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FY 2013 GRHA Board of Directors
President
Denise Kornegay
Immediate Past President
Sallie Barker
President Elect
Ann Addison
Vice- President
Shelly Spires
Treasurer
Sheila Freeman
Secretary
Laura Bland Gillman
Board Members
Carla Belcher
Tim Trottier
Mary Mathis
Sue Nieman
Charles Owens
Chris Parker
Chuck Adams
Paula Guy
Monty M. Veazey
Joseph Barrow
Robert J. Briscione
Matt Caseman
Meet our Board of Directors
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GRHA welcomes new Organizational Member!
South Central Primary Care Center, Ocilla, GA
R.B. Tucker
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Al-GA Rural Health Clinic Conference
Free Webinar Series:
Rural Health Clinic Billing 101
Registration
Please join us for a webinar on rural health clinic billing presented October 1, 2013 at 2:30 EDT and 1:30 CDT. This webinar is the second of three being offered as follow up to the joint Alabama-Georgia Rural Health Clinic Conference. All are invited to participate - this webinar is for everyone, regardless of whether or not you attended the joint rural health clinic conference. There is no cost for participation.
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Free GRHA archived webinars are available for viewing:
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2013 County Health Rankings
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September Health Observances
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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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Please join us for the
2013 GRHA Annual Conference
in Savannah!
Keynote Speaker
Georgia Department of Community Health Commissioner
Clyde L. Reese III, Esq
1-912-232-9000
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Free Webinar
"Patient Centered Medical Home: The Basics and How it Works"
WebinarDate: Monday, September 30, 2013
Time: 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (EDT)
Sponsor: Georgia Rural Health Association
Presenter: Harry Strothers, III, MD, MMM
Session Description: The Patient Centered Medical Home is a team based healthcare delivery approach to providing care and maximizing health outcomes. With goals of raising patient satisfaction, improving overall health, and increasing access to health care, the PCMH model is growing in popularity throughout the country.
This webinar will cover the basics of a PCMH and how it works. Additionally, information will be provided on utilizing health information technology and a trained staff to provide coordinated care through team based models, which is a critical aspect of PCMH.
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Learn more about the Health Insurance Marketplace which starts October 1st!
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CMS Rule Change
CMS 1443P, "Medicare Program; Prospective Payment System for Federally Qualified Health Centers; Changes to Contracting Policies for Rural Health Clinics; and Changes to Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 Enforcement Actions for Proficiency Testing Referral", just went on display! CMS will accept comments on the
proposed rule until November 18, 2013. Here are the links to the Fact Sheet (FS), Press Release (PR), and the Federal Register (OFR) page:
FS: http://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Fact-Sheets/2013-Fact-Sheets-Items/2013-09-18-2.html
PR: http://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Press-Releases/2013-Press-Releases-Items/2013-09-18-2.html
OFR: https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection
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A geographic sore spot for exchange premiums
By: Andy Miller
Published: Sep 26, 2013
The Obama administration is touting the competitiveness of the new insurance exchanges as an attractive feature of the Affordable Care Act.
About 95 percent of American consumers will have a choice of two or more health insurance issuers, and often many more, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday in announcing premiums for federally run insurance exchanges in 36 states, including Georgia.
But in two regions of southwest Georgia, there's only one insurer offering coverage -- Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia. And the premiums in that corner of the state are much higher than in the rest of Georgia.
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Federal Medicare report unnerves rural hospitals
Published: September 22, 2013
ATLANTA -- Small hospitals in parts of rural Georgia benefit from higher Medicare payments on the grounds that they are a lifeline for otherwise isolated patients. A new federal report recommends a cost-cutting reconsideration of that program, but rural hospitals say it's a lifeline worth funding.
Medicare pays 101 percent of reasonable costs to Monroe County Hospital in Forsyth, Peach Regional Medical Center in Fort Valley and Sylvan Grove Hospital in Jackson. That's because they are certified Critical Access Hospitals, so deemed because they are distant from other hospitals and serve rural populations.
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O'Connor: When a hospital dies, do you send a sympathy card?
Posted: Monday, September 23, 2013 12:00 am | Updated: 10:07 am, Tue Sep 24, 2013. Beth O'Connor On Oct. 1, Lee Regional Medical Center in Pennington Gap, Va. will close. It is dead. The jobs that were associated with that facility will die; the money it pumped into the local economy will die.
The major reason listed by the Wellmont Health System for the cause of death is the lack of Medicaid expansion which is intended to offset major cuts in Medicare payments from the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
ACA or "Obamacare" is a compromise. Some people wanted the United States government to create a universal health care system, such as those found in other first-world nations. Other people thought a single-payer system would go too far; it would overreach the responsibility of the government. So a deal was struck: hospitals would agree to lower Medicare payments and in return, more of their patients would have insurance.
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Office of Rural Health Policy Funding Opportunity Announcement: Rural Health Network Development Program (HRSA-14-044)
The Federal Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP) is pleased to announce the release of the FY 2014 Rural Health Network Development Grant Program (announcement number: HRSA-14-044). ORHP's Network Development Program supports rural integrated health care networks that have combined the functions of the entities participating in the network in order to: achieve efficiencies; expand access to, coordinate, and improve the quality of essential health care services; and strengthen the rural health care system as a whole.
The application can be downloaded off of www.grants.gov and entering in the announcement number (HRSA-14-044) or by clicking on this link: http://www.grants.gov/view-opportunity.html?oppId=243713
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Mark Your Calendar
Georgia Association for Primary Health Care
2013 Annual Conference
October 2-4
Augusta, Georgia
Augusta Marriott at the Convention Center
Registration
National Rural Health Association
Rural Health Clinic Conference, Oct. 1-2, and
Critical Access Hospital Conference, Oct. 2-4
Austin, Texas
More Information
Registration
Healthy Mothers Health Babies of Georgia
Annual Meeting and Conference
October 8, 2013
9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Gwinnett Center, Duluth, GA
Registration
American College of Physicians, Georgia Chapter
Scientific Meeting
October 4-6
Hyatt Regency
Savannah, Georgia
More Information
Registration
2013 Georgia Chapter Scientific Meeting
American College of Physicians
October 4-6, 2013
Hyatt Regency
Savannah, Georgia
Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals
30th Annual Conference
October 15-18, 2013
The Ritz-Carlton Lodge, Reynolds Plantation
Lake Oconee Trail
Greensboro, Georgia 30642
Registration 1st Annual Wound Care Conference River City Wound and Ostomny Group October 30, 2013 Columbus Regional Conference Center 710 Center Street Columbus, GA 31901 More Information
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