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Rural Health Information Hub
Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
News by Topic: Specialty care

Jun 23, 2024 - Highlights the impacts of a tele-ICU program connecting patients and providers at Whitfield Regional Hospital in rural west Alabama to providers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Describes how the program has reduced the need to transport patients out of the community for care, which can strain rural families and complicate follow-up care.
Source: AL.com
Jun 14, 2024 - The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is seeking comments on the following information collections: 1) Establishment of Qualified Health Plans and American Health Benefit Exchanges; and 2) Disclosure Requirement for the In-Office Ancillary Services Exception. Comments are due by July 15, 2024.
Source: Federal Register
Jun 14, 2024 - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is seeking comments on the following information collections: 1) Outcome and Assessment Information Set OASIS-E1 and 2) End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Annual Home Dialysis within Nursing Home Survey Form. Comments are due by July 15, 2024.
Source: Federal Register
Jun 13, 2024 - Describes the Montana Interfacility Blood Network, a network allowing ambulances to transfuse patients with blood available at hospitals on the way to more advanced care facilities. The Network expects to benefit rural patients who have higher rates of injuries and less access to advanced care.
Source: Daily Montanan
Jun 6, 2024 - Describes a program led by the Mercer University School of Medicine and Children's Healthcare of Atlanta which aims to support expanded specialty care in rural Georgia hospitals. Highlights the impacts on a hospital in rural Wayne County, where the program has supported new equipment and educational offerings to strengthen pediatric services.
Source: WTOC
May 24, 2024 - Announcement from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) of receipt of an application from The Joint Commission for re-approval as an accreditation organization for clinical laboratories under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 (CLIA) program for several specialty and subspecialty laboratories. CMS has re-approved The Joint Commission as an accreditation organization under CLIA and grants deeming authority for 6 years through May 24, 2030.
Source: Federal Register
May 22, 2024 - The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is seeking comment on an information collection request titled "National Survey of Organ Donation Attitudes and Practices, OMB No. 0915-0290—Revision." The information collected will facilitate appropriate tailoring and targeting of donation outreach messages and strategies, provide an overall assessment of the impact of previous outreach messages and strategies, and inform the development of policy related to organ donation and transplantation. Comments are due by June 21, 2024.
Source: Federal Register
May 22, 2024 - A new cancer treatment clinic has opened in West Virginia. The clinic will serve 10 counties in the region and aims to reduce the travel previously required to access cancer care.
Source: WVNS
May 18, 2024 - Announces the TeleRheumatology program, an initiative to address access to specialty care issues for veterans with arthritis through telehealth.
Source: Veterans Administration
May 17, 2024 - Notice of proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) describing a new mandatory Medicare payment model, the Increasing Organ Transplant Access Model (IOTA Model). The IOTA Model would test whether performance-based incentive payments paid to or owed by participating kidney transplant hospitals increase access to kidney transplants for patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) while preserving or enhancing the quality of care and reducing Medicare expenditures. This proposed rule also describes standard provisions for CMS Innovation Center (CMMI) models relating to beneficiary protections, cooperation in model evaluation and monitoring, audits and records retention, rights in data and intellectual property, monitoring and compliance, and more. These standard provisions would apply to any CMMI model whose first performance period begins on or after January 1, 2025, and in whole or in part to any CMMI model whose first performance period began before January 1, 2025. Comments are due by July 16, 2024.
Source: Federal Register