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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
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GRHA Welcomes
New Member
ORGANIZATIONAL
Alliant/GMCF
Keystone Mercy Health Plan
Tift Regional Medical Center |
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FREE MEMBERSHIP FOR ONE YEAR!
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 |
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Childhood Asthma in Rural-Urban Areas
Asthma is one of the leading causes of chronic illness among children and the most commonly reported cause of childhood disability. Rates of childhood asthma in the United States have been increasing over the last several decades such that the rise in asthma prevalence has been labeled as an epidemic. The causes of this increase are not well known but may be related to factors such as increased impact of environmental allergens, indoor and outdoor air pollutants, increased obesity rates, and inadequate early immune system exposures. Research specific to prevalence of asthma among rural children is limited and has resulted in conflicting findings which may reflect differences in exposures across different types of rural settings.
These reports assess rates of lifetime and current asthma for children across the rural-urban continuum for the U.S. They also examine how asthma may be related to rural areas adjacent or non-adjacent to larger population centers, to variation in measures of air quality, to varying levels of agricultural and animal production, and to other characteristics such as obesity, race/ethnicity, or health insurance.
Full Report |
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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
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Save the Date
1st Annual Medical Fair
October 12-13, 2012
Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation
More Information Coming Soon!
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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!   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. |
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GRHA circulates state and national news as an information service only. Inclusion of information is not intended as an endorsement.
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2012 Georgia Rural Health Association
Annual Conference
September 17 -19, 2012
Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, GA
GRHA CONFERENCE AGENDA
will update as speakers confirm
Deadline extended to September 7, 2012
Deadline is August 1, 2012
Reservations: 1-888-312-8002
Ask for GRHA Rate
NEW THIS YEAR!
Presenting
Diamond
Platinum |
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Time to Nominate Your Colleagues for 2012 GRHA Awards of Excellence
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.
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Public Health marks milestone with upbeat report
The Department of Public Health's commissioner said Tuesday that she remains worried about two agency problems: funding and workforce vacancy rates.
But in her progress report on Public Health, a year after its launch, Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald also listed several accomplishments of the new agency, including initiatives to reduce the state's high rates of obesity and infant mortality.
"I'm enormously pleased by the incredible work done'' by public health employees, she told the agency's board at a meeting.
Public Health, formerly part of the Department of Community Health, was made an independent agency in July 2011 through legislation passed by the General Assembly.
Full Story by Andy Miller |
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WellPoint buying Amerigroup; new ACOs announced
Two announcements Monday underscored the rapid currents of change in Georgia health care.
First came news of a $4.5 billion deal by health insurance giant WellPoint to acquire Amerigroup.
Both companies have large operations in Georgia.
WellPoint is the parent company of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, the state's largest health insurer. Amerigroup runs one of the three ''care management organizations'' (CMOs) that serve the Medicaid and PeachCare populations in the state.
According to the second announcement, Cobb-based WellStar Health Network has been selected to participate as an ''accountable care organization'' (ACO) for Medicare patients in Georgia.
ACOs are networks of hospitals and doctors aimed at improving patient care and containing costs. Under the Shared Savings Program, the organizations get paid more for keeping their patients healthy and out of the hospital.
The WellPoint deal is focused on Amerigroup's Medicaid business nationally. States increasingly are looking to managed care companies to control their spending on Medicaid, which covers the poor and disabled and is jointly financed with the federal government.
By: Andy Miller
Full Story |
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2012 Rural Health Clinic Conference Recorded Webinars
Southwest GA AHEC Distance Learning
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March for Rural Hospitals
On July 30-31, NRHA will host the first March for Rural Hospitals in Washington, D.C., to protect funding for Medicare Dependent Hospitals (MDH) and low-volume hospitals (LVH) across the country.
Join us on Capitol Hill to:
* step up the grassroots effort to restore MDH program and LVH adjustment funding
* analyze the rural implications of the Supreme Court's health reform decision
* voice your opinion on MedPAC's flawed rural report
* get the latest federal policy and funding updates and how they'll impact you
Keep rural hospitals open. Join NRHA in its march on Capitol Hill to tell Congress to protect rural hospitals and the patients that they serve.
The event is free, but you must register here to ensure there is enough food and materials.
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Physicians should have more freedom to coordinate care, MedPAC says
Physicians must be given flexibility in how they participate in new Medicare payment models for care coordination efforts to be successful, according to a new report by a congressional advisory panel.
Recent government studies have shown that most Medicare demonstrations on coordinating care have failed to improve patient outcomes and produce cost savings. However, some models - ones that give doctors more leeway and additional options in caring for patient populations - have proven to raise the quality of care and lower program spending, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's annual June report. MedPAC provides advice to Congress and the administration on how to reform the way Medicare pays for services, but they are under no obligation to follow the recommendations.
"To be successful, a program of care coordination has to be carefully woven into the practice environment where it occurs," said MedPAC Chair Glenn Hackbarth. "It's not possible to achieve good care coordination by imposing it externally. It's not the sort of thing you can design from a distance and plug into a local health care system."
Full Story By Charles Fiegl, amednews staff |
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Georgia health care in limbo
Georgia hospitals were depending on the health care law to ease the burden of treating hundreds of thousands of uninsured patients each year for free. But that relief may never come.
While upholding the law, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled states could reject the massive expansion of the Medicaid program that is a cornerstone of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. For hospitals, not expanding the health program for poor and low-income Georgians would mean having to treat almost as many uninsured patients as ever while facing significant cuts to their reimbursements.
Last year, Georgia hospitals lost an estimated $1.5 billion caring for people without insurance. The promise of fewer uninsured is what led the national hospital industry to agree to the health law's $155 billion in Medicare and Medicaid cuts over a 10 year period.
Read more |
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Life Expectancy for Rural Men
Men in most rural and exurban counties lives shorter lives, on average, than do men in the nation as a whole. The average age at death of a man in the United States was 76.2 years in 2009, the latest data available.
A total of 482 rural and exurban counties had male longevity rates above the national average. In nearly 1,200 counties, however, the average age at death of men in 2009 was under 75 years of age.
Read the full article.
By Bill Bishop and Roberto Gallardo - Daily YonderMen
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Mark Your Calendar
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
Cardio-Metabolic Syndrome: Downstream Economic & Patient Impact
Friday, August 10, 2012
12:15 PM - 1:15 PM (EST)
Sponsor: SOWEGA-AHEC
Presenter: Omar M. Lattouf, MD, PhD, FACC, FACS
Professor of Surgery, Division of Thoracic Surgery
Emory University School of Medicine
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
GAFP's 2012 Annual Meeting & Scientific Assembly
November 8-10, 2012
Cobb Galleria- Atlanta, GA
For more information: http://www.gafp.org/meeting_registration.asp
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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