Monthly e-newsletter from the Colorado Rural Health Center.

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CEO Update: We'll See You Soon!

This month, we experienced the solar eclipse and our team at CRHC had a small viewing party. Even though we had 93% coverage here in Colorado, I was really surprised at how much sunlight poured through. In case you hadn’t heard, a solar eclipse is nothing more than the moon passing between the sun and the earth, casting a large shadow over the earth. Similar to the solar eclipse, rural health has been a bit in the shadow despite the large amount of advocacy efforts at the state and federal level. However, just as the eclipse had its time and the shadow lifted with the return of sunlight, this year rural healthcare has gained much needed attention.

As you know, Colorado is a rural state with 47 of the 64 counties identified as rural and of those 47 rural counties, 23 are frontier or have a population density of six or fewer residents per square mile. That means that 73% of Colorado is considered rural which equates to approximately 718,000 rural residents. What people tend to forget is that CAHs and RHCs were established to provide access to care in rural communities. Rural Colorado has older, sicker, and poorer patients. CAHs and RHCs do not have the patient population to provide care without cost-based reimbursement. In Colorado’s rural counties, 30% – 60% are on Medicaid and Medicare and some facilities see upwards of 70% Medicare and Medicaid patients.

Annual Rural Health Conference

DISCOVER WHAT’S NEXT IN HEALTH CARE
The Annual Rural Health Conference will bring over 200 professionals together to experience 20 educational sessions, four keynote speakers and numerous opportunities for networking and connecting with peers. Our CAH Workshop involves hospital CEOs and other leadership staff together for more intimate learning and sharing of best practices solutions and methodology while working together on shared issues and concerns for their hospitals and communities. Your top priorities will be addressed in both the conference and workshop including quality, workforce, policy, payment, health information technology, and creating and maintaining healthy workplaces.

Policy Resources:

Medicaid & Other Financing for Alcohol/Opioid Treatment – Thursday, August 17 at 3:00 pm ET. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will host this 90-minute webinar to discuss a forthcoming update to their 2014 report, Medicaid Coverage and Financing of Medications to Treat Alcohol and Opioid Use Disorders. Participants will learn how Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) is currently covered under Medicaid at the state level, understand barriers to MAT coverage along with possible actions to improve coverage, and learn details of innovative financing models.
Events:

Policy Corner: Safety Net Clinic Week

With over 1,400 miles of rural Colorado traveled and countless hours of footage collected, we are excited to release our annual Safety Net Clinic Week Community Showcase videos with our members and partners!

Safety Net Clinic week is devoted to educating the public and policy makers about vitally important rural healthcare clinics. Historically, we would invite legislators to tour rural health clinics, but it was difficult to get rural legislators to tour facilities in their own districts, and practically impossible to get urban legislators to travel outside the I-25 corridor. Since 2015, we have transitioned the project into a video series about rural Colorado communities and the issues facing their rural health clinics. This year, we will be featuring Roaring Fork Family Practice in Carbondale, Southwest Health Systems in Cortez, and the Yuma Clinic in Yuma.

The videos provide viewers an opportunity to learn more about each clinic, the folks who work there, and the community they serve. The videos also highlight critical issues the communities are facing, including access to mental health services, healthcare affordability and access in the Resort West, and maintaining financial sustainability in a time of political uncertainty. The videos will be featured at a screening event on Tuesday, September 12, 2:00-3:30pm at our office in Aurora. The videos will also be featured on our website and screened at the CRHC Annual Conference.

The event has been very successful in years past, and policymakers have been incredibly receptive and grateful for an authentic look at healthcare access in rural Colorado. In fact, the event was so successful last year that I was invited to present the videos to the Joint Health Committee at the Capitol in January! Storytelling and allowing our members to speak for themselves is an incredibly powerful and impactful advocacy tool, and we know that providing policymakers with a first-hand look at healthcare access in your community will inform their decisions about how to tackle these tough issues.

You can see other featured community videos and learn more about Safety Net Clinic week by visiting the SNCW page on our website. Also, if you are in the Denver area and would like to attend the screening, you can learn more about the event and RSVP here.

Rural Health Information Hub Resources

Rural Funding & Opportunities
Topics: Colorado
Southwest Telehealth Resource Center Helps Rural Providers Connect

Webinars & Events

September 8 - Nurse.com Denver Career Day
September 21-22 - 2017 Annual CONL Conference
September 30 - Webinar: Tying Together Quality and Cost
Ongoing - Colorado ECHO Learning Sessions

Submit your Clinic Profile

“This is a friendly reminder to please submit your 2017 Clinic Profile to the Colorado Rural Health Center. If you have already submitted your clinic’s profile, please disregard this message.

Your clinic may submit the Clinic Profile directly via our website at http://coruralhealth.org/clinic-profile-form or by hovering over the Programs tab on our home page, clicking on Rural Clinics, and then clicking on the Clinic Profile button under the Clinic Profile Form description.

Please complete the form in its entirety as your Clinic Profile submission provides CRHC with valuable information improving advocacy, funding, and services for your clinic and community. If you have any questions, please reach out to me for assistance. Thank you in advance for your submission.”

Submit Today!

LARC Needs Assessment

Attention Members! Last month you received a phone call and/or an e-mail in regards to Long Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC). In partnership with Caring for Colorado and the University of Colorado, we are collecting a needs assessment of providers using or in need of training for LARC. I urge you to complete the below survey so that our state can best assist your clinic or hospital in providing this training to your provers and therefore expanding access to care in your community. Data identifying individual clinics will not be distributed publicly.

For Certified Rural Health Clinics, please use this survey link, https://ucdenver.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_d5tkTl7YYzwOqgZ
For non-certified rural clinics, please use this survey link, https://ucdenver.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0rn0tHncWhHQ10x

If you have any questions regarding the survey, please contact Dr. Mark Deutchman at Mark.Deutchman@ucdenver.edu.

