Rural Spotlight

The Challenging Role of Rural Physicians

The Evansville Courier and Press has released an article supporting the need for health reform in rural America. Some counties only have a couple doctors for all of the residents who live there. The article focuses on challenges faced by these small town doctors. Read the article here.

Updated Reports

PubHub has made the following reports available:

Training Strategies: EHR Deployment Techniques
 
Based on the California Networks for Electronic Health Record Adoption (CNEA) initiative designed to speed EHR implementation in safety-net clinics, explores approaches to training, their influence on implementation strategy, and streamlining effects.

HITECH Revisited
 
Assesses the 2009 Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, which offers incentives to adopt and meaningfully use electronic health records. Recommendations include revised criteria, incremental approaches, and targeted policies.
 
Standardized Performance Measurement and Reporting in Emergency Departments (EDs)
 
Describes the RWJF-funded Urgent Matters Learning Network, a collaborative of six hospitals working to develop strategies to improve patient flow and reduce crowding. Outlines seven standardized performance measures they are piloting and reporting on.

Payment Reform: Creating a Sustainable Future for Medicaid
 
Outlines elements of Medicaid payment reform that saves costs while improving access to quality care, including accommodating patient acuity, encouraging data collection, and supporting medical homes, bundled payments, and accountable care organizations.

Rural Hospital Provisions

The American Hospital Association has provided a brief summary of the rural hospital related provisions of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Click here to read the summary.  

The Plan to Battle Hospital Infections

Recent findings suggest nearly 100,000 people die in the U.S. each year from infections they've contracted while being treated in a hospital. Click here to read what states are doing to knock this number down. 

More Physicians Residing in Primary Care

Recent research suggests the number of physicians getting ready to leave medical school and enter into family medicine is on the rise.  The areas of internal medicine and pediatrics also appear to be drawing significant interest over years past.  Read more about the research here.

Rural Assistance Center Updates

A variety of updates are available from the Rural Assistance Center.  Click here to view the latest news and information on the following subjects:

• Recent News
• Funding Opportunities
• Tools
• Upcoming Events
• How RAC Has Impacted You

Recent Reports

PubHub has made the following reports available:

Transparency and Public Reporting Are Essential for a Safe Health Care System

Compares three approaches to spurring hospitals to improve patient safety and argues that public reporting of performance and feedback to providers is more effective than regulation and accreditation or financial incentives.

Chronic Care: Making the Case for Ongoing Care

Updates RWJF's 2002 chart book with 2010 data on and projections for the prevalence of chronic conditions, by condition, demographics, and insurance type; their impact on individuals and caregivers; their costs; and implications for the healthcare system.

Chronic Disease and the Internet

Compares survey data on access to and use of the Internet and social media by chronically ill and healthy adults, sources and topics of health information, and impact of online information. Examines the information gap by health status and demographics.
 
Operations Improvement Methods: Choosing a Path for Hospitals and Clinics

Provides an overview of the Lean, Six Sigma, management engineering, and other methods of improving staffing, patient flow, and utilization of resources. Compares pros and cons and issues of training and certification, data collection, and implementation.  

2010 Older Americans Month Promotion

Together we can tackle several of seniors’ biggest concerns as part of Older Americans Month in May.  Economic security, health care and social activities are seniors’ top three concerns, and the Department of Health and Senior Services compiled a list of dynamic speakers to address these concerns. We encourage you to book a speaker for a special event in May, and then let DHSS know about it. There is no cost for the speakers.

Our speakers include experts who can tell seniors how to protect themselves from investment fraud schemes and medical identity theft, a riveting entertainer who belts out Judy Garland tunes and other classics, and much more. We believe the speakers will appeal to a broad range of seniors in all walks of life—those who live at home, in nursing homes, or attend senior centers. 

Please e-mail Charisse Pappas to obtain a speakers’ list. Please note that the department cannot guarantee a speaker’s availability, and that certain speakers may be available only in a specific part of the state. Your chances of obtaining a speaker are also greater if you call or e-mail the speaker today rather than in May.

The department will publicize your speaker events and other Older Americans Month activities through press releases and its Web site in May.  But we need to know about them.  If you book a speaker, please e-mail Charisse Pappas with the particulars (e.g., date of event, time of event, name of your organization, speaker’s name, location of event, contact person’s name and phone number).  She will add the events to a calendar that will be posted on the department’s Web site throughout May.

Coming Soon: National Health Service Corps Part-Time Service Option

The National Health Service Corps (NHSC), through scholarship and loan repayment programs, helps Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) in the U.S. get the medical, dental and mental health providers they need to meet their tremendous need for health care.  These programs are designed to improve the supply of physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and certified nurse-midwives in both rural and urban underserved areas. 

NHSC is an important source of primary care for rural areas, as approximately 60% of the NHSC’s placements are in rural areas and many Scholar or Loan Repayors who begin working in rural areas choose to continue their careers in those areas.  Up until now, all of the NHSC Scholars and Loan Repayors were required to work full-time in an underserved community and 32 of the minimum 40-hour work week must be spent providing direct clinical services in the community.

Starting in March 2010, clinicians working part-time (20 to 39 hours each week, at least 45 weeks each year) at NHSC-approved facilities will be eligible to apply to the National Health Service Corps demonstration program for the Part-time Loan Repayment.

The criteria for the Part-Time Demonstration Program will be comparable to the current NHSC Loan Repayment Program. Below are some specifics about the program:

• Four year service commitment for $50,000
• Potential for additional years of support - 2 year service contract
• Application Period open for 30 days
• 400 awards anticipated
• Same eligible disciplines as full-time Loan Repayment Program (see Application Information Bulletin: Eligibility)

For more information please visit the NHSC Web site.

HVP (Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein) Recall

Basic Food Flavors of Las Vegas, Nevada has recalled all of the hydrolyzed vegetable protein (HVP) it has produced in powder and paste form it has produced since September 17, 2009, due to potential contamination with salmonella.  HVP goes into many other products such as dips, dressings, sauces, gravies, chili, soups, seasonings, hot dogs, seasoned snack foods, and seasoning mixes to enhance flavor and texture of processed foods.  For some processed foods that contain HVP, they also receive a thorough cook, and thus an adequate “kill step” for salmonella.  For some foods such as dip mixes containing HVP, or seasoned snack foods containing HVP, there is no kill step, and thus a potential for consumers being exposed to salmonella in the food.  Various companies have begun issuing recalls because their products contain HVP produced by Basic Food Flavors, Inc.  FDA is also recommending recalls of certain products containing HVP that might be eaten by consumers without any processing or cooking steps to address the potential risk. There is the potential for this to continue for an extended time due to the vast number of products containing HVP.  There is a searchable database of recalled products on FDA’s website at www.fda.gov  which will be updated as new products are added to the recall.  We suggest that agencies review the list of products a couple of times a week and to be aware of the potential for illness related to consumption of products with HVP produced by Basic Food Flavors, Inc.  At this time there are no reported illnesses associated with this contamination. 

If the situation changes dramatically, and DHSS is aware of illnesses associated with products containing contaminated HVP and distributed in Missouri, we will issue a recall about these specific products and the most complete distribution information that we receive. 

Please visit our websites for further information regarding food safety.
http://www.dhss.mo.gov/
http://www.dhss.mo.gov/EHOG_manual/
http://www.dhss.mo.gov/EnvironmentalChildCare/
http://www.dhss.mo.gov/FoodSafety/
http://www.dhss.mo.gov/Lodging/
http://www.dhss.mo.gov/Lead/
http://www.dhss.mo.gov/Onsite/