will the fund be used for?
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Structure: How do we manage, administer, and provide stewardship for pooled funding?
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Contextual factors: How does the external environment impact the success of collaborative investments?
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Cross-cutting factors: What factors impact the ability for partners and communities to work together?
COVID-19-Related Resources
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention recently published an addendum to the original COVID-19 Vaccination Field Guide: 12 Strategies for Your Community. The addendum includes rural considerations and examples for 12 strategies based on successes of the field and input from health departments and rural health organizations. Click here to access the addendum.
The National Association of Rural Health Clinics has background information and guidelines in its collection of technical assistance webinars for all COVID-related programs designated for Rural Health Clinics. The webinars are offered free of charge and available to both members and non-members alike.
This is a set of frequently asked questions from grantees and stakeholders. Answers are provided regarding where grantees can find important information and how they can use funding to fight COVID-19 in rural communities. Click here to access the information.
Under the program, Medicare-certified Rural Health Clinics will receive direct COVID-19 vaccines in addition to their normal jurisdictions’ weekly allocation. Contact RHCVaxDistribution@hrsa.gov for more information.
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April 19, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. ET
Please join the National Rural Health Resource Center for a webinar on the role of social determinants of health in value-based payment models during COVID-19. This session highlights how some rural health providers are implementing new strategies by leveraging value-based payment models to collaborate with community partners to mitigate hardships associated with COVID-19, such as social isolation and job loss.
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April 26-28, 2022 | Virtual
Please join FSG and the Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions as they host their annual collective impact summit. The summit gathers cross sector leaders, partners, and stakeholders from across the world to share ideas and examples of how to achieve collaborative, equitable system change. The summit will address themes of culture and narrative change, shifting power and connecting communities, policy change, data and learning, and sustaining funding and momentum.
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May 1-3, 2022 | Boston, Massachusetts
Please join the American Telehealth Association for the 2022 annual conference and expo. The conference and expo will explore the telehealth landscape and examine what will be essential to establish telehealth as a permanent modality in care delivery. Additionally, the conference will showcase various practical applications of telehealth and attendees will be able to participate in hands-on workshops.
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May 10, 2022 | Albuquerque, New Mexico
Please join the National Rural Health Association as they host their annual Health Equity Conference. The conference is designed for individuals dedicated to bringing quality health care and health care services to underserved and underrepresented populations. Attendees will have the opportunity to network and attend sessions on a variety of topics including public-private partnerships, stabilizing at-risk hospitals, and more.
May 10-13, 2022 | Albuquerque, New Mexico
Please join the National Rural Health Association as they host their 45th Annual Rural Health Conference. Attendees will have the opportunity to network and attend sessions on a variety of topics including opioid usage in rural communities, improving patient outcomes, recruiting and retaining employees, preparing rural health clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers for value based care, and more.
May 10-13, 2022 | Albuquerque, New Mexico
Please join the National Rural Health Association as they host their 7th Rural Hospital Innovation Summit. Attendees will have the opportunity to network and attend sessions on a variety of topics including community engagement and planning for rural health systems, reducing hospital readmissions, and more.
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