May 22, 2024 RHC Lunch and Learn: Moving the Needle of Change - Caring for Patients with Opioid Use Disorder in Tennessee
Speaker: Kayla Williams Mehr, PMHNP | MOUD Clinical Specialist with Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (TDMHSAS)
We are excited to host the TN-RHC Network Annual Meeting on Tuesday, June 25, 2024 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The meeting will cover RHC specific topics such as TennCare Updates, Emergency Preparedness, Compliance (Survey Tips and Strategies), Social Determinants of Health (data collection, coding and reporting), Quality Improvement projects, and more!
Location: The View at the Fountains, Murfreesboro, TN
Time: 8:30am - 4:00pm CST
Cost: Free for RHC Network Members/$50 for Non-Members.
The Healthy Smiles Student Loan Repayment Program provides educational loan repayment to qualified dentists, hygienists, and dental assistants in exchange for a service obligation to practice full-time at dental clinics located in medically underserved areas.
Practitioner Eligibility Requirements:
The Tennessee Department of Health is issuing an urgent alert regarding a recent surge in measles cases, both domestically and globally, necessitating heightened awareness and proactive measures. Regrettably, many instances of measles infections have gone undetected within healthcare and community settings, resulting in prolonged exposure periods and sustained disease transmission. It is imperative for clinicians to promptly identify suspected cases of measles, institute isolation protocols swiftly, and notify public health authorities by reporting any suspected cases to the Tennessee Department of Health at 615-741-7247.
Moreover, the Tennessee Department of Health offers measles testing services, available upon prior consultation and approval from the Vaccine Preventable Diseases team. Attached resources include the Tennessee Health Alert Network (TNHAN) measles notification, Project Firstline AAP's Think Measles Info Sheet, and the recent CDC Health Advisory on measles. TNHAN Members are reminded to keep their contact profile information updated to ensure effective communication channels. This collaborative effort aims to curb the spread of measles and safeguard public health within Tennessee and beyond. An Archive of TNHAN notifications sent to licensed medical professionals can be found, here.
Please join us for our next Lunch and Learn Session on Wednesday, March 27 at 12pm CST/1pm EST where we will introduce a new RHC benchmarking program supported by the Rural Health Association of Tennessee/RHC Network. This is now available to all network members at no cost. We hope this program not only provides you with valuable data about your RHCs but also helps to demonstrate the impact the network will have in the upcoming years.
Please join for a review of the web-based system and a discussion of next steps for how to access the tools and interpretation support. For more information about the program click here. To access this event email Christin McWhorter, RHC Network Director, at [email protected].
Join us February 28th, 2024 at 12:00 PM CST, for our monthly Rural Health Clinic lunch and learn webinar. This month's guest will be Kia Weaver, Outreach Specialist, with Kepro.
Kepro is the Beneficiary and Family Centered Care Quality Improvement Organization (BFCC-QIO) for the 29 states. Beneficiaries and families can call Kepro to talk about healthcare-related questions such as whether they are ready for discharge from a hospital, rehabilitation facility, home health agency, or hospice.
If you missed the October 20th webinar with Mark Webb, Principal, you can access the presentation through our Resource Center under RHC Network on our website here.
Mark Webb, Principal, with the Facilities and Construction team at Vizient works to educate members about the solutions and value opportunities available to members in the capital and construction areas. As a former member in the C-Suite, he has extensive experience in hospital administration and operations, along with 25+ years in civic, aviation and hospital construction.
The Tennessee Rural Community Opioid Response Program (TN-RCORP) Consortium, a program of Rural Health Association of Tennessee (RHA), is announcing their new "Be There" initiative.
With the goal of reducing stigma and encouraging support, the campaign aims to bring awareness to the benefits of being there for those battling behavioral health issues including substance use disorder (SUD) and opioid use disorder (OUD).
Rural Health Association of Tennessee (RHA) is proud to announce it has been awarded a sub-contract from Findhelp as part of TennCare's Health Starts Initiative.
Findhelp is a technology company that connects individuals needing social care services with community providers in an efficient and easy-to-navigate Closed-Loop Referral System (CLRS), while protecting privacy. They will provide the technology that allows TennCare to assess non-medical risk factors of individuals in need through a unified approach and refer them to community-based organizations that can meet their needs, while tracking outcomes.
