Critical Access Hospital (CAH) 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/cah.php AHA News reports that in a letteryesterday, 249 members of the U.S. House of Representatives strongly urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to revise its proposed definition and requirements for hospitals to qualify for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments as "meaningful users" of certified electronic health record technology. http://www.ahanews.com/ahanews_app/jsp/display.jsp?dcrpath=AHANEWS/AHANewsNowArticle/data/ann_031610_MU&domain=AHANEWS Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:16:25 CST http://www.ahanews.com/ahanews_app/jsp/display.jsp?dcrpath=AHANEWS/AHANewsNowArticle/data/ann_031610_MU&domain=AHANEWS Washington DC April 15, 2010 -- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services http://medicareupdate.typepad.com/medicare_update/2010/03/hospitalopendoorforum.html Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:08:06 CST http://medicareupdate.typepad.com/medicare_update/2010/03/hospitalopendoorforum.html Rural Health Voices article reports that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will instruct all of its Medicare contractors not to evaluate or enforce the supervision requirements for therapeutic services provided to outpatients in Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) for the duration of calendar year (CY) 2010. http://h184435wp.setupmyblog.com/ Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:45:45 CST http://h184435wp.setupmyblog.com/ Dunn County News, (WI) article reports that some of the critical access hospitals in rural Wisconsin have cut services that typically lose money, while continuing to wrestle with the high cost of delivering medical care to a small number of patients. http://www.dunnconnect.com/articles/2010/03/09/news/doc4b96c3b45efd5362477123.txt Wed, 10 Mar 2010 10:58:27 CST http://www.dunnconnect.com/articles/2010/03/09/news/doc4b96c3b45efd5362477123.txt Provides an educational stipend to a small or rural hospital administrator or chief executive officer to attend an AHA Annual Meeting or Health Forum Leadership Conference. -- American Hospital Association http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=840 Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:37:01 CST http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=840 Tucson AZ June 10, 2010 -- Arizona Rural Health Office http://www.medicine.nevada.edu/flex/wrfc10.html Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:02:00 CST http://www.medicine.nevada.edu/flex/wrfc10.html Wisconsin Dells WI May 10, 2010 -- Wisconsin Office of Rural Health http://www.worh.org/WI-RHSummitInfo10 Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:58:18 CST http://www.worh.org/WI-RHSummitInfo10 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 15:31:47 CST http://www.raconline.org/funding/funding_details.php?funding_id=2338 The Office of Rural Health Policy has announced 30 new Network Planning Grant Awards. http://www.raconline.org/news/news_details.php?news_id=13212 Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:29:22 CST http://www.raconline.org/news/news_details.php?news_id=13212 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 10:18:21 CST http://www.dotmed.com/news/story/11492/ 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 11:32:53 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 11:30:44 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 17:39:18 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 10:41:53 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 10:28:30 CST http://www.rwjf.org/newsroom/product.jsp?id=55846 Pay-for-performance (P4P) incentives likely reduce the financial status of CAHs alreadyin financial stress. However, P4P incentives are likely to have only a modest impact on the financial stability of CAHs. -- Flex Monitoring Team http://www.flexmonitoring.org/documents/PolicyBrief12_P4P.pdf Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:27:51 CST http://www.flexmonitoring.org/documents/PolicyBrief12_P4P.pdf 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 10:04:15 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 09:42:53 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 09:49:50 CST http://www.healthleadersmedia.com/content/COM-246647/Rural-CEOs-Concerned-about-Doc-Recruitment-Controlling-Costs-Not-So-Much California Farm Bureau Federation article reports that as the debate over national health care plays out in Washington, D.C., many smaller, cash-strapped medical facilities in rural communities say they face a series of challenges that could force some to close. http://www.cfbf.com/agalert/AgAlertStory.cfm?ID=1481&ck=4E8412AD48562E3C9934F45C3E144D48 Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:55:22 CST http://www.cfbf.com/agalert/AgAlertStory.cfm?ID=1481&ck=4E8412AD48562E3C9934F45C3E144D48 WSU Today, (WA) article reports that two of the regions largest gatherings of rural health care professionals will take place March 23 25 in Spokane, where participants will discuss how to weather economic challenges. http://www.wsutoday.wsu.edu/pages/publications.asp?Action=Detail&PublicationID=18341&TypeID=2 Wed, 17 Feb 2010 09:49:01 CST http://www.wsutoday.wsu.edu/pages/publications.asp?Action=Detail&PublicationID=18341&TypeID=2 Salem OR May 5, 2010 -- Oregon Office of Rural Health http://www.ohsu.edu/ohsuedu/outreach/oregonruralhealth/events/2010-sm-rur-hosp-summit.cfm Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:50:33 CST http://www.ohsu.edu/ohsuedu/outreach/oregonruralhealth/events/2010-sm-rur-hosp-summit.cfm Presents the results of application of the benchmarks to recent Critical Access Hospital (CAH) data. Very few CAHs performed better than benchmark on all five indicators in both 2004 and 2006. -- Flex Monitoring Team http://www.flexmonitoring.org/documents/PolicyBrief11_Benchmarks.pdf Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:34:02 CST http://www.flexmonitoring.org/documents/PolicyBrief11_Benchmarks.pdf Provides guidance to the staffs of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) in collecting and reporting community benefit data to comply with federal and/or state community benefit reporting requirements or to prepare community benefit reports for internal and external audiences. -- Flex Monitoring Team http://www.flexmonitoring.org/documents/Community-Benefit-Reporting-Toollkit.pdf Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:19:22 CST http://www.flexmonitoring.org/documents/Community-Benefit-Reporting-Toollkit.pdf Spokane WA March 22, 2010 http://www.spokane.wsu.edu/researchoutreach/AHEC/2010/index.html#RCAHC Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:27:51 CST http://www.spokane.wsu.edu/researchoutreach/AHEC/2010/index.html#RCAHC 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 11:27:42 CST http://www.medpac.gov/documents/Dec09_RegionalVariation_report.pdf Website offers access to a recording of a webcast that originally aired in May 2009 along with the associated presentation files. Presenters discuss differences in stimulus package IT incentives in relation to critical access hospitals (CAHs). http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20090324/WEBINAR/903249990/-1 Wed, 02 Dec 2009 10:21:35 CST http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20090324/WEBINAR/903249990/-1 Describes pieces of legislation that have resulted in the creation and modification of the critical access hospital (CAH) program. -- American Hospital Association http://www.aha.org/aha/issues/CAH/history.html Fri, 27 Nov 2009 09:09:43 CST http://www.aha.org/aha/issues/CAH/history.html Provides the basics for establishing a structured process of ongoing philanthropic resource development for health care facilities. -- Rural Health Resource Center Technical Assistance and Services Center http://www.ruralcenter.org/tasc/documents/Raising%20Funds%20For%20Rural%20Health%20Care%20Manual.pdf Fri, 27 Nov 2009 09:01:38 CST http://www.ruralcenter.org/tasc/documents/Raising%20Funds%20For%20Rural%20Health%20Care%20Manual.pdf Examines the fourth year participation and quality measure results for Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) in the Centers for Medicareand Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare public reporting database. -- Flex Monitoring Team http://www.flexmonitoring.org/documents/PolicyBrief10_HospitalCompare.pdf Fri, 27 Nov 2009 08:49:28 CST http://www.flexmonitoring.org/documents/PolicyBrief10_HospitalCompare.pdf