Rural hospital resources related to rural health and human services, with information provided by the Rural Assistance Center Copyright 2010 Rural Assistance Center http://www.raconline.org/info_guides/hospitals/ Kaiser Health News reports that although the federal government plans to give doctors up to $44,000 each, as well as millions of dollars to hospitals, to help buy health information technology, many providers are unhappy with the stimulus-funded program. http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2010/March/09/HIT.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+khn%2Ffulltext+%28All+Kaiser+Health+News+%28Full+Text%29%29&utm_content=Google+Reader Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:45:30 CST http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2010/March/09/HIT.aspx?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+khn%2Ffulltext+%28All+Kaiser+Health+News+%28Full+Text%29%29&utm_content=Google+Reader Medicare Update reports that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is reminding interested parties that on March 15, 2010 the comment period closes on the Proposed Rule, which would implement an electronic health records (EHR) incentive program for eligible professionals and eligible hospitals that adopt and meaningfully use certified EHR technology. http://medicareupdate.typepad.com/medicare_update/2010/03/meaningfuluseproposedrule.html Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:42:53 CST http://medicareupdate.typepad.com/medicare_update/2010/03/meaningfuluseproposedrule.html Grants to help small rural hospitals. -- Texas Department of Rural Affairs http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=2338 Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:32:01 CST http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=2338 This funding opportunity is one of many for the Equipment to Enhance Training for Health Professionals (EETHP) program, hereby known as EETHP Equipment Initiative. This announcement is for the Nursing Education, Practice and Retention Program. -- Bureau of Health Professions http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=2319 Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:15:10 CST http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=2319 Dotmed News article reports that Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) has introduced S. 2838, the Rural Health Access and Improvement Act of 2009, a bill that would give critical access hospitals priority in receiving grants under the Public Health Service Act, to assist in promotion of hospital health information technology. http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/11492/ Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:18:31 CST http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/11492/ Heart disease hospitalization rates among Americans aged 65 years and older vary substantially depending on where they live, according to a report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/2010/r100301.htm Tue, 02 Mar 2010 09:47:31 CST http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/2010/r100301.htm The AHA has released a model comment letterthat hospitals can use to help draft their own comments on the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services' proposed rule on the electronic health records incentive program for Medicare and Medicaid. http://www.ahanews.com/ahanews_app/jsp/display.jsp?dcrpath=AHANEWS/AHANewsNowArticle/data/ann_022610_EHR&domain=AHANEWS Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:33:03 CST http://www.ahanews.com/ahanews_app/jsp/display.jsp?dcrpath=AHANEWS/AHANewsNowArticle/data/ann_022610_EHR&domain=AHANEWS AHA News article interviews 2009 Shirley Ann Munroe Leadership Award winner Scott Street, president and CEO of Duncan (OK) Regional Hospital, on what it takes to be a successful rural hospital leader and the major challenges facing rural hospitals. http://www.ahanews.com/ahanews_app/jsp/display.jsp?dcrpath=AHANEWS/AHANewsArticle/data/AHA_News_022210_munroe&domain=AHANEWS Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:30:52 CST http://www.ahanews.com/ahanews_app/jsp/display.jsp?dcrpath=AHANEWS/AHANewsArticle/data/AHA_News_022210_munroe&domain=AHANEWS Durham NH May 6, 2010 -- New England Rural Health RoundTable http://www.newenglandruralhealth.org/activities/perimp.html Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:39:31 CST http://www.newenglandruralhealth.org/activities/perimp.html Government HealthIT article reports that four small, rural, government-run Texas hospitals have banded together to create a unique rural regional health information network (RHIO) they say will enable clinicians to share patient information as well as the financial burden of an electronic health record (EHR). http://govhealthit.com/newsitem.aspx?nid=73124 Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:41:47 CST http://govhealthit.com/newsitem.aspx?nid=73124 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation reports that two common conditions caused by hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) killed 48,000 people and ramped up health care costs by $8.1 billion in 2006 alone, according to a study released today in the Archives of Internal Medicine. http://www.rwjf.org/newsroom/product.jsp?id=55846 Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:28:24 CST http://www.rwjf.org/newsroom/product.jsp?id=55846 AHA News reports that a federal workgroup yesterday expressed support for giving hospitals and physicians greater flexibility in meeting the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' proposed rule on meaningful use. http://www.ahanews.com/ahanews_app/jsp/display.jsp?dcrpath=AHANEWS/AHANewsNowArticle/data/ann_021810_EHR&domain=AHANEWS Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:15:45 CST http://www.ahanews.com/ahanews_app/jsp/display.jsp?dcrpath=AHANEWS/AHANewsNowArticle/data/ann_021810_EHR&domain=AHANEWS The Federal Communications Commissions Rural Health Care Pilot Program has funded the build-out of an additional 16 broadband telehealth networks that will link hundreds of hospitals regionally in Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. http://www.raconline.org/news/news_details.php?news_id=13121 Fri, 19 Feb 2010 10:04:07 CST http://www.raconline.org/news/news_details.php?news_id=13121 The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched the first national surveillance system to monitor adverse events in patients who receive blood transfusions. http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/2010/r100218.htm Fri, 19 Feb 2010 09:42:47 CST http://www.cdc.gov/media/pressrel/2010/r100218.htm HealthLeaders Media article discusses the 2010 HealthLeaders Media Industry Survey finding that there was surprisingly little disagreement between CEOs at non-rural hospitals compared with CEOs at rural and community hospitals about most issues, except physician