In partnership with Ovation Healthcare we've curated a series of virtual webinars specifically aimed toward Hospitals. Webinar Series - Click Each One for Details and Registration:
A list of all remaining 2023 webinars and trainings eligible for discounts can be found here.
Tennessee public school students are required to turn in the state department of health immunization certificate before returning to the classroom. The list of required vaccinations are here. VFC helps families of children who may not otherwise have access to vaccines by providing free vaccines to doctors who serve them.
Children ages 18 years or younger who meet at least one of the following requirements:
What is the Certified Rural Health Clinic Professional Course (CRHCP) ?
RHCs have unique rules and regulations that require specialized knowledge and expertise. The course is designed specifically for Directors, Clinic Administrators, and other RHC leaders and covers all aspects of operating a successful RHC, including federal and state regulations, billing and coding, financial management, human resources, and more. Industry experts will provide you with the tools and resources needed to effectively manage your clinic, ensuring that it thrives and grows.
Scholarships:
We are excited to offer a limited number of scholarships valued at $600 for those interested in completing the course! Applications must be received by August 31st, 2023. Click here to download and fill out the application. Please return it to Christin McWhorter, [email protected].
Please join TN-RCORP members, Power of Putnam and Tennessee Tech’s Counseling Honor Society Tau Tau, for a collaborative symposium to discuss new developments and best practices in substance use prevention and recovery. In person and virtual options are available.
The Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-Based Epidemics (ESSENCE) is a national syndromic surveillance system used to monitor disease trends for early detection of potential disease outbreaks.
In Tennessee, the Department of Health (TDH) is using ESSENCE to monitor weekly trends in suicidal behavior and identify regions/counties across the state seeing increased incidents of persons reporting to an emergency department for suicide-related behavior. Each week, the Suicide Prevention Program within TDH will review reports on how many people visited a local ED for suicidal ideation or injuries related to self-harm or suicide attempts. If a certain county reports an above-average number of suicide-related visits for a certain age group, this will trigger an ESSENCE alert for that county and age group. These alerts will be issued weekly by TDH.
We're excited to launch the Rural Health Clinic Network, a member group for independent and provider-based clinics in Tennessee.
We held a Kick-Off Event in June to learn more about the clinics' strengths, challenges, and needs. We look forward to supporting the clinics through the Network, offering resources to help them succeed. We hope to foster a community of collaboration and support within the Network.
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provides answers to general and program-specific inquiries including Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and private insurance in an informative publication available here.
Rural Health Association of Tennessee invites you to learn more about provider recruitment and retention and how to become a National Health Service Corps Site. Elizabeth Burrows with Burrows Consulting will be presenting this webinar on May 23rd at 10am CST.
Learning Objectives include:
National Health Service Corps New Site Application Webinar Recording Now Available! Click here
The 2022 NHSC New Site Application Cycle is open and accepting applications through Tuesday, May 10, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. E.T.
Have a question? Application help is available!
April 14, 2-4 p.m. ET: NHSC New Site Application Q&A Session #1
April 27, 12-2 p.m. ET: NHSC New Site Application Q&A Session #2
July 1, 2022, Rural Health Association of Tennessee (RHA) received a HRSA Planning Grant (P10RH45771‐01‐01) to build capacity to support the state's more than 200 Rural Health Clinics (RHCs). With an Advisory Committee of independent and provider-based RHCs and others the group conducted site visits, surveys, and focus groups to explore how RHA can support integrating RHCs into the larger healthcare system. Here's what we've been up to! Activities have been made possible thanks to the generous support of National Rural Health Association, Center's for Disease Control (CDC), and Health and Human Resources Services Agency (HRSA).
September 20th-22nd, RHA sent TN-RHC Advisory Member Candance Garrett with Ascension/Saint 
Thomas to National Rural Health Association's RHC conference in Kansas City, MO for the latest in RHC policy and updates. Also pictured, Alicia Calloway, RHA's Chief Operating Officer, Andrew Burnett, THA's VP Rural Hospitals, and Jacy Warrell, RHA's CEO.
If you missed hearing from the Tennessee Division of TennCare you can view the recording of the webinar by clicking the link below.
Our guest speakers included: Drew Staniewski, Deputy Director of TennCare; Zane Seals, Chief Financial Officer TennCare; Jacy Warrell, Executive Director of RHA of TN; and Nathan Baugh, Executive Director of the National Association of Rural Health Clinics.
