Update from the Interim CEO

This summer has flown by and it appears to be one of the busiest that I can remember in a long time. During July, I had the opportunity to attend the Office of Rural Health Policy FLEX Conference and listen to Mary Wakefield. She spoke about access to high quality healthcare in rural areas and the challenges that our rural communities face with older populations and higher rates of chronic disease. She explained how care coordination, quality improvement, the Triple Aim and patient centered care will drive the payment delivery system in the future. Mary’s challenge to all of us was for the need to inform key stakeholders and share our stories.

One of the best ways to inform and share is to participate in the third annual Safety Net Clinic Week, August 20 – 24, 2012, Strengthening Colorado’s Health Care Safety Net!

Safety Net Clinic Week is a collaborative effort between CRHC and ClinicNET and is intended to raise a greater awareness through education of the public and policy makers about the vitally important role of federally certified Rural Health Clinics (RHC) and Community-Funded Safety Net Clinics (CSNC). CRHC and ClinicNET have received a Governor’s proclamation for Safety Net Clinic Week 2012.

Currently, we have 53 RHCs that serve approximately 175,000 rural Coloradans in 47 counties. RHCs can be provider based or free standing and must, at a minimum, provide outpatient healthcare services, emergency care for common life-threatening conditions and a limited number of in-house lab tests. It is a common saying that “all health care is local” and in rural communities this is especially true. RHCs are defined by the histories and cultures of the communities in which they are located.

By having RHCs in our rural communities, community members have great access to primary care. RHCs not only provide access to care, but work tirelessly to improve the quality of care provided and to reduce the costs of that care. As you know, the Triple Aim (improved quality, increased access and reduced cost) is a critical component to healthcare now and will become how we are all measured in the future.

Many of Colorado’s RHCs are leaders and last year, one of our RHCs achieved Level 3 NCQA Patient Centered Medical Home recognition and many others are also working towards recognition. Of the 53 RHCs, approximately 95% are currently working with CRHC to implement electronic health records and achieve meaningful use. Despite the fact that many do not qualify for the incentive funding, they all have the commitment to ensure connectivity and are proceeding without federal grant funding. CRHC is highly committed to advocating for rural communities and all safety net providers and we hope that you will get involved by playing an active role in Safety Net Clinic Week, August 20-24, 2012.

Thank you to all of our safety net providers for everything you do!

For more information on Safety Net Clinic Week visit the CRHC website.

J-1 Visa Waiver Webinar: Tuesday Sept. 11

You are invited to join us Tuesday, September 11, 2012

J-1 Visa Waiver Webinar
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

To register please click here!

Join Colorado Rural Health Center's Colorado Provider Recruitment team along with presenters from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's Primary Care Office for a free informative live presentation on the J-1 Visa Waiver Program and how it’s another option for your provider recruitment needs. The webinar covers background and program basics and will also feature testimony from a current J-1 sponsor and a J-1 provider.

Includes an interactive question and answer session.

Speakers Include:

• Brooke Wagenseller, Workforce Retention Specialist, Primary Care Office
• Amber Galloway Stephens, Workforce Programs Manager, Primary Care Office
• Jamie Groy, Recruitment Coordinator for the Colorado Rural Health Center
• Mendi Choat, Medical Practice Administrator for Prowers Medical Center and our J-1 Sponsor Spokeswomen
• J-1 Provider, TBA!

There is no charge to attend this webinar. To register please click here!

Get Connected to CRHC Through Social Media!

Are you on Twitter? Follow us @coruralhealth to get regular updates on everything rural and health related! Alicia Haywood, our Policy and Advocacy Manager, now has her own account @coruralvoice to follow for policy and advocacy related updates.

We also encourage you to "like" us on Facebook, follow us on LinkedIn and check out our videos on YouTube!

Don’t miss the opportunity to offer loan repayment to your healthcare providers!

Do you have a healthcare provider at your facility who is interested in loan repayment? Let them know that the Colorado Health Service Corps (CHSC) Loan Repayment Program fall 2012 application cycle will open September 1st, 2012. The application cycle is open for one month, closing on September 30th, 2012.

