Announcements and

Upcoming Events

SAVE THE DATE

7th Annual Public Policy Forum

February 20, 2009

Hyatt Regency Downtown Indianapolis

Public Policy Forum Announcement, click here

Public Policy Forum Registration Form, click here

Agenda TBA

Map to Hyatt Regency Downtown Indianapolis, click here

Announcing FCC Pilot Program's New Web Site

Please feel free to visit www.indianatelehealth.org to find out more about this program.

Indiana Rural Health Association Awarded Grant from Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)

Grant Will Expand the Indiana Statewide Rural Health Network (InSRHN), a Formal Network Comprised of
Rural Health Organizations and Providers in Indiana

April 18, 2008

Bedford, Indiana - From its satellite office in Terre Haute, the Indiana Rural Health Association (IRHA) announced today that it received a $180,000 grant with a recommendation for the same award over the second and third years of the project from the Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).

The goals and objectives of the program have been designed and adopted by the network members in an attempt to meet the needs of rural health care providers and ultimately meet the health care needs of rural residents in Indiana.

The Indiana State Rural Health Network (InSRHN) is a formative rural health network that is designed to improve the financial viability and sustainability of rural health care providers in Indiana.  The successful development of the InSRHN will enable Indiana’s rural health providers to meet the health care needs of rural residents.  All of the strategies of this program are aimed toward this end.  This project is centered on the ideology that, by forming the InSRHN, the network members will have the opportunity to:  increase communication and connectivity; achieve greater operational efficiency; obtain and utilize appropriate Health Information Technology; develop self-sustaining programs; develop shared services that provide cost savings; provide a forum for education programs that meets the needs of rural health care providers; as well as others as determined through ongoing needs assessment and strategic planning processes.

Indiana Rural Health Association Executive Director Don Kelso said, “The IRHA staff and InSRHN Board of Directors have worked very hard during the planning phase of this project with great anticipation of receiving this grant award.  Along with IRHA accepting the opportunity to implement the $16.1 million dollar FCC Pilot Project Program for the State of Indiana, we see an unprecedented opportunity for Indiana and particularly the rural areas of our great state to truly move into the 21^st century in regard to information technology and connectivity, which should help improve the overall health and well-being of our residents.”

This federal grant will fund 90% of the network’s expected operating costs over the three-year project period.

To find out more about the Indiana Rural Health Association, visit http://www.indianaruralhealth.org.    

Great News for Indiana

The Indiana Rural Health Association (IRHA) is pleased to announce that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has awarded a $16,138,270 grant to the Indiana Health Network, with IRHA being the lead grant applicant.  The Indiana Telehealth Network will use the $16+ million grant to connect 35 Critical Access Hospitals throughout the state.  The funds are part of $417 million for the construction of 69 statewide or regional broadband telehealth networks in 42 states and three U.S. territories under the Rural Health Care Pilot Program (RHCPP).

Co-applicants for the grant included St. Vincent Health System, Clarian Health Partners, Union Hospital’s Richard G. Lugar Center for Rural Health, Bloomington Hospital/E-Health Collaborative, and the Indiana Telecommunications Association, all of which represent unprecedented collaboration in an effort to bring broadband services to Indiana’s rural communities and health care providers that will enable the utilization of telehealth applications.

The health-related problems to be addressed by Indiana Telehealth Network include:

1. The need for improved access to health care services and providers for rural residents
2. The need for improved access to patient information by health care providers.
3. The need for improved health status of rural residents
4. The need for improved access to health information, education, and training

The proposed program will address these unmet health needs by providing rural patients with improved access to care, providing a venue that will support health information exchange and increased participation of health care providers and health students in distance education and training through the implementation of a dedicated, broadband health network. 

The networks will deliver services efficiently, reduce costs and travel time for consumers, decrease medical errors, and enable health care providers to share critical information.  Rapid and coordinated responses to public health emergencies, such as bioterrorism attacks, pandemics or disease-related outbreaks, will be expedited through coordination with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other public health officials during public health emergencies.

