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NCHN e-News
September 25, 2012 FacebookTwitter LinkedIn

NCHN Monthly Recap

In case you missed it, here is a recap of NCHN's September news and announcements.

  • The 2012 NCHN Leadership Summit is starting today in Kansas City, Missouri, and ends tomorrow. The attendees will have the opportunity to participate in follow-up calls as part of the Leadership Learning Community.
  • The RHNR Consulting Group application has been posted. Members should have received an email with a link to the application. If you need more information or a link to the application, email Christy
  • NCHN welcomed Northeast Missouri Mental Health Transformation Network as the newest Network Member and EMTS as the newest business partner.
  • 2013 NCHN Conference: Your feedback is needed - take the 2013 Pre-Conference Survey
  • 2013 NCHN Conference: We are accepting proposals for the 2013 Conference in New Orleads. Submit a proposal online.
  • HIMSS invited NCHN members to participate at no cost in a series of calls, “Meaningful Use Stage 2 and the Standards and Certification Criteria Final Rules: A Three-Part Series”, held on September 11, 18, and 25.
  • The NCHN Quarterly Membership call was held on September 10th and the topic was Meaningful Use Stage 2 with a legislative update from NRHA. The transcript and documents are posted in the Members Only section of NCHN.org at Member Resources > Documents > Membership Calls.
  • The next Coffee/Tea Chat with Dr. Chess will be Wednesday, October 17 @ 12:00 PM ET. Details will be sent out via email prior to the call. This is a great time to connect with other network directors to share news, discuss ideas, and collaborate to solve problems.

NCHN NEWS

MEMBER BLURBS

UPCOMING EVENTS

NATIONAL NEWS

FUNDING

Featured Partner
TAG Healthcare Marketing
EMTS is a Silver Business Partner
» FIND OUT MORE

funny factsHow well do you know your fellow NCHN members? Can you identify this network?

Which new NCHN Member Network's mission is to establish an Electronic Health Network for Rural EMS?
» LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS MEMBER

NCHN NEWS  

Upcoming NCHN Calls & Events

Executive Committee Call
Monday, October 8 @ 2:00 PM ET

2013 Conference Planning Committee Call
Tuesday, October 9 @ 2:00 PM ET

Board of Directors Call
Monday, October 15 | 2:00 - 3:30 PM ET

Program Development Committee Call
Tuesday, October 16 @ 1:00 PM ET

Coffee/Tea Chat with Dr. Mary Kay Chess
Wednesday, October 17 @ 12:00 PM ET

Business Partner Committee Call
Wednesday, October 17 @ 1:30 PM ET

» VIEW THE NCHN CALENDAR

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FEATURED PARTNER  

EMTSEquipment Management & Technology Solutions

Save 10 - 15% per Year on Your Equipment Costs!

Capital Equipment and Service
Contract Savings Program for NCHN Members

Equipment Management & Technology Solutions (EMTS) is working with NCHN members to ensure best pricing on capital equipment and service contract purchases. This program, specifically created for NCHN, can help you save tens of thousands of dollars each year.

Program Benefits

  • Ensured best pricing on capital equipment purchases (all types of equipment)
  • Ensured best pricing on all service contract purchases
  • Risk-Free costs savings- all fees are pay-for-performance only (all fees for this service are
    a percentage of your realized savings, if no savings are realized, no fees are due)

Service Specifics

Review and Evaluate
Utilize EMTS resources and data to review and evaluate your existing service agreements. Allow EMTS to centralize all maintenance agreements and evaluate your existing vendor
service pricing.
Compare and Optimize
Know exactly how your equipment pricing compares to the nation’s best. Optimize your current pricing, know the vendor’s discounting structure and prepare target pricing/discounting for future purchases.
Negotiate
EMTS will work directly with your vendors (and competitive vendors, with your approval) to renegotiate your price quotes and lower your costs. You still select the vendors and contract with them directly. EMTS simply leverages their data and relationships to make sure you are receiving the best pricing available in today’s marketplace. You save both time and money!

Contact
Larry Cantarano, VP of Strategic Sourcing
Phone: 720.875.0505, ext. 9923
lcantarano@emtsolutions.biz
www.emtsolutions.biz

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MEMBER BLURBS  

Member News

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UPCOMING EVENTS  

A step-by-step approach to implementing a Patient Centered Medical Home
Stroudwater Associates

Webinar: September 27, 2012 @ 3:00 PM ET

Establishing your practice or practices within your health system as a certified Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model of care demonstrates your shift from volume to value. But what does PCMH actually mean? How do you prepare your patients and practice(s) for implementation of a PCMH approach to care delivery? And how do you get paid for your efforts?

» MORE INFORMATION

Take Action Series: Evaluate Actions
County Health Rankings & Roadmaps

Webinar: October 9, 2012 | 2:00 - 3:00 PM CDT

Evaluating your efforts is an important step in the community health improvement process. This allows you to be sure that what you are doing is working in the way you intended and that your efforts are as effective and efficient as possible. Accountability also increases the likelihood that funders will continue to invest in your efforts. Learn about guidance, tools and resources for evaluating whether policies and programs are working as intended in order to focus collective efforts efficiently and effectively.

» MORE INFORMATION

National Rural Health DayNational Rural Health Day
NOSORH

November 15, 2012 is National Rural Health Day! NOSORH, State Offices of Rural Health and our partners invite you to join us November 11-17 as we showcase Rural America and highlight the efforts of SORHs and others in addressing the unique healthcare needs of rural communities. More importantly, we want you to be part of the celebration!

