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GRHA Newsletter    Week of July 6, 2012    www.grhainfo.org    [email protected]    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

Carie Summers

Paula Guy

Monty M. Veazey

Shelley Spires

Joseph Barrow

Robert J. Briscione

Matt Caseman 

 

Meet our Board of Directors

  GRHA Welcomes

     New Member

 

ORGANIZATIONAL

 

Alliant/GMCF

 

Keystone Mercy Health Plan

 

Tift Regional Medical Center

FREE MEMBERSHIP FOR ONE YEAR!

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Non-members who register for the 2012 GRHA Annual Conference will receive a one year free membership with the Georgia Rural Health Association!
 
Some Membership Benefits Include:
 

Discounted membership rates at all GRHA events

 

Timely legislative tracking reports throughtout the General Assembly session, guided with the issues members say are important 

 

Up to date state and national public policy and advocacy e-mail alerts guided by GRHA Legislative Affairs Committee and the NRHA

 

Grant information available only to members

 

 

This offer will end August 23, 2012

GRHA Corporate Members

 

Summit Funding Group

 

Platinum Corporate Sponsor PPHS

 

 

Peach State Health Plan 

  

 

GACH   

 

Blue Cross Blue Shield 

 

Coca Cola 


   

WGA logo

gaphc  

  New Funding Opportunity

 

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced available funding of $70 million to improve the health of small communities across the nation. Grants will be awarded to governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations across a variety of sectors, including transportation, housing, education, and public health, in an effort to save lives and control the nation's growing health care costs associated with preventable chronic diseases.

 

The official funding opportunity announcement for the Community Transformation Grant program Small Communities component can be found by clicking here

 

Application closing date: July 31, 2012

  

RAC 

Funding And Opportunties

DCH-i June 2012, Vol. 1 Issue 8  

 

DCH-i is the monthly newsletter from the Georgia Department of Community Health for all matters DCH. It provides timely and important information to you as physicians, dentists, hospitals, third-party payers, vendors, health care advocates, consumers and legislators. Our goal is to help create 

A Healthy Georgia -- together. Write us at

[email protected].

Save the Date
 
1st Annual Medical Fair 

October 12-13, 2012

Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation

 

More Information Coming Soon!

 



georgia map

Community Facilities Funds Available from USDA

 

USDA, Rural Development Community Facilities Program  

July Health Observances

 

Cord Blood Awareness Month 

 

International Group B Strep Awareness Month

 

Juvenile Arthritis Awareness Month

 

National Cleft & Craniofacial Awareness & Prevention Month

 

UV Safety Month

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

 Find us on Facebook
                    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.

 
Join Our Mailing List
Notice
GRHA circulates state and national news as an information service only. Inclusion of information is not intended as an endorsement.

2012 Georgia Rural Health Association 

Annual Conference

September 17 -19, 2012

Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, GA

2012 Annual conference logo

    

 Deadline extended to September 7, 2012

 

Deadline is August 1, 2012

 

Callaway Gardens Resort  

Reservations: 1-888-312-8002

Ask for GRHA Rate

 

 

 

NEW THIS YEAR!
Presenting
Diamond
Platinum

Time to Nominate Your Colleagues for 2012 GRHA Awards of Excellence

GRHA logo

 

The nominations are now open for the 2012 GRHA Awards of Excellence.  Click here for more details and  to make a nomination. Deadline is August 1!

 

You can nominate people or organizations for the following awards:

 

Legislator of the Year

Outstanding Rural Health Practice or Practitioner .

Outstanding Rural Health Program  

Distinguished Educator/Researcher

James Alley Award for Outstanding Lifetime Achievement in Rural Health Care  

Outstanding Volunteer  

Future Professionals in Rural Health  

 

Awards will be presented at the GRHA Annual Conference in Pine Mountain, Georgia on October 17.

 

Georgia faces tough call on Medicaid

 

 

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the health care overhaul, but Georgia's emergency rooms and free clinics may still be jammed with the uninsured years after that landmark ruling.

 

The court on Thursday gave states the authority to opt out of the massive expansion of the Medicaid program that is a key component of the law. In 2014, that expansion would extend Medicaid to about 650,000 poor and low-income Georgians who do not qualify for the program today.

 

Without the Medicaid expansion, however, Georgia will not come close to extending insurance to most of the 1.9 million residents who do not have it now.