Indiana is now positioned to take a monumental step forward in improving the rural broadband infrastructure and telehealth capacity.

Please visit www.indianatelehealth.org for more information. 

IRHA's partner in telehealth:  Indiana Telehealth Advisory Consortium www.indianatac.org

IRHA Awarded Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Grant

The IRHA staff is pleased to announce that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has awarded the Indiana Rural Health Association a $50,000 planning grant under the Foundation's Tobacco Policy Change:  A Collaborative for Healthier Communities and States program.  The Foundation is deeply committed to working with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions to the death and disease caused by tobacco use and exposure and to serving all Americans, especially the most vulnerable.  The grant period runs from January 1, 2008, to June 30, 2008.

Through this project, IRHA and its partners will convene a coordinated project group called the Indiana Collaborative for Healthier Rural Communities [ICHRC].

The objective of the Indiana Collaborative for Healthier Rural Communities is to close the gap of health disparities for rural Hoosiers by:

1.  Protecting rural Hoosiers from exposure to secondhand smoke and empowering citizens to understand the health hazards they face from exposure to secondhand smoke; and 

2.  Building rural Indiana support to expand access to medical coverage for un- and underinsured Hoosiers by fully implementing and maximizing the current benefits through the Healthy Indiana Plan thereby leading to increased funding for health coverage.

The Indiana Rural Health Association, 1,500 public health advocates, will lead the effort in partnership with Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation, which hosts a network of community tobacco control coalitions in 85 of Indiana's 92 counties. IRHA, ITPC and 14 partners will systematically assess and provide advocacy training, technical assistance, communication channels and thousands of grassroots advocates to 20 identified rural coalitions to help them develop smoke-free air education and policy campaigns during the planning grant period.

During the implementation phase, the partners will use similar activities to further state policies to fully fund the Healthy Indiana Plan, providing medical coverage to un- and underinsured Hoosiers, for which $300,000 will be requested from the Foundation.  Capacity-building and policy change are catalysts for progress in health care access that will sustain the momentum of this project beyond the grant period.

This project campaign is just getting underway and we actively are seeking new partnerships and new matching funds so that we can maximize the opportunity provided by this grant.  Already $75,000 in matching funds has been secured and we will be looking to secure financial commitments from partners to provide the remaining $150,000 we need to receive the full $300,000 from the foundation.  Anyone who would like to assist our project team in attaining matching funds for this partnership please feel free to contact me for more information about how to get involved.

We will be planning a follow-up meeting for ICHRC partners for late January to follow a grantees meeting hosted by RWJF. 

Also, this is just a preliminary announcement of this project for our partners and IRHA members.  A formal media announcement will be made later in January in conjunction with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.  We welcome this fantastic opportunity to eliminate health disparities in rural communities and the new partnerships that will be created through the implementation of this project.  We'll keep you posted as this project progresses. 

"Spring Into Quality" 2008

Presentations

Jeff Bramschreiber, CPA, Presentation:

- Billing for Rural Health Clinics

- Cost Reporting for Rural Health Clinics

Roland Grieb, MD, Presentation:

- The QIO 9th Scope of Work

Nadyne Hagmeier Presentation:

- Current State Medical Lodge or Eureka

- Kansas Foundation for Medical Care Planning Tool

- Kansas Foundation for Medical Care Eureka Data Collection Tool

- Kansas Foundation for Medical Care Permission to Share

- Community Collaborative Survey - Pain

- Community Pain Assessment Tool

- Eureka Pain Community Collaborative

- Powerpoint Presentation Handouts

Kimberly Norris Presentation:

- Program Basics for Critical Access Hospitals

Tina Shoemaker Presentation:
 

- The Characteristics of a Healthy Quality Program

Spanish for Healthcare Personnel - instruction via classroom or web-based course

Secretary's Progress Report II on the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit - prepared by Mike Leavitt, Secretary of Health & Human Services