CDPHE EMS Trauma Grants

The CDPHE EMS and Trauma grant application deadline approaches! Submit your applications by 5 p.m. on Feb. 16, 2010. Click here for an informational flyer. For more details or to apply, click here.

FREE RHC Healthy Clinic Assessment

As you are aware, CRHC Program Staff will be visiting all Rural Health Clinics in the coming months. Your clinic's FREE Healthy Clinic Assessment is designed to capture unique clinic challenges across most aspects of your clinic's operations from patient check-in to patient check-out. As Assessments are scheduled you will also notice our request for clinic financial data which we will use to establish benchmarks that, once established, will be accessible to all Colorado RHCs. All clinic data collected during the Healthy Clinic Assessment will remain confidential at all times and data made accessible to clinics will be reported cumulatively. On behalf of the program staff here at the Colorado Rural Health Center we thank you in advance for your participation and look forward to seeing you soon.

Webinar: QHi Benchmarking Tool

February 4, 1:30-2:30 CST
CRHC has recently contracted with Quality Health Indicators (QHi) to offer the QHi Benchmarking tool to Colorado's rural hospitals. QHi will be holding a free webinar demonstrating the system for those interested in or new to the system. Selecting measures, entering data and running reports will be demonstrated. To register for the webinar, click here. Following your registration you will receive a confirmation email with connection information. For CAHs, CRHC is able to subsidize the cost of participating in QHi through the Medicare Rural Flexibility Grant. Participation is available to Colorado's non-Critical Access Hospitals for a low annual fee of $500. Information about signing up for QHi is available on CRHC's website by clicking here.

Webinar: Utilization Management for CAHs

February 5, 11:00-12:30
Utilization Management (UM) and Utilization Review (UR) are important elements in the comprehensive evaluation and delivery of patient care. During this webinar, experts from The Joffit Group, will discuss the components involved in setting up an efficient UM/UR process and will review CRHC's new Utilization Management Resource for Critical Access Hospitals. For more information, click here.

Emergency Update to the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Database

The emergency update to the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Database-CMS CR 6796 is available by clicking here.

Charity Donations for ClinicNET Clinics

The Colorado Association of State Underwriters has chosen ClinicNET affiliated clinics for their annual charity membership contest. Their competition will result in the donation of items to your clinics. These are low cost items that typically don't exceed $10/item. Some examples include toothbrushes, toothpaste, dental floss, children's books, divider plates to help with a weight program, sunscreen and pedometers. Do feel free to take a few minutes and send an email to rm@coruralhealth.org with a list of items that you can use. Then staff with the Colorado Association of Underwriters will publicize it to their Association colleagues and their competition will begin. My understanding is that they present the donations in April.

Smilemakers Van

The CU School of Dental Medicine is looking for a community to host its mobile dental clinic, the Smilemakers Van. There is a cost to communities to host the van, but there are a variety of ways this cost can be offset. If your community is interested in learning more about how you can host the van, please contact Diane Brunson, Director of Public Health, UC School of Medicine, at (303) 724-2239 or Diane.Brunson@ucdenver.edu. For additional information, click here.

CMS and ONC Issue Regulations

CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) encourage public comment on two regulations that lay a foundation for improving quality, efficiency and safety through meaningful use of certified Electronic Health Record (EHR) technology. The regulations will help implement the EHR incentive programs enacted under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). A proposed rule issued by CMS outlines proposed provisions governing the EHR incentive programs, including defining the central concept of "meaningful use" of EHR technology. An Interim Final Regulation (IFR) issued by ONC sets initial standards, implementation specifications and certification criteria for EHR technology. Both regulations are open to public comment. Click here for the press release dated December 30, 2009, for more information. Additional Web site resources:

• Recovery Act Health IT page
• CMS regulation
• ONC regulation
• HHS press releases
• CMS fact sheets

New CRHC Leadership

CRHC would like to congratulate Cari Fouts as she transitions from Program Director of CRHC’s Hospital and Clinic Programs to her new role as CRHC’s Director of Communication and Development. Cari can still be reached at cf@coruralhealth.org, 303.565.5847.

We would like to welcome Michelle Mills as our new Program Director of Hospital and Clinic Programs. Many of you worked with Michelle during her time at the Colorado Foundation for Medical Care (CFMC) and we are excited to have her join us. Michelle’s contact information is mm@coruralhealth.org, 303.407.0410.