News from GRHA

GRHA Newsletter
Week of March 25, 2011

www.grhainfo.org

grha@grhainfo.org
478-552-3620

2011 GRHA Board Members

Nannette Turner

Greg Dent

Sallie Barker

Denise Kornegay

Sheila Freeman
Deidre Howell
Johnny Grant
Chris Parker
Ann Addison
Carla Belcher
Sue Nieman

Charles Owens

Laura Bland Gillman

Rhett Partin

Caroline Holley Womack

Matt Caseman

GRHA

Welcomes

New Members

Nurse Family Partnership

Georgia College of Emergency Physicians

Joseph Lowry

CLICK HERE to Renew Your Membership

2011 Legislative Tracking Reports and Session Updates

GRHA Members can log onto our website, grhainfo.org//legislation.htm and view up to date Legislative Tracking Reports and Session Updates for the 2011 General Assembly. All you have to do is click on 2011 Legislative Tracking and enter your username and password. We also have the 2011 Legislative Agenda on the website.

Rural Health Clinic Conference

May 24, 2011- Cordele, Georgia

South Georgia Technical College

Click here for the recently released Agenda/Presenters and why you can't afford to miss what is sure to be a very informative day!

WEB SITE UPDATE

Student Resource Page

Are you a student or do you know a student who is interested in rural health and looking for a chance to expand leadership skills and an opportunity to build a professional network? The Georgia Rural Health Association (GRHA) is recruiting students to become part of a growing organization that advocates for the health of rural Georgia. For just $20, students can participate in a network of statewide health providers, an exclusive mailing list, in the annual conference, and GRHA sponsored events. Additionally, student members have access to state and national reports as well as access to local, state, and national rural news and policies. The GRHA network includes members from a wide array of diverse rural health professions. Still unsure about joining? Click here to visit our student resource page. Over the next couple of months this page will be enhanced to include many more valuable functions!

Partner Up!

Public Health Rankings

Georgia Public Health Ranking Report

2011 Corporate Members

Coca Cola
Amerigroup

WGA logo

March Observances

National Nutrition Month

National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month V

Trisomy Awareness Month

Georgia Rural Health Association is on

Facebook & Twitter !

For those of you who want to stay up to date through social networks, please join the Georgia Rural Health Association Facebook page and follow us on Twitter!

By joining our social media sites, you have the ability to stay updated on the latest rural health information in Georgia. Please help us spread the word! Thank you for your support and feel free to contact us with any questions.

MAG/GMGMA WORKSHOPS

The Medical Association of Georgia (MAG) in partnership with the Georgia Medical Group Management Association (GMGMA) will condut innovative CME-accredited workshops across the state in 2011.

Details

Notice

GRHA circulates state and national news as an information service only. Inclusion of information is not intended as an endorsement.

House Bill 214 to Create Department of Public Health
Clears House and Moves to Senate

Public Health could operate as separate entity

Legislation that would create a new Department of Public Health appears to be moving steadily through the Georgia General Assembly. House Bill 214, sponsored by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Mickey Channell
(R-Greensboro) and other prominent House leaders, cleared the House on a vote of 151-9 early in the session and went to the State Senate.

Wednesday afternoon, the bill was heard and approved by a subcommittee of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. Its next stop is the full HHS Committee, whose chair, Senator Renee Untermann (R-Buford), is managing the bill in the Senate.

Representative Channell crafted H.B. 214 following the recommendation late last year by a special State Commission on Public Health that public health be split away from DCH and set up as an independent agency.

article taken from Partner Up! Public Health Campaign

NRHA Government Affairs

Tell your Members of Congress to Protect Rural Hospitals

As you may know, the Congressional Budget Office recently released a report detailing ways in which the federal spending deficit could be reduced. One of their options, Mandatory Spending Option 24, suggests eliminating the Critical Access Hospital, Sole Community Hospital and Medicare Dependent Hospital programs. These facilities provide critical access to rural patients across the nation.

The CBO option would override Congressional intent by changing the hospitals' reimbursement to the Inpatient Prospective Payment System. These new rules would reduce Medicare payments to these hospitals forcing many to offer reduced services or close, significantly limiting many rural Americans' access to a health care facility.

Critical Access Hospitals, Sole Community Hospitals and Medicare Dependent Hospitals receive the special cost-based payments because facilities operating in rural America typically have higher costs associated with care as well as a lower volume of patients. The increased financial burden resulting from a reduced payment rate would force many hospitals in rural
America to close reducing access to care for rural Americans.

Please call your Members of Congress and tell them to protect rural Americans' access to care by maintaining rural hospital Medicare payments.

If you have additional questions, please contact the NRHA Government Affairs staff at 202-639-0550.

Can Health Facility Partners save you money?

YES WE CAN!

Today, healthcare is planning for an uncertain future. Failing to plan for new facilities or renovations to existing spaces can be fatal to any healthcare provider.

Non supportive design has negative costs effects to the work environment.

Supportive design has positive cost benefits to the work environment.

Carefully designing your space to support what the staff, departments and teams actually do is an investment that pays off in business.

But more importantly creates better outcomes for patients, staff, families, visitors, doctors, specialists...

How can we help you?

www.healthfp.net

423.899.2996

How Institutional Providers Will Pay the Medicare Enrollment Application Fee beginning Friday, March 25

Lets Walk!