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throughout rural Tennessee.
Partnerships - Education - Advocacy - Resources
ArchPro 2-Day RHC & FQHC Bootcamp
ArchPro 2-day Documentation, Coding, and Billing Bootcamp will be held at The Residence Inn in Franklin, TN on June 23rd and 24th. This training focuses on clinical documentation, coding, and billing for Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers/Community Health Centers (FQHCs) and allows attendees to optionally earn the RHC/FQHC-specific coding and billing credentials.

The cost of this event is $50 per attendee

Find the agenda and register for this event here. We look forward to seeing you there!
"Building a More Resilient Tennessee" Webinar

Join us on May 26 at 10am CST to hear from Melissa McGee with TCCY on a webinar titled "Building a More Resilient Tennessee" Doing What You Can, Where You Can."

Attendees will understand the importance of strong, healthy childhood development and the last effects of unmitigated adversity; receive an overview of Positive Childhood Experiences and how they change the trajectory in development; understand the concept of resilience and the importance of identifying where a child’s fulcrum is based; and learn about collective impact and how they can do what you can, where you are.

Find out more and register for the webinar here.

Have you submitted your presentation proposals for conference yet? There's still time! We are looking for proposals on topics that improve health and access to care in rural Tennessee.

Find out more information about our 28th Annual Conference "Collective Impact: A Call to Action" here. Deadline to submit proposals is June 30th.
Member Spotlight
GetCovered Tennessee, a healthcare access program of Family and Children’s Service, is a great resource here in Tennessee! They are the state grantee for connecting uninsured Tennesseans with health insurance through TNCARE/CoverKids/Affordable Care Act. FCS is a non-profit offering free healthcare access service in all 95 Tennessee counties, and their services are free of charge. In addition to enrollment, they also provide educational training on TNCARE/Coverkids/Affordable Care Act or Health Assist Safety net programs, such as how to use your insurance coverage and what the insurance terms mean. Find resources and more about FCS here. . .
Events
  • Men's Health Network Join us on June 2nd at 10am CST for our webinar "Time Out for Men's Health" featuring Mike Leventhal, executive director of the Men's Health Network in Tennessee. Register for the event here.

  • Response to Suicide in Rural Communities: A Panel Discussion Watch a webinar recording featuring a discussion about youth suicide prevention in both rural schools and communities. The webinar highlights rates of suicide among youth aged 10 to 24 from 2009-2018 and details the perspectives of mental health professionals working in rural communities. Find the webinar here.

  • CMS Rural Health Council CMS invites you to join a listening session to provide your feedback on the current Rural Health Strategy and help improve CMS's approach to advancing rural health. These sessions are meant for individuals with lived experience receiving health care or supporting healthcare service delivery in rural communities. Register here for CMS Region 4 (Tennessee) on May 11th.  

  • HRSA Funding Opportunities for Nurses and Nursing Students HRSA’s Bureau of Health Workforce will hold a two-hour session to discuss benefits of each program and eligibility requirements for training grants, student loans, scholarship programs, and loan repayment programs. Find the May 12th webinar here.

  • Long COVID ECHO Webinar Series The Health Centers of San Diego, the ECHO Institute, University of Washington, and University of Colorado have collaborated to provide CDC-funded monthly webinar-style ECHO learning sessions to rapidly disseminate findings and best practices related to patients experiencing ongoing health challenges after COVID-19 infection, a condition generally known as “Long COVID.” This is a monthly webinar series with sessions currently scheduled from February through June. The next session is on May 12 here.

  • Communicating the Value of Social Emotional Learning: Evidence and Resources to Facilitate Community Conversations Social Emotional Learning (SEL) programs are arguably more important now than ever to support student mental health, interpersonal skill development and academic success using a universal public health approach in education. Register for the May 13th webinar here.

  • HRSA to Host First National Telehealth Conference Over the course of two days (May 16-17), public and private sector leaders will discuss best practices and lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. Topics include the role of telehealth in underserved communities, achieving health equity through improved broadband connectivity, and telehealth as a model for integrating behavioral health care during the pandemic and beyond. 

  • NRHA Partner Caravan Health will host a webinar on May 18 on rural providers’ guide to ACO participation in 2023. This webinar will discuss benefits and important aspects of the Medicare Shared Savings Program and CMS’ newly announced ACO REACH program, along with mechanisms and lessons learned for achieving long-term population health success. Find the webinar here.

  • NRHA Partner the Epilepsy Foundation will host a webinar May 24 on seizure recognition and first aid certification. First aid procedures reflect standard of knowledge and current best practices. This information is presented in a format suited for direct training of the public. Participants who successfully complete the course will receive a two-year certification. Find the webinar here.

  • Optimizing and Sustaining Telehealth Operations in Rural Communities On June 2, join HRSA Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs - Region 10 to learn from experts from federal, state, regional, and healthcare organizations who will provide practical information and tools on sustaining telehealth operations in rural communities. Register for the webinar here.

  • AIMHITN Join AIMHITN for the 3rd Annual "Our Way of Being: The Power of Belonging" Conference; where professionals across the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) workforce in Tennessee can gather to hear our Keynote Speaker, Dr. Keisha Siriboe, while learning more about how our way of being impacts our work with the infant/young child and their families. Whether you are a parent, caregiver, or other professionals in the field, one thing is for sure: a child's first and early relationships are important. Join virtually on June 14-15. Register here.
Resources
  • The Today Show Watch news coverage of Erin, Tennessee's mother and daughter nurse practitioner duo on The Today Show here.

