This policy brief describes the results of a survey of small rural hospitals that use hospitalists (physicians, physician assistants or nurse practitioners who assume responsibility for patient care during inpatient hospital stays).

Researchers found that:

• Hospitalist use by Critical Access Hospitals and other rural hospitals with fewer than 100 beds more than doubled between 2005 and 2009.
• Rural hospitals are using hospitalists for a variety of reasons, including covering call and reducing the workload for their medical staff, improving quality of care, allowing primary care patients to focus on outpatient care, and recruitment and retention of primary care physicians.
• The vast majority of surveyed rural hospitals report that hospitalist use has had positive impacts on quality of care and recruitment and retention of primary care physicians. Assessments of the financial impacts of hospitalist use are more mixed, with half of surveyed hospitals reporting negative impacts or both negative and positive impacts.

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Dear Colleagues, 

The Flex Monitoring Team is pleased to announce the release of  a new Briefing Paper and associated Policy Brief on patient safety culture in Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). These publications are part of a series identifying and assessing evidence-based patient safety and quality improvement interventions appropriate for use by state Flex Programs and CAHs.

The authors discuss the the use of patient safety culture surveys as a means to promote organizationall learning and build a culture of safety. 

Detailed information on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture and adaptation for use in rural hospitals is available in the Briefing Paper. 
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Utilities Service (RUS) announces its Community Connect Grant Program application window for Fiscal Year 2012. The Community Connect program provides grants to establish broadband transmission service in rural communities which are currently underserved. Funds may be used to build broadband infrastructure and establish a community center which offers free access to broadband services for community residents for two years.

Access to affordable and reliable broadband connectivity in rural communities improves the ability of rural health care providers to effectively utilize health information technology, achieve the meaningful use of electronic health records (EHR) and receive EHR Incentive payments. Broadband is particularly critical in rural areas, where advanced communications and utilization of health IT can shrink the distances that isolate remote communities.
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There is a scheduled course of the training entitled “DHSS Trauma Disaster Preparedness Simulation-Based Training” upcoming on June 28 & 99 in Rolla, MO. The attached flyer shows an agenda for the course, including CME credits.

If you would like to register for either course, please respond to Dena Higbee, University of Missouri using the attached Training Registration Form. Space is limited and on a first-come, first-serve basis. Please pass the flyer on to anyone else you believe may be interested. Please pass the flyer on to anyone else you believe may be interested. Thank you all for your interest in this course!

June 28th & 29th Rolla flier