» MORE INFORMATION

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NATIONAL NEWS  

Health care law ensures consumers get clear, consistent information about health coverage

September 24, 2012 (HHS News Release) - Because of the health care law, millions of Americans will have access to standardized, easy-to-understand information about health plan benefits and coverage.  Insurance companies and employers are now required to provide consumers in the private health insurance market with a brief summary of what a health insurance policy or employer plan covers, called a Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC). Additionally, consumers will have access to a Uniform Glossary that defines insurance and medical terms in standard, consumer-friendly terms.

» CONTINUE READING

Community colleges land grants for health IT programs
by Bernie Monegain

September 20, 2012 (HealthcareITNews) - Community colleges that received grants for health IT or other healthcare-related programs:

» VIEW THE LIST

Health care law's impact on businesses varies
by Kelly Kennedy

September 24, 2012 (USA Today) - Companies specializing in driving down spending on health care, whether through electronic records, preventive care or consolidating services, are turning out to be the biggest winners from the 2010 health care law. Investors, analysts and policymakers say any business that can help health care providers cut costs or keep patients from being readmitted to the hospital soon after an in-patient visit is attracting more customers and seeing more investment.

» CONTINUE READING

Study Links Extended Physician Office Hours With Lower Health Care Costs
by James Arvantes

September 19, 2012 (AAFP) - A study in the September/October Annals of Family Medicine indicates there is a relationship between extended office hours in medical practices and lower health care costs. But, study researchers concluded that it is not clear whether the extended hours themselves account for lower medical costs or whether the extended hours are indicative of practices that generally do a good job of controlling expenditures.

» CONTINUE READING

Survival of Safety-Net Hospitals at Risk

September 20, 2012 (Science Daily) - Many public safety-net hospitals are likely to face increasing financial and competitive pressures stemming in part from the recent Supreme Court decision on the Affordable Care Act, according to researchers at Penn State and the Harvard School of Public Health.

» CONTINUE READING

Is A Competitive Health Care Model All It’s Cracked Up To Be?
by Julie Appleby and Marilyn Werber Serafini

September 20, 2012 (Kaiser Health News) - Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan says his proposal to overhaul Medicare would use market competition to tame costs in the government health program relied on by almost 50 million people. As models, he often cites the health program for federal employees – including members of Congress -- and Medicare’s prescription drug program. "It works with federal employees, it works with the prescription drug benefit, and more to the point, it saves Medicare," Ryan said on "Meet the Press" in April.

» CONTINUE READING

Impact of Nursing Shortage on Hospice Care: A New CMS Memo
by Evvie Munley

September 20, 2012 (LeadingAge) - In order to allow hospices affected by the shortage to utilize contracted nursing staff, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued Impact of Nursing Shortage on Hospice Care, a memo that extended from Sept. 30, 2012, to Sept. 30, 2014, the "extraordinary circumstance" exemption for hospice. The move is in response to continued requests from providers that the current nursing shortage be designated as an "extraordinary circumstance."

» CONTINUE READING

Abused Substances Differ in Rural, Urban Areas

September 21, 2012 (Psychiatric News) - Alcohol and nonheroin opiates are the drugs of choice in rural populations presenting for substance abuse treatment in the United States, while heroin and cocaine top the list in urban areas, according to a new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The Treatment Episode Data Set (TEDS) report covers admissions to publicly funded or licensed substance abuse programs, with data reported by states.

» CONTINUE READING

Through the Affordable Care Act, Americans with Medicare will save $5,000 through 2022

September 21, 2012 (HHS News Release) - Because of the health care law – the Affordable Care Act – the average person with traditional Medicare will save $5,000 from 2010 to 2022, according to a report today from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. People with Medicare who have high prescription drug costs will save much more – more than $18,000 – over the same period.

» CONTINUE READING

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FUNDING  

Rural Health Network Development Planning Program
HRSA-ORHP

This announcement solicits applications for the Rural Health Network Development Planning Grant Program (Network Planning). The purpose of the Network Planning Program is to promote the development of integrated healthcare networks in order to: (i) achieve efficiencies; (ii) expand access to, coordinate, and improve the quality of essential health care services; and (iii) strengthen the rural health care system as a whole. This program brings together key parts of a rural health care delivery system, particularly those entities that may not have collaborated in the past, to work together to establish or improve local capacity and coordination of care. The grant program supports one year of planning to develop and assist health care networks in becoming operational. These networks can include a wide range of community partners including social service agencies, faith-based organizations, mental health agencies, charitable organizations, educational institutions, employers, local government agencies or other entities with an interest in a community's health care system. For purposes of this grant program, a rural health network is defined as an organizational arrangement among at least three separately owned health care providers that come together to develop strategies for improving health services delivery systems in a community. For example a critical access hospital (CAH), a community health center (CHC) and a social services organization could come together around a shared purpose, such as coordination of care, in a collaborative activity that allows them to assess the health care needs within their community, share clinical or administrative resources or ensure that local patients have access to a full continuum of care locally.   

Due Date: October 15, 2012

» MORE INFORMATION

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Contact Us | About Us | www.NCHN.org
To learn more about membership and to join, go to http://www.nchn.org
or contact Christy Sullenberger at csullenberger@nchn.org