recruitment and retention. http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/COM-246647/Rural-CEOs-Concerned-about-Doc-Recruitment-Controlling-Costs-Not-So-Much Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:49:57 CST http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/COM-246647/Rural-CEOs-Concerned-about-Doc-Recruitment-Controlling-Costs-Not-So-Much AHA News reports that Senate Finance Committee Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA) today posted online the Senate's draft jobs-creation bill, the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act. The draft bill contains several health care proposals, described in the committee's bill summary. http://www.ahanews.com/ahanews_app/jsp/display.jsp?dcrpath=AHANEWS/AHANewsNowArticle/data/ann_021110_jobs&domain=AHANEWS Fri, 12 Feb 2010 10:50:14 CST http://www.ahanews.com/ahanews_app/jsp/display.jsp?dcrpath=AHANEWS/AHANewsNowArticle/data/ann_021110_jobs&domain=AHANEWS American Medical News article reports that hospitals in 2009 experienced the greatest number of mass layoffs since the Bureau of Labor Statistics started tracking those numbers in 1996. http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/02/08/bisa0208.htm Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:31:42 CST http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2010/02/08/bisa0208.htm AHA News article reports that a jobs bill being drafted by Senate negotiators would clarify the definition of hospital-based physician under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's HITECH provisions to allow physicians who practice in hospital-owned outpatient centers and clinics to qualify for federal payment incentives for health information technology. http://www.ahanews.com/ahanews_app/jsp/display.jsp?dcrpath=AHANEWS/AHANewsNowArticle/data/ann_021010_jobs&domain=AHANEWS Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:30:49 CST http://www.ahanews.com/ahanews_app/jsp/display.jsp?dcrpath=AHANEWS/AHANewsNowArticle/data/ann_021010_jobs&domain=AHANEWS Workforce issues, especially the acute shortage of physicians in low-population areas, are the top concern for chief executive officers in hospitals serving rural and community hospitals, according to the HealthLeaders Media Industry Survey 2010. http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/MAG-246229/Community-and-Rural-Recruiting-Retention-and-RACs-Top-Concerns Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:19:51 CST http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/MAG-246229/Community-and-Rural-Recruiting-Retention-and-RACs-Top-Concerns Presents data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) on rural hospital stays in 2007. -- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb85.pdf Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:20:32 CST http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb85.pdf Serves as a starting point for hospital leaders to assess, prioritize, implement, and monitor strategies to reduce avoidable readmissions. -- Health Research & Educational Trust http://www.hret.org/hret/programs/content/Readmission_Guide.pdf Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:06:37 CST http://www.hret.org/hret/programs/content/Readmission_Guide.pdf A report to Congress that presents data on the difference between regional variation in Medicare spending and regional variation in the use of Medicare-covered services. Date used was adjusted due to differences in small rural hospital and critical access hospital Medicare payment rates. -- Medicare Payment Advisory Commission http://www.medpac.gov/documents/Dec09_RegionalVariation_report.pdf Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:28:00 CST http://www.medpac.gov/documents/Dec09_RegionalVariation_report.pdf Grant program designed to help hospitals and physician offices accelerate Electronic Medical Records (EMR) adoption. -- GE Healthcare http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=2275 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:12:27 CST http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=2275 Describes this type of rural hospital in terms of bed size and the percentage of its patients that are beneficiaries of Medicare Part A. -- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNProducts/downloads/MedDependHospfctsht508.pdf Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:25:31 CST http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNProducts/downloads/MedDependHospfctsht508.pdf Provides details about the role America's teaching hospitals play in the nation's health care system, arguing that in addition to training future physicians and health professionals, teaching hospitals conduct lifesaving research and provide specialized services not offered at other facilities. Also argues that teaching hospitals are major economic engines in their communities, directly employing 2.7 million people and contributing more than $1 trillion to the economy in 2007. -- American Hospital Association http://www.aha.org/aha/trendwatch/2009/twsept2009teaching.pdf Wed, 07 Oct 2009 09:40:16 CST http://www.aha.org/aha/trendwatch/2009/twsept2009teaching.pdf Examines potentially preventable readmission rates for rural and urban hospitals, and discusses the rural implications of policy initiatives to reduce readmission rates. -- Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center http://www.uppermidwestrhrc.org/pdf/policybrief_newreadmissions.pdf Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:09:11 CST http://www.uppermidwestrhrc.org/pdf/policybrief_newreadmissions.pdf Grants to respond to unmet, local palliative care needs through new or expanded community partnerships. -- Regence Foundation http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=2229 Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:41:54 CST http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=2229 Funding for nonprofit or public hospitals with 100 or more beds that do not offer a formal palliative care program. -- Regence Foundation http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=1897 Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:33:42 CST http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=1897 Provides funding to improve access to quality health care for underserved populations in rural and urban areas. http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=863 Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:20:46 CST http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=863 Report focuses on Prospective Payment System (PPS) hospitals, lays out a framework for value-based purchasing programs and discusses rural challenges. -- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services http://www.cms.hhs.gov/AcuteInpatientPPS/downloads/HospitalVBPPlanRTCFINALSUBMITTED2007.pdf Tue, 12 May 2009 09:22:14 CST http://www.cms.hhs.gov/AcuteInpatientPPS/downloads/HospitalVBPPlanRTCFINALSUBMITTED2007.pdf