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From the CEO’s desk:
The IRHA celebrates and recognizes the Human Resources Professionals in our rural hospitals. Throughout the pandemic, these fine people have been responsible for supporting the needs of the entire staff in our rural hospitals. Each day they had to balance the urgent needs of the staff who were experiencing fear, illness, and unprecedented stress, while at the same time, maintaining adequate staffing levels needed to keep the hospitals open to care for patients. Each day brought a new crisis for Human Resources Professionals to resolve. They didn’t complain; they remained in the background driven by their passion to support their team members. The pandemic is not yet over, nor are the challenges for our Human Resources Professionals; but now is the time to recognize their service and commitment. Thanks to each of you for your dedication and commitment; you truly make a difference and the IRHA applauds your efforts.
We are looking forward to seeing all of you at our Spring Rural Summit in a few days. There's a lot to talk about in the healthcare world and our presenters are ready to share their knowledge. We've gathered professionals from our own Indiana rural hospitals to share their insight in our afternoon panel discussions. You won't want to miss this!
- Cara Veale, IRHA CEO
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NEWS
The IRHA is excited to announce three new members of our Business Partner Network!
Keystone Architecture is excited to join the Indiana Rural Health Association. As Mark Brandyberry, Director of Marketing, said, “We know our resume is
a strong fit for IRHA members. Small clinics and medical offices are more needed than ever. COVID changes the game for IRHA members, and Keystone will help you design the future of patient care.”
Keystone serves medical providers with architectural design in waiting rooms, examination rooms, labs, training facilities, office and administration areas, and wellness facilities. Keystone Architecture has been designing and engineering K-12 schools, universities, municipal buildings, and—best of all—medical projects for 30 years.
UltraGroup has also joined our Business Partner Network. UltraGroup brings the much-needed mental health services focused on seniors. Seniors in our rural communities have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. Many have lost spouses, siblings, and other close family members and friends, often without being able to even say goodbye. UltraGroup focuses their efforts to deliver effective mental health needs to rural communities and have done so for many years. We are thrilled to have them joining us and serving our members with this much needed service.
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CKC-IN Team Delivers Over 500 Goodie Bags to the Homeless
The Connecting Kids to Coverage-Indiana team completed a community service project in February and March. More than 500 tote bags with useful items for homeless individuals were delivered to several agencies around the state, including in Valparaiso, Terre Haute, Washington, Connersville, Avon, and Lafayette. In addition to socks, water bottles, and basic toiletry items, information about how to get free help for Indiana health coverage enrollment assistance through the CKC-IN team was provided.
[Photo caption: The CKC-IN team assembles tote bags for homeless social service agencies in Indiana.]
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InROC Welcomes New Consortium Partners
The Indiana Rural Opioid Consortium (InROC) is proud to announce four new partners to the consortium. Families First, LifeSpring Health Systems, ShipHappens, and Thrive have all stepped up to join the InROC mission to promote and increase access to treatment for patients battling Substance Use Disorder in rural Indiana through evidence-based practices for increased community outreach workforce capacity and recovery support.
We are so happy to have them on board!
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Community Health Needs Assessment Service Goes Virtual
For many years, the IRHA has been providing a thorough service conducting Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNA). This IRS requirement continues to be in place for non-profit hospitals despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, and Ally Orwig and her team are using virtual resources to ensure that the process is completed timely and thoroughly. The initial step in the process involves focus groups with community stakeholders, which has traditionally been done on-site in hospital conference rooms or other community meeting spaces. Due to the pandemic, Ally established a series of virtual meetings in evenings and day time hours to accomplish the task and has done so
with excellent results. “We’ve actually seen a greater turnout from across various sectors of the community, as we’ve been able to offer multiple days and times for meetings instead of having to ask everyone
to show up on one night. This offers more options to meet a wide array of schedules, even though we are looking forward to a time when we can get back to the communities face-to-face.”
The CHNA services offered by the IRHA have served hospitals for over a decade and saved members tens of thousands of dollars while not compromising results whatsoever. The IRHA team understands rural communities, that is our sole focus and that knowledge translates to effective focus group meetings, connecting with the participants by understanding the relevant issues in their communities. Combining the results of these focus group meetings along with on-site and electronic surveying is essential for a quality report. Local county data is then obtained and compared to state and/or national data to identify the county’s standing in numerous categories. These data, combined with the specific community feedback facilitates effective strategic planning efforts by the executive leadership team of the hospital.
If your CHNA is due soon, please contact Ally Orwig ([email protected]) or Phil Ellis ([email protected]) and we’ll add you to our growing list of hospitals who have saved an enormous amount of time and money by trusting the IRHA for this comprehensive service.
