Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it is increasing the Medicare payment amount for administering the COVID-19 vaccine. This rate reflects new information about the costs involved in administering the COVID-19 vaccine for different types of providers and suppliers, and the additional resources necessary to ensure the vaccine is administered safely and appropriately. Effective March 15, 2021, the national average payment rate for physicians, hospitals, pharmacies and many other immunizers will be increased to $40 to administer each dose of any COVID-19 vaccine.  The updated payment rate for administration for each dose of any COVID-19 vaccine will be geographically adjusted and the exact rate will depend on the type of entity that furnishes the service.

The press release is attached and available here: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/biden-harris-administration-increases-medicare-payment-life-saving-covid-19-vaccine

President Biden signed into law a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package. Thanks to the advocacy of NRHA, Rural Health Association of Tennessee, and its members, the package includes a number of provisions to protect and promote rural health.

Most notably, we have secured the infusion of $8.5 billion for rural providers, a key provision which NRHA worked closely with Senator Manchin's office on. The $8.5 billion for rural providers will be provided through a fund called the Health Care Heroes Sustainability Fund (HCHSF), which will be similar to the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) but specific to rural providers. After months of advocacy, NRHA and its members are proud to have secured this much-needed relief on behalf of rural providers. 

Milan High School in West Tennessee began the school year in-person in August of 2020. It felt like a relief to resume some normalcy after the school had closed its doors in March due to COVID-19. Amid the modifications necessary to conduct safe in-person learning was the need for clinical interns in the Health Science program to stay on school grounds.

Local health care facilities restricted access. The fourth-year nursing students had anticipated the internships. Instructor Amy Watson began to search for a project that would give the students a learning experience and still operate within the scope of restrictions and safety requirements.

From Division of TennCare: 

Providing high-quality care and supporting TennCare members to improve their health is a longstanding primary objective of the TennCare program. The TennCare III Demonstration waiver agreement certainly prioritizes this goal by directly tying any potential shared savings the state might achieve to maintaining or improving quality of care as measured by a set of quality performance measures. As valued partners and providers in the TennCare program, we wanted to update you on the selection of these measures.

Director of Membership - West Tennessee - Allica Austin achieved an MBA from Liberty University and BS from the University of Tennessee at Martin. She was recruited from her undergraduate internship to help launch employee health initiatives at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center where she moved into roles focused on prevention and reducing chronic diseases. She has articles published focusing on implementing clinical care algorithms and research involving exercise physiology and reduction of long-term cancer side-effects. After hurricane Harvey she returned back to Tennessee to assist in the care if her father and continues to pursue her desire to assist in the reduction of disease in her home state of Tennessee.  Allica will be the project director for the Delta Apprenticeship grant and will support members in West Tennessee.

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].

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]

NRHRC Toolkit Users Guide

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.

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.

Black & White Photo Winner
"Linville Gorge" by Heather Newman, ETSU Rural Primary Care Track

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.

Assistant Commissioner Kenyatta Lovett, PhD, Workforce Services, Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development

The virtual research poster competition is an easy way for students, residents, and faculty to share their research without the costs of producing a “hard-copy” poster.