Early in August, President Trump issued an executive order focused on improving rural health. In response, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is moving forward with a series of assertive measures featured in a formal strategic plan to remedy the significant healthcare challenges of farmers and others living in rural communities. It addresses access to quality care, medical staffing, technology, clinical innovation, reimbursement and sustainability.Read the story and contact John Baresky for further details.

1. … Rural healthcare’s condition is improving …
Washington Takes Action To
Help Rural Healthcare
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) follows through on an
executive order issued by President Trump with the introduction of the
Rural Action Plan
Bare Sky Marketing — Healthcare Content Writing
Sep 11·6 min read
John G. Baresky

2. Early in August, President Trump issued an executive order focused on
improving rural health. In response, the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) is moving forward with a series of assertive
measures featured in a formal strategic plan to remedy the significant
healthcare challenges of farmers and others living in rural communities. It
addresses access to quality care, medical staffing, technology, clinical
innovation, reimbursement and sustainability.
Innovation in care, reimbursement and technology destined for rural
healthcare
The new Rural Action Plan, introduced by HHS Secretary Alex Azar, is not a
drawn-out overhaul typical of so many other legislative actions. Based on the
specific directives featured in President Trump’s executive order that
stresses quality and immediacy, it accelerates increased access to care,
enhances the level of care and improves the financial wellness of rural
healthcare provider organizations. It purposely features specific
requirements to establish and maintain robust telehealth capabilities for
rural populations.
Rural populations, healthcare provider organizations and medical
professionals share obstacles
Americans living in rural communities experience unique circumstances and
obstacles when seeking healthcare. They include extended travel distances,
limited public transit options, a shortage of credentialled healthcare staff
(nurses, nurse practitioners, doctors, physician assistants, medical
technologists, etc.) and modestly-equipped facilities further hampered with
an inability to capitalize on new, technology-driven care options like
telehealth (frequently due to broadband access issues).

3. Based on these and other hurdles, rural patients are often disadvantaged
when seeking basic primary care and those persons with cardiovascular,
oncology and respiratory issues are at greater risk in addition to behavioral
and women’s healthcare not being adequately supported. Of additional
concern is the Veterans Administration (VA) estimates that up to 25% of U.S.
veterans live in rural and remote areas.
The Rural Action Plan is the catalyst engaging the needs of rural
populations through four strategic applications
A cross-functional strategy enables each of the 4 components of the Rural
Action Plan to accomplish their respective goals while enriching the
functionality and success of each other. Collectively, they deliver more
accessible, high-quality care to rural communities nationwide. The four
Rural Action Plan components are comprised of…
Building a sustainable Health and Humans Services model for rural
communities through:
• Investing in the funding of the Rural Healthcare Providers
Transition Project, a new program to provide support for hospitals
and rural health clinics transitioning to value-based care models
• Expanding the Community Health Aide Program that provides
education and training of tribal community health providers to
increase access to quality health care, health promotion and disease
prevention services
• Designated funding towards the Integrated Rural Community Care
project to connect federally qualified health centers with rural

4. hospitals to better coordinate preventive, primary and emergency
health care
Maximizing the use of technology and innovation to deliver quality care and
services to rural communities more efficiently and cost-effectively:
• Precisely assign more than $8 million in grant funding for
the Telehealth Network Grant Program to provide emergency care
consults via telehealth to rural providers without emergency care
specialists
• Support for the new HHS Health Challenge to leverage technology
to improve screening and management of post-partum depression
for rural women patients
• Developing flexibility for Medicare Advantage (MA) plans to
improve access to managed care options in rural areas including
modification of network adequacy assessments for MA plans to
account for telehealth providers in contracted networks
A purposeful focus on wellness and disease prevention through specific
“rural-centric” efforts to improve health outcomes:
• Assigning over $2 million in funding in 2020 as an investment in a
four-year, $8 million project to identify evidence-based
interventions that reduce health risks faced by residents in rural
areas
• Designating an investment of over $2 million in additional funding
for rural oncology control grants with a focus on geographically
underserved rural areas with deep and/or persistent poverty that

5. fortifies a multi-year research effort to increase prevention efforts
coupled with enhanced oncology treatment for individuals living in
rural areas
• Launch of the Healthy Rural Hometown Initiative to identify
strategies to address the growing rural disparities attributed to the
five leading causes of avoidable death: stroke, heart disease, cancer,
respiratory disease and injury/substance use
Increasing rural access to care and its quality by confronting the shortage of
trained medical professionals in rural areas:
• Issuing $8.25 million to 11 communities that develop new rural
residency programs through the Rural Residency Planning and
Development Program
• A new policy brief examining the workforce shortage challenges
state-based licensure restrictions create for rural residents by failing
to let health care clinicians practice to the full extent of their training
and credentials
• Deploying an investment of $5 million in 2020 to recruit and train
emergency medical service (EMS) personnel in rural areas
The Rural Action Plan fortifies other rural health initiatives
developed and launched by the Trump administration
The current administration has previously assessed other rural healthcare
issues, identified their causes and created solutions. Moving forward it has
developed and launched earlier measures that will be further reinforced by
the Rural Action Plan. These are some of the affirmative steps taken to
benefit rural healthcare leading up to the Rural Action Plan:

6. • The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized wage
index reform to increase payments to hospitals in low wage areas,
including many rural hospitals, that empowers them to attract more
medical talent as they compete with higher wage hospitals and
health systems
• CMS was spurred to create new ways for Medicare to pay providers
specifically for forms of “virtual care” so medical professionals and
healthcare provider organizations are reimbursed for remote patient
monitoring, virtual assessments and review of electronically
transmitted images
• The Health Services Resources Administration (HRSA) launched
the Rural Communities Opioid Response program that actively
provides the funds (over $157 million to date) to rural areas in 47
states to enhance their ability to implement and sustain prevention,
treatment and recovery services in underserved rural areas
• Through the Rural Tribal COVID-19 Response Program, HRSA
awarded $15 million to 52 Tribes, Tribal organizations, urban Indian
health organizations and other health services providers to Tribes
across 20 states to prepare, prevent and respond to COVID-19 in
rural tribal communities
• Through the CARES Act, HRSA directed $150 million to over 1,700
rural hospitals to deal with COVID-19 (including $1 million
allocated to 12 tribal hospitals across 3 states to boost their ability to
combat COVID-19 in their communities with expansions of
telehealth, purchases of PPE and greater testing capacity)

7. A brighter horizon for rural residents and the medical professionals
that care for them
Access to quality healthcare is an essential element in the commercial
success of farmers and rural communities. Between 2005 and 2020, about
170 rural hospitals closed, over 30 were critical access hospitals. Improved
broadband access to support more telehealth will help resolve this issue.
Preventing further rural health facility closures and building up the ranks of
medical professionals working in the rural health market are two important
priorities. The series of new funding and federal government initiatives that
started 2 years ago is now further supported by the Rural Action Plan. When
the pandemic subsides these measures will provide even greater value to
farmers and others living in rural communities nationwide.
Thank you for reading this story
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