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Funding Granted!
The IRHA's Healthy Start Communities that C.A.R.E. program received funding to continue their efforts to combat infant mortality rates for the third year. This funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration secures services to continue in Daviess, Dubois, Greene, and Martin Counties for April 1, 2021 – March 31, 2022.*
As infant and maternal mortality rates continue to be a hot topic in Indiana, the IRHA Maternal/Infant Health grant-funded programs are collaborating to hold a break out session at the IRHA’s 23rd Annual Rural Health Conference this June. The session titled “Being the Best: Improving Indiana’s Infant & Maternal Mortality Rates with Collaboration, Innovation, and Data Management” will highlight the Outreach, Care Coordination, Healthy Start, and CKC-IN teams and their collaboration efforts across Indiana in moving the needle towards improved maternal health and birth outcomes. We hope to see you there!
*This project H49MC32726 is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $5,408,258.00 with 0% percentage financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.
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IRHA Members Attend Special Swing Bed Educational Program
On March 24, the Indiana Statewide Rural Hospital Network (InSRHN) hosted a special educational event on Swing Bed Programs. Late in 2020, the IRHA launched two new InSRHN Roundtable Peer Groups-the Rehabilitation and Transitional Care Directors and another for Quality Directors. It was evident from the beginning that our members were interested in educational opportunities for their swing bed programs. We were thrilled to have Carla Wilber, DNP, RN, and Senior Consultant from Stroudwater Association’s share an informative presentation on the effective management of swing bed programs. The hour-long session was loaded with education that we are confident will help our members maximize their programs. Carla shared a tremendous amount of valuable information, and now our members are connected with her for all future needs.
The primary goal of the IRHA and InSRHN is to support our members with the highest quality resources and education to help them maximize their service. Supporting these peer groups is one of many ways we accomplish that goal and will continue to seek out the most relevant resources for our members.
If you missed this event, InSRHN members can contact Phil Ellis at [email protected] for access to the materials.
Interested in joining the IRHA Indiana Statewide Rural Hospital Network (InSRHN)? Find more info here: https://www.indianaruralhealth.org/membershiplevels
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WhiteBark Health Academy Offers Continuing Education
The WhiteBark Health Academy, an extension of the IRHA, provides educational offerings through an online platform that focus on training and continuing education (CE) for health professionals, as well as courses for healthcare facility administrators and staff. Courses offered through WhiteBark Health Academy are tailored for your specific needs and span several categories – from CEs for professional licensure to training for onboarding of staff and annual requirements – that benefit your entire staff. Browse through the trainings offered now!
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Bills to Watch
IRHA is pleased to serve as a voice for the rural residents of Indiana. It is our intention to make our members, partners, and communities aware of the issues that rural Hoosiers face in this ever-changing healthcare landscape. The IRHA Policy and Legislative Committee has been working hard to keep our members up to date, and invites you to visit the new "Bills to Watch" page on our website.
On a federal level, this past month, the United States Senate passed on H.R. 1868, a bill to provide continued relief from Medicare sequestration and technical corrections to the rural health clinic (RHC) provisions included in the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), 2021. The bill must now go back to the House of Representatives before becoming law due to changes in the text regarding Medicare sequestration. More information can be found in this article published by the National Rural Health Association.
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Speaking Opportunity with the UMTRC
The Upper Midwest Telehealth Resource Center (UMTRC) invites individuals with an interest in telehealth to submit presentation proposals for the 3rd Annual UMTRC Telehealth Conference. The conference will be held in person on July 20-21, 2021 in South Bend, IN.
The UMTRC is specifically interested in presentations from healthcare organizations who have overcome barriers and developed successful telehealth programs in a variety of ways:
- Improving virtual physical exams
- Preparing and engaging the patient
- Telegenetics
- TeleMAT
- Telebehavioral Health
- Telehealth for pre and postal maternal health
- Remote Patient Monitoring
- Chronic Care Management
- Telehealth Policy and Reimbursement
- The Future of Telehealth and more!
Speaker proposals will be accepted through April 12, 2021.
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About Our Members
Biden-Harris Administration COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force Includes IRHA Member Tim Putnam
We want to congratulate IRHA member and past IRHA Board President, Tim Putnam, on being named to President Biden's COVID-19 Health Equity Taskforce. We know Tim will be a great asset and represent Indiana rural hospitals and health centers very well!
