Contents:

 

AUGUST 2011

 

 

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MDH & ORHPC NEWS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE FINAL BUDGET REFLECTS CHANGES TO ORHPC GRANT and LOAN PROGRAMS
  • Minnesota's “designated rural area” definition was amended for the Loan Forgiveness Programs from outside the seven-county metro to “an area defined as a small rural area or isolated rural area according to the four category classifications of the Rural Urban Commuting Area system developed for the United States Health Resources and Services Administration.”  Map (PDF: 535KB/1pg) More on Rural and Urban Commuting Areas (RUCA) is on the ORHPC website.
  • The Donated Dental Services Program, the Health Careers Promotion Grant and the Migrant Health Grant were eliminated. The Summer Health Care Intern Program is not funded for fiscal year 2012-2013, but may be available in 2014.

HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Comments on barriers to exchanging health information among Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin are due August 2 to the Upper Midwest HIE State Health Policy Consortium.

CMS provides answers for 15 more FAQs on meaningful use, including allowable costs that CAHs can report, how costs incurred by home offices and collaborative networks should be handled, and the process for submitting cost data after they successfully attesting to EHR meaningful use requirements.

CMS permits CAHs to provide telemedicine services through written agreements (PDF: 196KB/27pgs)

CMS announces new resources for states to improve care, lower costs for Medicaid

HEALTH WORKFORCE SNAPSHOT

dentist by gender and age

Information collected from surveys completed by dental assistants during the 2008-2009 license renewal show approximately 11 percent performed at least one type of expanded restorative function, including placing, contouring, and adjusting amalgam restorations, glass ionomers, and supragingival composite restorations (class I and V) and adapting and cementing stainless steel crowns. Compared to the 2006-2007 survey, a larger percentage of dental assistants reported performing expanded restorative functions.

For more information and data on Minnesota's health workforce, visit the ORHPC Health Care Workforce Analysis Program site or contact Angie Sechler at angie.sechler@state.mn.us or 651-201-3862.

 

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ORHPC GRANTS AND LOANS

 

Minnesota State Loan Repayment Program applications are due August 12.

Rural Hospital Planning and Transition Grant applications will be available August 5 and are due September 19.

Indian Health Grant applications are due September 30.

Minnesota's Loan Forgiveness applications are due December 1.

Be an ORHPC grant reviewer. Please contact Doug Benson at doug.benson@state.mn.us or 651-201-3842 or Cindy LaMere at cindy.lamere@state.mn.us or 651-201-3852 with your name, profession, place of employment and contact information.

 

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OTHER GRANTS AND LOANS

Health care delivery system demonstration proposals are due to the Minnesota Department of Human Services by September 21.

Community Based Care Transition Program applications are being accepted for test models to improve care transitions of high risk Medicare beneficiaries.

Healthy Smiles, Healthy Children letters of intent are due August 15.
 

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OPPORTUNITIES

Openings are described on the Secretary of State website for the:
  • Board of Dietetics and Nutrition Practice
  • Board of Pharmacy
  • Environmental Health Tracking and Biomonitoring Advisory Panel
  • Motorcycle Safety Advisory Task Force
  • Registered Naturopathic Doctor Advisory Council
  • Rehabilitation Review Panel Department of Labor and Industry
  • State Rehabilitation Council for the Blind
  • Subcommittee on Children's Mental Health.

Applications for the National Rural Health Association's Rural Health Fellows Program are due August 31.

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NEWS OF OUR PARTNERS

 

Wheaton Community Hospital and Sanford Health merger complete

The University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center/Flex Monitoring Team responds to the JAMA Quality of Care and Patient Outcomes in Critical Access Hospital article.

Rural AIDS Action Network is expanding into southwestern Minnesota

Bigfork Valley Hospital opened a Wellness Center that is home to the Diabetes Center of Excellence and the Chiropractic Clinic.

National Rural Health Association meets with White House Rural Council chair
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NOW READ THIS

 

  • Minnesota health providers worry over possible Medicare cuts
  • Two Fulda, Minnesota students honored
  • Is health care pivotal in the revival of rural Minnesota?
  • Nursing home stay an eye-opener for advocate for elderly
  • Responses to Modernizing Rural Health Care: Coverage, quality and innovation (PDF: 2MB/84pgs), the UnitedHealth Center for Health & Reform Modernization report:
        • Rural areas face more health care hurdles
        • Telehealth could ease health disparities in rural U.S.
        • HIT must 'go rural'

Health Information Technology
  • Online tool helps prioritize health IT purchases
  • Rural Health Clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers seek to participate in EHR incentive program
  • Mental health providers pushing for inclusion in EHR incentive program

Telehealth
  • Telehealth group slams FCC for slow action on rural health programs
  • Telemedicine improves stroke care at hospitals
  • Telemedicine project connects primary care docs, patients with dermatologists
  • Cost savings of telemedicine validated
  • Robotic neonatal telemedicine rocks

Oral Health
Improving Access to Oral Health Care for Vulnerable and Underserved Populations

Pharmacy
Independently Owned Pharmacy Closures in Rural America, 2003-2010
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SAVE THE DATE

Community Paramedicine Insights Forum webinar is the third Monday of each month at 2 p.m.

Minnesota Community Health Worker Alliance is meeting 1-3 p.m. on August 3 in St. Paul. The focus of this month's meeting is the CHW Certificate Program, with updates from schools offering the program this fall.

The Central Minnesota Regional Trauma Advisory Committee is meeting September 8 in St. Cloud.

Working with veterans and their families is the topic of the Third Annual Rural Behavioral Health Practice Conference at UM-Morris, with a simultaneous webcast.

Learn the Basics of Starting a Telemedicine Program is September 21 in Minneapolis. This Great Plains TRAC half-day workshop is limited to 30 people.

The State Trauma Advisory Council is meeting September 27 in St. Paul.

The Southern Minnesota Regional Trauma Advisory Committee is meeting October 6 in Owatonna.

Rural Economic & Wellness Regional Symposium is a free virtual conference October 13.

The Rural Hospital Flexibility Committee is meeting October 20 in St. Paul.

The Sixth Annual Many Faces of Community Health Conference is October 27-28 in Minneapolis.

 

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View online all previous issues of the Office of Rural Health and Primary Care publications.

We invite you to forward this newsletter to your colleagues. Not already a subscriber? Subscribe to receive the Minnesota Office of Rural Health and Primary Care free Monthly and Quarterly e-newsletters.

Minnesota Office of Rural Health and Primary Care
P. O. Box 64882
St. Paul, Minnesota 55164-0882
Phone 651-201-3838
Toll free in Minnesota 800-366-5424
Fax: 651-201-3830
TDD: 651-201-5797
http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/orhpc/index.html

Email Mary Ann Radigan at maryann.radigan@state.mn.us or call 651-201-3855 with comments.

Our mission
to promote access to quality health care for rural and underserved urban Minnesotans. From our unique position within state government, we work as partners with communities, providers, policymakers and other organizations. Together, we develop innovative approaches and tailor our tools and resources to the diverse populations we serve.