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Georgia takes lead in long-distance medical care

For diagnosing common ailments - ear and sinus infections, bronchitis, skin abrasions and basal cell cancers - telemedicine sometimes proves better than hands-on treatment, because the cameras used to illuminate problem areas and transmit them to the physician often provide clearer pictures than can be seen through the scope alone, nurses and physicians say.

 Full Article  

Funds Fail to Reach Rural

By ihealthbeat.org

The Federal Communications Commission is coming under fire for not distributing millions of dollars intended for rural health care.

Since 1997, telecommunications companies have been required by law to collect universal access fees from their customers. Those fees are designed to subsidize broadband access for clinics, hospitals, schools and libraries in underserved areas.

FCC is responsible for distributing up to $400 million of that fund each year for rural health care services, such as telemedicine. However, the commission has doled out just a fraction of that money.

Read the full article.

 Preparing for Health Care Cuts

By Robert Bowman M.D. - Daily Yonder

On January 1, federal health care rates for doctors will be cut 29.5% unless Congress acts. The cuts will be harder on primary care physicians - and that means they will cut more deeply in rural communities, which are more dependent on primary care providers. At one point in history, Congress did realize that health care cost increases were a huge problem. Various mechanisms were designed to limit health care spending. The SGR or Sustainable Growth Rate design was one of these spending limitation interventions. The SGR design typically resulted in only a few percentage points of proposed cuts. Congress has bypassed these SGR cuts year after year, often in last minute rescue sessions.

This has set in motion the long process that has now led to a 29.5% cut in physician pay that will take effect on January 1, 2012. We have until the end of the year to prepare for these cuts - a health care Armageddon - if we don't first fix the formula. Of course those who put their dollars and efforts into stopping the cuts are not likely to be prepared for 29.5% cuts. And be forewarned: It will take some very smart planning to save our primary care system. The area of rural primary care is important to understand. All populations are dependent upon certain types of health care services, but some are more dependent than others.

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HHS announces $11.9 million to implement health information technology in rural areas
 

Rural health networks across the nation will receive more than $11.9 million to support their adoption of Health Information Technology (HIT) and certified Electronic Health Records (EHR). The funding announced today by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius will also help these rural health networks' participating eligible providers qualify for Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive payments, administered by the Centers for Medicare &Medicaid Services.

"We need health information technology to bring our health care system into the 21st century," said Secretary Sebelius.  "These funds will help safety net providers acquire state-of-the-art health information technology systems to ensure the delivery of quality care to some of the most remote areas of our country."

Each of 40 grantee organizations will receive about $300,000 to purchase equipment, install broadband networks and provide training for staff.  The pilot program was developed as a result of the President's Rural Health Initiative, which identifies HIT as a priority area, and the Secretary's Rural HIT Taskforce.  Funding is distributed through HHS' Health Resources and Services

Administration (HRSA) and comes from existing appropriations and authorization for the Rural Health Care Services Outreach and Rural Health Network Development Program.

"Collaboration is key to this effort. Working together, these rural health networks will be in a better position to achieve economies of scale and enhance their services and organizational capacity," said HRSA Administrator Mary Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N.

The list of grant recipients 

Rural areas, especially in the Southeast, Appalachia and parts of the West, have worse VRI (Vulnerability and Resiliency Index) scores whichare a measure of six socioeconomic indicators across counties in the United States. Better VRI scores were associated with better healthoutcomes (lower heart disease, cancer, and stroke death rates) across the rural-urban continuum. These analyses provide evidence to support the development of programs and policies that foster educational development, and economic diversity and vitality, as means of public health improvement, especially in rural areas in selected regions of the country.

A Rural Socioeconomic Risk and Resiliency Inventory and Associated Health Outcomes (Final Report) 

Contact Information:
Michael Hendryx, PhD
West Virginia Rural Health Research Center
Phone: 304-293-9206
mhendryx@hsc.wvu.edu 

Free Webinar Series

'Issues in Rural Health Planning'

Details 

Georgia Rural Health Association Annual Conference

September 19-21, 2011

Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, GA

School Based Health Clinic Summit 

 September 20, 2011

10 a.m.-2 p.m.