 

"The truth is that millions will continue not to be covered," said Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens, who led the state's fight against the law. "You have a huge tax increase without necessarily helping many of the folks you intended to help."

 

By Carrie Teegardin and Misty Williams  

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

 

Full Story

Sharp increase expected in number of nurse practitioners

The growth in the profession will be especially noticeable in primary care, according to a new report.

 

The nurse practitioner population will nearly double by 2025, according to an analysis published in the July Medical Care, the official journal of the medical care section of the American Public Health Assn.

 

"Nurse practitioners really are becoming a growing presence, particularly in primary care," said David I. Auerbach, PhD, the author and a health economist at RAND Corp.

 

Auerbach used modeling to project that the count of those trained as nurse practitioners would increase 94% from 128,000 in 2008 to 244,000 in 2025. The subgroup of those providing patient care as nurse practitioners, rather than filling administrative or other roles, will rise 130% from 86,000 in 2008 to 198,000 in 2025.

 

Read full story 

 
NRHA responds to Supreme Court's health reform ruling, has record attendance at webinar following
  
 

On June 28, in a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in its entirety (with the exception that the federal government's power to terminate states' Medicaid funds is narrowly read). The Court could have struck down all or part of the bill as unconstitutional, but instead, upheld each of four distinct legal challenges.

    

What does the court's decision mean to rural America? 

 

Whether you support or oppose the health care bill, it is important to know that many provisions were included in the bill that benefit both the rural provider and patient. During the health reform debate, NRHA's message was clear: Improve rural America's access to health care providers by resolving the workforce shortage crisis in rural areas, and eliminate long-standing payment inequities for rural providers. 

 

Read on

Consumer Reports Rates Hospital Safety

  

hospital safety

 

The spotlight on hospital-caused patient harm has become a bit brighter with the launch of Consumer Reports' hospital safety ratings, which uses several different measures than the Leapfrog Group's recent and controversial hospital letter grades, and reaches opposite conclusions about many facilities.

The CU rating system, featured in the magazine's August issue, rates hospitals in six categories:

1.Infections

2.30-day readmissions

3.Overuse of scanning

4.Communication about new medications and discharge process (as measured by HCAHPS - the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey)

5.Patient complications

6.30-day post-discharge mortality

 

In addition to informing consumers, the CU rating system is aimed at hospital CEOs and boards, "in terms of their accountability," and getting them to understand they can do better, John Santa, MD, director of Consumer Reports Health Ratings Center, explained in an interview with HealthLeaders.

 

"We see hospitals are figuring this out, but most of them haven't.  The hospitals that have are those with CEOs and boards that have decided, 'enough of this ambiguity about safety. We've had 12 years since the Institute of Medicine report To Err Is Human. This is embarrassing. And we're not going to be embarrassed by it any longer."

 

Full Story 

georgia health policy center  

 

The Supreme Court Ruling on the Affordable Care Act: What will it mean for Georgians?  

  

To learn more click here.  

 

Mark Your Calendar

 

 

2012 Annual National Forum on Education Policy  

July 9 - 11, 2012 

Education Commission of the States
InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta Hotel
Atlanta, GA
For more information, contact:

303.299.3621

[email protected] 

 

 

What's Up, Doc: What You Need to Know About Medical School 2012

Date: Thursday, July 19, 2012
Time: 
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM (EST)  Sponsor:  SOWEGA AHEC
REGISTRATION

 

 

Georgia Oral Health Summit

Monday, August 13, 2012

Macon, GA

Registration and Agenda coming soon!

 

2012Georgia Rural Health Association Annual Conference

September 17-19, 2012

Registration 

 

20th Annual NALBOH Conference

Aug 8 - 10, 2012

National Association of Local Boards of Health

Hyatt Regency Downtown

Atlanta, GA

For more information, contact:

Tracy Schupp

[email protected]

http://www.nalboh.org/NALBOH_Conference.htm

 

 

2012 National Medicare Region IV Train-the-Trainer Workshop

Aug 21 - 23, 2012

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Atlanta, GA

Information and Registration Link

 

2012 Annual NASCSP Conference

Sep 11 - 14, 2012 

National Association for State Community Services Programs

Grand Hyatt Atlanta

Atlanta, GA

http://www.nascsp.org/Events.aspx?id=130 

 

 

ICD-10-CM Workshop

Dec 14, 2012  

American Medical Association

Hyatt Regency Atlanta

Atlanta, GA

Details and Registration

For more information, contact: Desiree Evans

[email protected]


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