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IRHA Board Member, Nikki King, interviewed for PBS Series Amanpour and Company
IRHA Board Member, Nikki King, was recently interviewed for the public affairs series Amanpour and Company which aired on PBS on February 8, 2021. Born in Kentucky, Nikki saw firsthand the devastating impact of the opioid crisis and became determined to give those suffering from addiction a fighting chance. She moved to Indiana, where she established an innovative new addiction program at Margaret Mary Health that focuses on treatment and support rather than jail. She tells Hari Sreenivasan how this could serve as a model for other rural areas. We want to congratulate Nikki on her successful efforts.
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Find a Career with our Members
As a benefit to our organizational members, we have a "Careers" page on our website where we post current job openings within the industry. Bookmark the page and check back often for awesome opportunities!
Want to join the IRHA as an organization and receive this benefit? Find info HERE.
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IRHA Membership
Membership Level Highlight: Our "Individual Membership" is only $100 and is open to any interested party. This individual can attend select IRHA events at a reduced rate and is allowed one voting privilege.
Did you know? If you register to attend the IRHA Annual Conference in June, you will receive a complimentary individual membership for the membership year beginning July 1.
Upcoming Events
The IRHA Spring Rural Summit is just days away! We hope you made plans to join us April 8th!
Registration fees:
IRHA Member - $85
IRHA Member and Critical Access Hospital (CAH) employee - $40
Non-member - $235
Non-Member Critical Access Hospital (CAH) employee - $140
Student member - $50
Registration will close April 7th @12pm EST.
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Most health care providers ask their patients about tobacco use and document the status into their electronic health record, however few bill for tobacco cessation services. This webinar will provide an overview of the current tobacco cessation coverage for various payors, review the available billing codes for tobacco cessation treatment, and provide guidance on how behavioral health providers can maximize reimbursement.
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UMTRC Virtual Telehealth Workshop
We are proud to offer AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ for this workshop!
We received such positive response to our first telehealth workshops that our Upper Midwest Telehealth Resource Center (UMTRC) team of experts will present two more events focused on telehealth sustainability, literacy, virtual care, and technology!
The UMTRC is offering scholarships to the first 100 individuals in each of our four regions (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio) to attend the workshops at no cost.
Join us on either April 16, 2021 or May 14, 2021. Register now!
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InROC Virtual Opioid Use Disorder CME
The Indiana Rural Opioid Consortium (InROC) will host a virtual continuing medical education program on April 28, 2021 at 12:00 p.m. EST. We welcome Dr. Michael Wheelis, MD who will be presenting “Opioid Use Disorder Prevention, Treatment, and Management." This program has been approved for AMA Category 1 Credit™ which can be used to help satisfy the IN SEA 225 requirement.
This event will be offered at no cost to attend.
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23rd Annual Rural Health Conference
Register now for the 23rd Annual Indiana Rural Health Conference scheduled for June 15-16, 2021 in French Lick, Indiana. This is a MUST-ATTEND event for health professionals, students, and more!
The agenda is confirmed and all registrations are open; attendee, exhibitor, student scholarships, event sponsorships, and hotel reservations! Find all the details HERE!
Also joining us will be Tim Putnam, Michael Kauffmann, and many other experts from the healthcare industry!
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Save the Date for the 3rd Annual UMTRC Conference
The Upper Midwest Telehealth Resource Center (UMTRC) is excited to announce that they will hold their 3rd Annual Telehealth Conference in person this July 20-21, 2021! Exhibitor and attendee registration will open soon!
Be sure to sign up for the UMTRC mailing list for all the updates: https://www.umtrc.org/joinmailinglist
Speaker proposals are being accepted now through April 12, 2021. Submit HERE.
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Going the Extra Mile
We would like to recognize the following IRHA staff members who have gone the extra mile to share their talents, assist others, and achieve goals:
- IRHA Project Coordinator and Indiana Navigator, Ann McCafferty, successfully completed her Certified Community Health Worker coursework to earn the CCHW credential and completed coursework for an expanded training opportunity through ASPIN’s Opioid Workforce Expansion Program.
- Kasia Jayjack, IRHA Lead Data Coordinator, was selected to join the inaugural Healthy Start Evaluation Cohort. The team has representation from 16 rural sites, 11 urban sites, and one border site, from 16 different states. We are confident Kasia will add a wealth of knowledge to this group.
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Main Satellite Office (payable & receivable):
2901 Ohio Boulevard, Suite 240
Terre Haute, IN 47803
Phone: (812) 478-3919
Email: [email protected]
Corporate Office:
201 East Main Street
Suite 415
Washington, IN 47501
Satellite Office:
Located at the Indiana Interchurch Center
1100 West 42nd Street, Suite 305
Indianapolis, IN 46208
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