With the arrival of March, now only one month remains for providers to attest for Program Year 2020. This issue again includes guidance providers can use to attest for Program Year 2020 and look ahead to attesting for 2021 later this year. Read here.
Should you have questions about what you read in this newsletter, or have suggestions for the newsletter, please write to us at [email protected].
February 9-11th, 2021 a delegation of 19 Rural Health Association of Tennessee Members and affiliates attended National Rural Health Association's Policy Institute. We welcome you to contact your federal legislators to share your experience and insight explaining the need to fund rural programs, providers, and facilities. See below for resources. If you would like to participate in upcoming state advocacy events, please email [email protected].
The National Rural Health Resource Center has release a toolkit full of temples to educate your patients, build trust and confidence in your rural hospital and clinic and communicate services. Need help? Contact [email protected]
Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) has Updated the List of Reportable Codes for Drug Overdose Reporting (DOR)
Effective January 3rd 2021, the Drug Overdose Reporting (DOR) List of Reportable Diagnosis codes was updated to include new Opioid-related ICD-10-CM codes. This update reflected changes made as a result of the ICD-10-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee for federal fiscal year 2021. The T40.4X[1-4] coding structure for synthetic narcotics of unintentional, intentional self-harm, assault, and undetermined intent were revised. The changes allow for more specific reporting of drug overdoses involving synthetic opioids for initial and subsequent encounters. In particular, it allows the TDH to identify drug overdoses involving fentanyl, which has become more important to understand as overdoses involving fentanyl have increased rapidly in the last five years. Please ensure that your hospital is including the new codes when reporting drug overdoses to TDH. For more information and to obtain the full List of Reportable Diagnosis codes see the TDH Drug Overdose Reporting website. The new ICD-10-CM codes are indicated with an asterisk.
Rural Health Association of Tennessee announced the election results for two new additions to the board of directors: Alicia Calloway, Chief Operating Officer of OPYS Physician Services and Barry Cooper, Executive Director of JACOA.
The 2021 List of Reportable Diseases in Tennessee, effective January 1, 2021, can be found at the following link: https://www.tn.gov/health/cedep/reportable-diseases.html. Included are the list of reportable diseases and guidance for healthcare providers and laboratories regarding reporting requirements. Important changes in 2021 include:
Healthcare Providers/Facilities Only:
Executive Director, Jacy Warrell, talks with Dr. Bill Auxier, host of Rural Health Leadership Radio. Subscribe to Rural Health Leadership Radio at https://rhlradio.com
Volunteer Tennessee, the state commission on national and community service, has established the Tennessee Serves Network to engage more Tennesseans in volunteer service. The network is a statewide collaboration of volunteer centers dedicated to bringing people and community together through an online volunteer portal.
And, now your organization can engage potential volunteers through this statewide system for free! Please click here for more information and learn how to register for an account. You can also contact Shannon Duke, Volunteerism & Training Manager at 615-253-8585 or [email protected] for more information.
Thank you to everyone who submitted and voted on photos at our annual conference last November! Below are the winners of the Color and Black & White photo categories, as well as the 1st and 2nd runner up.
Executive Director, Jacy Warrell, has a conversation with Fran Ayalasomayajula of Reach Radio. Jacy discusses RHA's services to the community, challenges especially in education about COVID, developing community trust with key stakeholders, dealing with cultural differences and different demographics, coping styles for counties with no rural hospitals, and many more.
Rural Health Association of Tennessee will receive a grant from Delta Regional Authority to launch "pre-apprenticeship" program in West Tennessee.
Executive Director, Jacy Warrell, speaks with Nashville Public Television on COVID and rural health disparities.
Assistant Commissioner Kenyatta Lovett, PhD, Workforce Services, Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development
RHA's 6th Annual Poster Contest included submissions for the following divisions:
Submissions are scored for Scientific Content (75%) and Virtual Poster Display (25%). Winners receive a small gift card from Rural Health Association of Tennessee.
https://www.marketplace.org/2020/11/13/some-isolated-rural-areas-covid-19-is-hitting-hard/