Up to $105,000 for a 3-year commitment is available to your primary care healthcare providers!

CHSC provides loan repayment to fully trained primary care providers in exchange for either a two or three-year full-time service obligation in an underserved community. After completing their initial years of service, loan repayors may apply for additional years of support! Eligible providers include primary care Family Physicians, Internists, OB/GYNs, Pediatricians, Dentists, Psychiatrists, Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, Certified Nurse Midwives, Dental Hygienists and licensed mental health professionals.

Many types of healthcare facilities are CHSC eligible sites including Critical Access Hospitals, Rural Health Clinics, Community Health Centers, and safety-net clinics.

To find out more about the CHSC Loan Repayment Program, please visit http://coloradohealthservicecorps.org/apply/.

Would you like to speak with someone to find out if your facility is eligible for loan repayment? Contact Colorado Provider Recruitment (CPR) at cpr@coruralhealth.org or 303.407.2031.

ICD-10 Training – Rural Health Organizations

ICD-10 Online Training for Coders, Billers, Auditors, & All Healthcare Professionals

• Too busy to go to ICD-10 training?
• Perhaps, you’ve attended ICD-10 Workshops, but would love additional training?
• Is your budget stretched thin already -- and you wish you could find an unbelievable bargain for your staff to learn ICD-10 and how to become proficient with the rules and regulations of the future?
• If you answered yes to any of the above questions, CRHC can help now!!

Take advantage of this opportunity to enroll in the following online courses that will prepare you and your organization for the successful transition to ICD 10. These courses will provide you with history, structure, functions, guidelines and the terminology needed to ensure accurate and efficient billing processes. Whether you are a new coder, an advanced coder with years of experience, or a health care provider -- you will find value in this timely information. For more information on a specific course, please click here.

If you are employed by a Colorado Critical Access Hospital (CAH) or a rural PPS hospital with less than 49 beds, you are currently participating in the FY2011 SHIP Grant Program – and -- your online classes are FREE to all hospital staff! Click here to get started now!

If you are a Rural Health Center (RHC) or other rural health care facility in Colorado, please click here for a class listing and the opportunities available to you!

CEU’s are available for all classes. Don’t wait. . .get started today!

For more information or questions, please contact Danette Swanson, HIT Program Coordinator, at ds@coruralhealth.org

Safety Net Clinic Week 2012 is August 20-24!

In an effort to raise awareness of Colorado's health care safety net providers, we encourage your clinic to participate in the second annual Safety Net Clinic Week, August 20-24, 2012. Sponsored by ClinicNET and the Colorado Rural Health Center, the week is devoted to educating the public and policy makers about these vitally important health care clinics - Community-Funded Safety Net Clinics (CSNCs) and federally certified Rural Health Clinics (RHCs). We have created a “toolkit” to help clinics participate in Safety Net Clinic Week 2012.
To celebrate, many clinics across the state are inviting legislators and community members to open houses at their facilities. Below are the events already planned:

• Monday August 20:
  - Safety Net Clinic Week Kickoff at Prowers Medical Center, Lamar
  - Chaffee People's Clinic Open House, Salida
• Wednesday August 22:
  - Chaffee People's Clinic Open House, Buena Vista

- Mission Medical Clinic Open House, Colorado Springs
• Thursday August 23:
  - SET Medical Clinics Open House, Colorado Springs

Contact Charlotte Kaye at 720.863-7805 or charlotte.kaye@clinicnet.org to RSVP for any of the upcoming events or for more information on Safety Net Clinic Week!

PCMH: An Overview and Colorado's Landscape

A Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) is not a place but a concept. PCMH facilitates partnerships between individual patients, their personal physicians or care providers, and the patient’s family. It is a way of coordinating all health services in a quality, cost-effective and accessible manner through use of a team approach to health care that is centered on patient and family needs. Team-centered care is especially important given significant workforce constraints in most rural communities where physician-led care may not be available.

The Patient-Centered Medical Home encompasses five functions and attributes:

• Patient-centered
• Comprehensive care
• Coordinated care
• Continuous access
• A systems-based approach to quality and safety

Quality care delivered in a PCMH model is enabled by health information technology, health information exchange and the use of registries and other tools to assure that patients get culturally and linguistically appropriate care when and where they need it.

