News from GRHA

GRHA Newsletter
Week of October 28, 2011

www.grhainfo.org

grha@grhainfo.org
478-552-3620

Georgia Rural Health Association (GRHA) is the oldest state rural health association in the country. Founded in 1981, this nonprofit network of healthcare providers, educators, and individuals is united in its commitment to improve the health and healthcare services of rural Georgians. Join now!

FY 2012 GRHA Board of Directors

President

Sallie Barker

Immediate Past President

Nannette Turner

President Elect

Denise Kornegay

Vice President

Ann Addison

Treasurer

Sheila Freeman

Secretary

Deidre Howell

Board Members

Carla Belcher

Laura Bland Gillman

Sue Nieman

Charles Owens

Chris Parker

Rhett Partin

Caroline Holley Womack

Paula Guy

Monty M. Veazey

Matt Caseman

Meet our Board of Directors

GRHA Welcomes New Members

Individual

Carole Jakeway

Application Available for 2012 Barbara Jordan Health Policy Scholars Program

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation is accepting applications for the 2012 Barbara Jordan Health Policy Scholars Program. This summer program provides college students with an opportunity to work on policy issues in a congressional office and to learn about other organizations and agencies involved in health policy.

The Barbara Jordan Health Policy Scholars Program is open to individuals with a strong interest in eliminating racial and ethnic health disparities. Eligible candidates must be U.S. citizens who will be either a senior at or a recent graduate of an accredited 4-year college or university in the fall of 2012. Individuals with a graduate degree and those individuals currently enrolled in a graduate degree program are not eligible to participate. The application deadline is 5 p.m. ET on Friday, December 16, 2011. Application materials and more information are available online at http://bjordanscholars.kff.org/.

GRHA Corporate Members

Coca Cola

Amerigroup

WGA logo

GAPHC2

October

Observances

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Eye Injury Prevention Month

National Down Syndrome Awareness Month

National Physicial Therapy Month

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Awareness Month

National Medical Librarians Month

For those of you who want to stay up to date through social networks, please like 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.

Health Statistics Show Link to Local Economy

By Andy Miller

October 20, 2011

Georgia Health News

Georgia counties with poor health statistics tend to lag on economic vitality as well, an analysis shows.

Partner Up for Public Health, an advocacy campaign, has produced a comparison of data ranking counties on health outcomes and economic strength.

The analysis "shows how intertwined they are,'' said Charlie Hayslett, whose Hayslett Group firm manages the Partner Up campaign under a grant from the Healthcare Georgia Foundation.

Nineteen of the 20 Georgia counties at the bottom of the economic statistics are classified as rural, Hayslett said Wednesday.

To read the full article click here.

Insurance exchange could ease health care cost for small businesses

by Misty Williams

October 22, 2011

The Atlanta Journal Constitution

As co-owner of a small IT solutions company in Alpharetta, Julie Haley would rather be out networking and snapping up new business instead of spending hours looking for ways to curb her firm's escalating health insurance costs.

Like small businesses across Georgia and the nation, health care costs for Edge Solutions, which Haley started in 2008, have been jumping by double digits. Haley estimates in the first year alone, health care costs made up 25 percent of operating expenses - in part because without at least 10 employees insurers wouldn't even bother talking with her. Instead, she paid pricey continuation coverage of workers' prior plans to attract the experienced people she needed who were used to great benefits at larger companies.

"It really crippled us," she said, adding that the exorbitant cost meant growing the business more slowly.

To read the full article click here.

Position Announcement

The Georgia Public Health Training Center seeks a full time Program Coordinator to assist with the coordination and implementation of continuing education and workforce development programs. The Georgia Public Health Training Center is funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and functions as the outreach and engagement arm of the College of Public Health at The University of Georgia.

To learn more click here.

To go to GRHA's Job Board click here.

cms2

An Invitation to Join Jonathan Blum, CMS' Deputy Administrator and the Director of the Center for Medicare for an Overview of the Medicare Shared Savings Program Final Rule and Other Opportunities to Improve Care

Please join us on November 21, 2011, for an in-person meeting with the Centers for Medicare &

Medicaid Services (CMS) Jonathan Blum, CMS' Deputy Administrator and the Director of theCenter for Medicare to discuss the final rule that includes new incentives for providers to worktogether through Accountable Care Organizations when caring for people with Medicare. There arealso new tools to help doctors and other health care providers improve the quality of care for all patients.

This meeting is intended to help you understand what CMS wants to achieve through the various Accountable Care Organization (ACO) models, and we welcome your questions in advance.

WHO: Jonathan Blum, CMS' Deputy Administrator & the Director of the Center for Medicare Dr. Richard Wild, CMS Atlanta Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Nilasena, CMS Dallas Chief Medical Officer

WHEN: November 21, 2011, 1:00-2:00 p.m. EST.

WHERE: Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, Tom Harkin Global Communications Center, 1600 Clifton Road, MS-D32, Atlanta, GA 30333

A conference line will be available for those not able to attend (Listen Only)

DIAL: 877-267-1577 Meeting ID 4494

Please feel free to distribute the dial-in information broadly.

Instructions for submitting questions:

Please submit your questions to Teresa Wilson, Health Insurance Specialist, teresa.wilson@cms.hhs.gov by November 15, 2011. If there is time at the meeting, there will be an open microphone.