Thank you in advance for your time and the information shared.

Recruiting for Retention Academy

Need help recruiting providers? Join the 2nd annual 3RNet Recruiting for Retention Academy, an online training series which provides practical solutions specifically for rural and underserved communities! This six-part webinar workshop series begins on October 3rd, 2017.

Recruiting to rural and underserved areas will always be hard, but having a clear process and being knowledgeable about your resources can make it easier. The Recruitment for Retention Academy agenda is now available and registration is coming soon! Click here for more details and to save the dates for the webinar sessions.

This year’s Academy topics include:

* Combating Isolation in Rural/Underserved Recruiting
* Compensation Trends for Providers – Balancing Financial and Lifestyle
* Avoiding Burnout Through a Managed Scope of Practice
* Recruiting for Team-Based Care in Rural/Underserved Communities
* Building Support for Your Recruitment Efforts at the Local Level
* Identify and Communicate Strengths, Invest in Challenges

Click here for more info, pricing, and registration information that will be forthcoming! For questions please contact Ashley Mills at amm@coruralhealth.org / 303-407-2031.

Health Service Corps Events

Save October 27 on your calendar to join us for a day of training and an evening awards ceremony for Colorado/National Health Service Corps loan repayment clinicians, partners, students, and sites serving Colorado's medically underserved.

See the attached Save the Date. An invitation and registration email will be sent next month.

Call for Nominations
We will recognize outstanding Colorado and National Health Service Corps participants and alumni at the evening awards celebration. We need you to please nominate a NHSC, CHSC or NURSE Corps provider who exemplifies the mission of the Corps for an award to be presented at the October 27 event. Deadline for nominations is September 22.

You may also nominate a student involved in a rural or urban track who has shown leadership and collaboration.

If selected, the provider and/or student will receive an award and public recognition at the event.

Date/Time
October 27, 2017--Various training sessions from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Evening awards celebration from 5 to 7 p.m.

Location
Denver Marriott West
1717 Denver West Boulevard, Golden, CO 80401

Be sure to reserve October 27 on your calendar.

Thank you, and we hope to see you there!

CHSC Provider Application Cycles Opens 9/1

The Colorado Health Service Corps Loan Repayment (CHSC) provider application cycle opens September 1^st. Spread the word to primary care providers in your clinic!

The CHSC program offers funding for primary care providers in an outpatient setting to assist with paying off their student loans in exchange for a commitment to work at their current clinic for a minimum of three years. Both the facility and the provider need to be approved. To find out if your clinic is an approved site, view a current listing here. Clinics not yet approved can apply as long as they meet the requirements listed below:

ELIGIBLE HEALTH PROFESSIONALS:
•          MD or DO including FP, IM, PED, OB/GYN, GER, PSYCH
•          NP, PA, CNM
•          DDS, RDH
•          License Mental Health Practitioners
•          Pharmacists

ELIGIBLE SITES:
•          Located in a Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA)
•          Accept public insurance and have a sliding fee scale for low income patients
•          Primary care, outpatient settings, must be public or non-profit
***For-profit clinics are eligible to apply through the Rural Essential Access Provider program. The entry point of which is the same as the CHSC program. For questions please contact Natalie Roth at Natalie.roth@state.co.us.

AWARD AMOUNTS:
•          Up to $90,000 for MD/DO and DDS/DMD
•          Up to $50,000 for NP, PA, CNM and LMHP
•          Up to $20,000 for RDH

SERVICE OBLIGATION FOR PROVIDERS:
•          Agree to work for a minimum term of 3 years at their approved clinic
•          Work part-time or full-time in direct patient care

Please pass this information along to primary care providers in your clinics! For more details please visit the Colorado Health Service Corps website at www.coloradohealthservicecorps.org. You can also contact Natalie Roth at the Primary Care Office at Natalie.roth@state.co.us to inquire about the approval process for your clinic.

Recruiting healthcare providers to your facility?

Join the 3RNet Recruiting for Retention Academy, a training series which provides practical solutions for rural and underserved communities!

This six-part webinar series starts October 3rd, 2017.

Recruiting to rural and underserved areas will always be hard, but having a clear process and being knowledgeable about your resources can make it easier. The Recruitment for Retention Academy agenda is now available! Click here for more details and registration information.

Topics include:

• Combating Isolation in Rural/Underserved Recruiting
• Compensation Trends for Providers – Balancing Financial and Lifestyle Needs
• Avoiding Burnout Through a Managed Scope of Practice
• Recruiting for Team Based Care in Rural/Underserved Communities
• Building Support for your Recruitment Efforts at the Local Level
• Identify and Communicate Strengths, Invest in Challenges
• and many more..

For questions please contact 3RNet at info@3rnet.org or 1-800-787-2512.

Access and Coverage
St. Mary Corwin labor and delivery program may close
Red Cross Seeks Volunteers to Help Those Hit by Hurricane Harvey

Administration and Finance
Allscripts buys McKesson’s EHR, revenue cycle tools for $185 million
Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) Updates for 2017
Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved (JHCPU) 28.3 August 2017 Now Available

Quality
Comments Requested: Measuring Health Disparities
Can I Apply for a Quality Payment Program Hardship Exception?
The Emergence of Nurse-Managed Care: Providing accessible, affordable health care in vulnerable communities

Funding
Colorado‐based Western Healthcare Alliance’s Community Care Alliance Receives Federal Grant
Applications for New Awards; Promise Neighborhoods Program
USDA Loans for Rural Broadband

Colorado Rural Health Center

6551 South Revere Parkway Centennial, Colorado 80111

Suite 155

Centennial, CO 80111

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