HRSA Announcement: Area Resource File Updated
July 10, 2012 (RAConline.org > Online Library > News) - HRSA announces that the 2011-2012 version of the Area Resource File (ARF) has been updated.
Established in 1975, the ARF is a health resource information database used extensively by researchers, planners and policy makers to obtain data on all counties in the United States.
Updates include: health workforce (e.g., physicians by specialty, dentists, physician assistants, certified nurse midwives); health professions shortage areas; health facilities (e.g., hospitals, rural health clinics, ambulatory surgery centers, nursing facilities); health expenditures (e.g., hospital facilities expenditures, Medicare Advantage payment rates); demographics (e.g., population by race, poverty, income, health insurance, and Medicaid eligibles); and more.
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New AHRQ Handbook Helps Practices Implement Interactive Preventive Health Records
July 16, 2012 (AHRQ email) - A new handbook from AHRQ offers practical guidance on the implementation of interactive preventive health records (IPHRs). Based on the lessons learned from implementation using EHRs from 3 different vendors at 14 different practices,An Interactive Preventive Care Record: A Handbook for Using Patient-Centered Personal Health Records to Promote Prevention provides practical steps for healthcare professionals to follow when integrating IPHRs as components of electronic health records.
In an article, “Randomized Trial of an Interactive Preventive Health Record to Enhance the Delivery of Recommended Care,” published in the Annals of Family Medicine, the authors found that IPHR users were more likely to be up-to-date on all preventive services compared with nonusers, especially in the areas of screening tests and immunizations. The study findings showed that an IPHR and similar systems can improve important patient outcomes, such as the delivery of evidence-based preventive care. Researchers recommend that attention is needed to ensure future personal health records can deliver higher levels of functionality, similar to the IPHR, and that a greater number of patients and clinicians actively use the systems.
» DOWNLOAD THE HANDBOOK (pdf)
OMB Comment Request: Survey on Rural Community Wealth and Health Care Provision
July 10, 2012 (The Federal Register)
Title: Survey on Rural Community Wealth and Health Care Provision
The Department of Agriculture has submitted the following information collection requirement(s) to OMB for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13. Comments regarding (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information will have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of burden including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or other forms of information technology
Comments should be addressed to: Desk Officer for Agriculture, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget (OMB), OIRA_Submission@OMB.EOP.GOV or fax (202) 395-5806 and to Departmental Clearance Office, USDA, OCIO, Mail Stop 7602, Washington, DC 20250-7602. Comments regarding these information collections are best assured of having their full effect if received within 30 days of this notification. Copies of the submission(s) may be obtained by calling (202) 720-8958.
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More than 16 million people with Medicare get free preventive services in 2012
July 10, 2012 (HHS News Release) - The Affordable Care Act – the new health care law – helped over 16 million people with original Medicare get at least one preventive service at no cost to them during the first six months of 2012, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today. This includes 1.35 million who have taken advantage of the Annual Wellness Visit provided by the Affordable Care Act. In 2011, 32.5 million people in Medicare received one or more preventive benefits free of charge.
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Palliative Care Challenged by Physician Shortage by John Cantlupe
July 13, 2012 (HealthLeaders Media) - In the past decade, medical schools have significantly increased their emphasis on palliative care education, but there is a shortage of palliative care physicians. While there is about one cardiologist for every 71 people experiencing a heart attack and one oncologist for every 141 newly diagnosed cancer patients, there is only one palliative care physician for every 1,200 people living with a serious or life-threatening illness, according to the Center to Advance Palliative Care.
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Voters sick of health care debate
by Halimah Abdullah
July 12, 2012 (CNN) - Thomas Dean is sick of all the congressional bickering over the health care law.
Sure, the small town doctor understands the law's technical nuances and what's at stake for the millions of people covered by President Barack Obama's biggest policy achievement.
Sure, he knows the law has its problems and that House Republicans are pushing -- for the 33rd time -- to repeal what has become known as "Obamacare," or parts of it.
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'Most Wired' hospitals named for 2012 by Mike Milliard
July 10, 2012 (HealthcareIT News) - The 2012 installment of the "Health Care’s Most Wired" survey finds hospitals nationwide leveraging health information technology in new and envelope-pushing ways.
As they deploy IT to improve care and address inefficiencies, hospitals are also concerned with protecting patient data, optimizing patient flow and improving staff communications, according to Hospitals & Health Networks, which polled some 1,570 hospitals for the survey, conducted in partnership with McKesson, the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) and the American Hospital Association.
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Community health centers compare well with private practices, researcher finds
by Mandy Erickson
July 10, 2012 (Standford School of Medicine News) - Government-funded community health centers, which serve low-income and uninsured patients, provide better care than do private practices, a researcher at the Stanford University School of Medicine has found. Randall Stafford, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, and colleagues at University of California-San Francisco looked at the actions physicians took when patients visited private practices versus the actions that were taken at community health centers, also referred to as Federally Qualified Health Centers and FQHC Look-Alikes, both of which receive government support.
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Lacking money, insurance or dentists, oral health takes a back seat, and rural is barely on the bus
July 13, 2012 (The Rural Blog) - Dental disease is the largest unmet health need in the U.S. among both children and adults, according to the Pew Children’s Dental Campaign. The worst-off are the poor, the young, the old, and those in rural America, reports Margot Sanger-Katz in the National Journal.
Dental disease is among the most common reasons that children miss school. It’s the most common medical reason that soldiers can’t deploy. It is a leading cause of emergency-room visits in several states. For proponents of a freer health care market, who want patients to be motivated by financial incentives to shop around and avoid “unnecessary” care, the dental system offers a glimpse of how such a system might work. And research shows that poor oral health can lead to disease elsewhere in the body.
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Oregon Medicaid Waiver Includes Boost For Rural Health
by
Chris Lehman
July 9, 2012 (OPB news) - A new federal waiver for Oregon includes a provision aimed at luring doctors to small towns. The state won final approval Monday from the Obama administration for plans to move ahead with big changes in health care.
The federal waiver is good for five years, and it was expected. It removes one of the last regulatory hurdles for Oregon to overhaul the way it delivers health care to low income people.
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ICD10-CM/PCS Workgroup
Seeking Nominations: Federal Register Notice Extended
July 13, 2012 (AHRQ email) - The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has published a notice in the Federal Register [FR DOC# 2012-16734] seeking nominations for members of workgroups on ICD-10-CM/PCS Conversion of Quality Indicators (QIs). The text of the notice, including workgroup selection criteria and specific activities, may be found at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-07-10/pdf/2012-16734.pdf. This notice is being extended to provide the greatest opportunity for participation.
Deadline for submissions: July 22, 2012.
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