  • Mental Health Essay Contest for High School Students There is still time to enter the “Speaking Up About Mental Health! This Is My Story” national essay challenge. The submission date is extended through May 24, 2022. The contest aims to start conversations about mental health and encourage young people to seek help for mental health issues. U.S. high school students ages 16-18 are invited to submit a short essay. Topics may include resilience, ending stigma, improving communication among peers and adults, and more. Multiple winners will be chosen to receive cash prices! Find more contest details and submit essays here.  
  • CDC estimates 58% of Americans have been infected with COVID-19 Most people in the United States have now been infected with the coronavirus, according to a new CDC report. So many people caught Omicron over the winter that almost 60 percent of everyone in the U.S. now have antibodies to the virus in their blood, and almost 75 percent of children 11 and younger have antibodies to the virus. To protect against future variants and waning immunity, vaccination is still essential, with effective communication and consistency. NRHA has developed the Rural Vaccine Confidence Initiative to help rural health stakeholders communicate COVID-19 vaccine efficacy and safety in their own words at the local level. Find the CDC report here.
 
  • Health Equity Book Series If you missed last week's Health Equity Books Series featuring family members of Henrietta Lacks learning about who she was and her legacy which has contributed and continues to contribute to scientific research, including as recently as the COVID-19 vaccine, you can view the recording here. 
 
  • Rural Partners Network from Biden-Harris Administration Last week, the Biden-Harris Administration launched the Rural Partners Network (RPN), a new whole-of-government effort led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to transform the way federal agencies partner with rural places to create economic opportunity. This program will bring the federal government to rural America. New federal field staff will be placed in more than 25 rural communities in multiple U.S. states, Tribal Nations and territories to help local leaders navigate and access the federal resources they need to build a strong and vibrant economy. To learn more about the initiative, click here.
 
  • New Census Criteria Designates Hundreds Of Communities Once Considered Urban As Rural The new criteria announces a change to the U.S. Census Bureau definition of urban and rural, with the old threshold associated with having at least 2,500 residents and the new definition as having 2,000 housing units, or about 5,000 people. With this new criteria, it will classify over 1,300 communities as rural. This article discusses concerns about healthcare policy and access and competition for funding, as well as the process behind the change. Find the article here.
 
  • United Healthcare School district sees savings with incentive program. A new case study shows how participation in an employee engagement program helped an Iowa school district save money and build healthy habits. Find the case study here.

  • Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Hospital and Outpatient Clinician Workforce: Challenges and Policy Responses Describes hospital and outpatient clinician healthcare workforce shortages and maldistribution both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and the impact of the pandemic on the mental and physical health of the workforce. Provides an overview of federal interventions to support the healthcare workforce during the pandemic. Includes discussion on challenges specific to rural communities. Find the brief here.

  • "Be the One" Training "Be the One” is a suicide prevention training program designed to teach co-workers how to build a supportive workforce which values and affirms life. Through "Be the One" training, participants learn to recognize when someone is thinking about suicide and connect them to help and support. Fore more information, click here.
 

  • Association of Race, Ethnicity, and Rurality With Major Leg Amputation or Death Among Medicare Beneficiaries Hospitalized With Diabetic Foot Ulcers Examines the probability of amputation or death in patients with diabetic foot ulcers using 2013-2014 Medicare claims data for 124,487 patients. Includes demographic breakdowns by sex, Black/African American, White, or Hispanic, rurality, Area Deprivation Index (ADI), patient history of chronic illness, and more. Find the study here.

  • Medicaid Coverage of Community Health Worker Services Provides an overview of types of community health workers (CHWs) and the services they provide. Summarizes studies examining the effects of CHW programs on health outcomes and costs. Discusses state approaches to covering CHW services through Medicaid, including the services covered, regulatory authorities used to provide Medicaid payment, the populations served, and training and certification requirements. Find the brief here

  • Why Rural Communities Struggle to Bring in Much-Needed Federal Grants Describes the challenges that many rural communities face in building the capacity to apply for grant funding, as documented in a report from Montana-based organization Headwaters Economics, noting that many of the communities with low grant writing capacity are also the most vulnerable to wildfires, floods, and other climate hazards. Discusses federal infrastructure investments that aim to address rural vulnerability, noting that the recently launched Rural Partners Network aims to address capacity issues through partnerships with local leaders. Find the article here.

  • 2022 National Health Service Corps (NHSC) New Site Application is now open for sites that: have never been approved for NHSC, including sites that have applied and had their application denied or cancelled; are currently an inactive NHSC site due to expiration or past compliance issues; or are new or satellite sites that are not yet affiliated with NHSC. Apply here through May 10th.

  • Job Board New jobs have been added to the RHA of TN job board. Those can be found here.

  • Call for Proposals We are accepting conference presentation proposals. Proposals should highlight replicable programs, research, and/or collaborative efforts aimed at improving health and access to care in rural TN. Deadline is June 30th. Find out more here.

  • Award Nominations Each year, RHA of TN presents awards to influential programs and people who are improving rural health in Tennessee. Find the award categories here. If there is someone you would like to nominate, please find the nomination form here. Send completed form to info@tnruralhealth.org. Deadline for submissions are August 15th.
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Funding Opportunities
The below grants have been hand picked to offer new funding opportunities to our members.
Welcome to our New and Returning Members!
The below organizations have recently joined or renewed their memberships. Members can search our member directory to connect with other members when logging into the RHA of TN's website. While you're searching, update your profile!

Foust Medical Clinic
Thank you to our Platinum Sponsors
for making this communication and our annual conference possible.
Mailing Address:
PO Box 656,
Decaturville, TN 38329