There are approximately 4,100 Rural Health Clinics operating in the U.S and are heavily dependent on Medicare. Senators John Barrasso (R-WY) https://www.barrasso.senate.gov and Tina Smith (D-MN) https://smith.senate.gov recently introduced the bipartisan “Rural Health Clinic Modernization Act” (S.1037) to provide regulatory relief for Rural Health Clinics while also improving reimbursements for the rural facilities. (more…)
BPC’s Report on the Opioid Crisis
In 2017 more than 70,000 people in the U.S died from a drug overdose with almost 50,000 of these deaths involving an opioid. The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) https://bipartisanpolicy.org recently held an event to discuss their findings in their new report Tracking Federal Funding to Combat the Opioid Crisis. (more…)
CMS Seeks Innovative Solutions
CMS https://www.cms.gov has announced a new competition to encourage and accelerate innovative solutions to better predict health outcomes and improve the quality of care for patients. The American Academy of Family Physicians https://www.aafp.org/home.html and the Laura and John Arnold Foundation https://www.arnoldventures.org are partnering on the CMS “Artificial Intelligence Health Outcomes Challenge” to help innovators from all sectors harness AI solutions to predict health outcomes. (more…)
Finalists Announced at Datapalooza
The “Healthiest Communities Data Challenge” finalists were announced https://www.academyhealth.org/HCDC at the 2019 Health Datapalooza AcademyHealth sponsored by the Aetna Foundation https://www.aetna-foundation.org, and U.S News & World Report https://www.usnews.com.
Concussion Screening Tool Available
A new updated tool called MACE 2 released by the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC) https://dvbic.dcoe.mil, is now available to providers to screen patients for concussion. The MACE 2 is for use by all medically trained personnel such as medics, corpsmen, and other healthcare providers who treat service members with suspected TBI.
HHS Deputy Secretary Discusses Priorities
HHS Deputy Secretary Eric D. Hargan Keynoter at the “AcademyHealth 2019 Health Datapalooza” https://www.academyhealth.org event held in Washington D.C. March 27-28, told the attendees how his office has undertaken an initiative called the “Deputy Secretary’s Innovation and Investment Summit. (more…)
Toolkit to Help Children with mTBI
Approximately 640,000 children 14 years and younger with suspected TBI very often go to emergency departments annually. In addition, urgent care centers and primary care physicians evaluate and manage patients with mild Traumatic Brain Injuries (mTBI). More than 80 percent of TBI cases are classified as mTBI. (more…)