The VA MISSION Act (H.R. 5674/S.2193) has passed and will strengthen healthcare services at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) https://www.va.gov. The Act will expand the VA’s community care programs to all generations so veterans will be able to receive care in their own communities. In the interim, the bill authorizes and appropriates funding for the VA to continue the Veterans Choice Program until the new Veterans Community Care Program is implemented. (more…)
Data Tool to Fight Opioid Epidemic
A new data visualization tool referred to as the “Appalachian Overdose Mapping Tool” http://overdosemappingtool.norc.org is a resource solely focused on Appalachia. This unique tool provided by NORC at the University of Chicago www.norc.org, and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) https://www.arc.gov, illustrates the relationship in each Appalachian county by determining overdose deaths and socioeconomic factors. (more…)
Studying Blood Pressure Control
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) https://www.pcori.org Board of Governors recently approved more than $20 million for studies that will use the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network (PCORnet) www.pcornet.org to improve care for people with high blood pressure but studies will also be undertaken for arthritis, depression, and irritable bowel disease. (more…)
Big Data Advancing Telemedicine
Valarie Romero, STEM researcher, wrote in an article appearing in the April 26, 2018 Arizona Telemedicine Blog https://telemedicine.arizona.edu, patients are starting to expect more convenient options and access to more information about their health. This requires using new technologies such as data analytics to help advance the use of telemedicine while empowering both physicians and patients. (more…)
Telehealth to Help Combat Opioid Epidemic
Several bipartisan bills introduced by Senator Tom Carper (D-DE) http://www.carper.senate.gov a member of the Senate Finance Committee, focus on using telehealth to combat the opioid epidemic. The first of Senator Carper’s bills, “Medicaid Substance Use Disorder Treatment via Telehealth Act” (S.2904), would require CMS to issue guidance to streamline, improve, and increase the use of telehealth in Medicaid to treat substance and opioid abuse. (more…)
Support for Broadband in Alaska
According the FCC’s 2018 data, 25 million Americans and 31 percent of rural Americans do not have broadband available to them. NTIA’s BroadbandUSA https://broadbandusa.ntia.doc.gov Technical Team is establishing broadband in rural communities such as in rural Alaska. (more…)
Grants to Help Rural Hospitals
HRSA’s Office of Rural Health Policy https://www.hrsa.gov/rural-health/index.html posted grant notice (HRSA-18-121) on May 18, 2018, seeking applications for their “Vulnerable Rural Hospitals Assistance Program” (VRHAP). Funding for $800,000 has been estimated to provide targeted in-depth assistance to vulnerable rural hospitals within communities struggling to maintain healthcare services. (more…)