Read the full joint Colorado Rural Health Center and ClinicNet paper here

Keefe Memorial Hospital Seeks Chief Executive Officer

Keefe Memorial Hospital is a leading provider of inpatient and outpatient care in Eastern Colorado. Cheyenne Wells and Cheyenne County serves a population of about 1,800. The areas primary industries are farming, ranching and oil. Keefe Memorial Hospital and Prairie View Clinic which are located in Cheyenne Wells, is a 25 bed acute care hospital and state of the art clinic that are dedicated to providing exceptional patient care to the residents of Cheyenne County and surrounding areas.

Keefe Memorial Hospital is seeking a dynamic Chief Executive Officer to lead our team! The CEO strikes a balance between day to day operating issues and strategic development initiatives to position the hospital for solid, long term growth. The CEO is responsible for creating an environment and culture that enables the hospital to fulfill its mission by meeting or exceeding it goals, conveying the hospital mission to all staff, holding staff accountable for their performance, motivating staff to improve performance and being responsible for the measurement, assessment and continuous improvement of the hospital’s performance.

Read the full job description here. Contact Kasandra Hoover, HR Director at 719.767.5661 or khoover@keefemh.org for more information.

Rural Healthy People 2020

Rural Healthy People 2020 will serve the unique needs of rural community leaders and providers over the next decade as an important companion document and resource to Healthy People 2020. The focus of RHP 2020 is on rural-specific priorities and community needs, with the goal of providing support, critical tools and technical support to rural leaders and researchers for assessing and responding to the needs of rural communities.

Help us identify Rural Healthy People 2020 priorities for targeting rural funding, and identify promising models for practice. RHP 2020 will monitor and measure their success in improving outcomes. By focusing our efforts we can begin to demonstrate improvements in Rural Healthy People objectives over the course of a decade.

Click here before August 31 to take a short 5-10 minute survey and help set the rural public health agenda for the next decade.

Now Hiring: Grant Writer

Colorado Rural Health Center is currently hiring for the following position:

Grant Writer, Outreach Department

The Grant Writer for the Outreach Department is responsible for all phases of the grant process for revenue development. Responsibilities include but are not limited to identifying grant opportunities, applying for the grants, successful award of the grants, tracking, and ongoing reporting for existing grants. Success may be measured in grant volume, revenue, accuracy, deadlines, tracking, and relationships. Must be results oriented.

Click here to read the full position description and find out how to apply.

ICD 10 Online Training - Rural Health Organizations

ICD-10 Online Training for Coders, Billers, Auditors, & All Healthcare Professionals

• Too busy to go to ICD-10 training?
• Perhaps, you’ve attended ICD-10 Workshops, but would love additional training?
• Is your budget stretched thin already -- and you wish you could find an unbelievable bargain for your staff to learn ICD-10 and how to become proficient with the rules and regulations of the future?
• If you answered yes to any of the above questions, CRHC can help now!!

Take advantage of this opportunity to enroll in the following online courses that will prepare you and your organization for the successful transition to ICD 10. These courses will provide you with history, structure, functions, guidelines and the terminology needed to ensure accurate and efficient billing processes. Whether you are a new coder, an advanced coder with years of experience, or a health care provider -- you will find value in this timely information. For more information on a specific course, please click here. If you are employed by a Colorado Critical Access Hospital (CAH) or a rural PPS hospital with less than 49 beds, you are currently participating in the FY2011 SHIP Grant Program – and -- your online classes are FREE to all hospital staff! Click here to get started now! If you are a Rural Health Center (RHC) or other rural health care facility in Colorado, please click here for a class listing and the opportunities available to you! CEU’s are available for all classes. Don’t wait. . .get started today! For more information or questions, please contact Danette Swanson, HIT Program Coordinator, at ds@coruralhealth.org

Free tool: Outpatient surgery and observation

 This pocket card available from HCPro provides “points to remember” when it comes to outpatient surgery as well as information on the appropriate use of observation services. Click here to download the pocket card.