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9th Annual Rural Health Conference Recap: Navigating Together Through Risk & Opportunity California State budget cuts…a national economy in recession…national health care reform…ARRA…the HITECH Act…Meaningful Use. Healthcare providers and rural providers in particular have more challenges than ever right now, along with some major opportunities – if we can take the risks to meet them. All of these issues were at the forefront of CSRHA’s 9th Annual Conference in November at the Sacramento Convention Center. CSRHA hosted more than 200 attendees, exhibitors and speakers to discuss topics centered on the theme Navigating Together Through Risk & Opportunity. The conference was expanded this time and spanned four days, with a different focus for each day: the Special Meetings Day; the inaugural Rural eHealth Summit, which was well attended and considered critical by attendees; our Policy and Legislative Affairs Day; and a Leadership Development Day. Also included were the Exhibitor Showcase with the President’s Reception and the Annual Rural Champion Awards Luncheon.
“One of the things we learned from the eHealth Summit that surprised us was that many rural safety-net providers are still in the very early stages of even considering how and when they will adopt eHealth technologies,” adds Desirée Rose, CSRHA’s Executive Director. “We realized how important the information from our presenters was, as well as the small workgroups, in initiating rural providers into the process.” The presentations included case studies of successful implementation and best practices, and are all available at CSRHA’s website at www.csrha.org, by clicking on the Conference link. The small workgroups focused on helping providers wherever they were in the eHealth adoption continuum, from pre-implementation, to implementation, to optimization. As one attendee put it, “It was the best breakout session/work group I have ever attended.” The Policy and Legislative Affairs Day started with keynote speaker Carrie Cochran, Deputy Assistant Administrator with the Office of Rural Health. Her overview of the emerging national health care reform issues provided a context for both the state and local concerns and developments. This was followed by the Legislative Town Hall Meeting with panelists Senator Dave Cogdill; Assemblymember Mariko Yamada; Joe F. Parra, Policy Consultant for the Senate Republican Office; Joseph Devlin, Legislation Director for Assemblymember Juan Arambula; and, Michelle Cabrera, Health Policy Director for Senator Denise Ducheny. The question and answer period enabled the beginnings of a dialogue between rural health leaders and legislators. Leadership Development Day was the final day of the conference, and began with an inspiring keynote address by Hilda Heady, Associate Vice President of the Rural Health Department at West Virginia University. Her speech was an excellent precursor to the Rural Champion Awards Luncheon. This year CSRHA presented awards to six distinguished rural health leaders for their achievements on behalf of California’s rural communities. The awards went to state Senator Lois Wolk, and former Assemblymember Patty Berg – Rural Champions in Legislative Service; and Herrmann Spetzler, Open Door Community Health Centers; Peter Van Houten, MD, Sierra Family Medical Clinic Inc.; and David Yarbrough, Briggs Gridley Memorial Hospital – Rural Champions in Community Leadership. We hope you’ll join us this November 10-12th for the 10th Annual Conference. Stay tuned for details on CSRHA’s website and through our email alerts. Comments or feedback? Email us at advocate@csrha.org. |
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Technology was a key issue and the main focus for the second day of the conference. CSRHA’s one-day eHealth summit entitled Are you Ready for Meaningful Use? An E-Health Boot Camp for Rural Providers featured hands-on workshops and presentations on implementing eHealth systems, such as electronic health records (EHRs), the adoption of which will be required of health care providers within the next few years. More than 100 people participated in the summit, which featured a dynamic combination of high level state government representatives, such as Toby Douglas, the Chief Deputy Director of Health Care Programs for the California Department of HealthCare Services, as well as local rural providers that have had success in eHealth implementation, such as the North State Rural Health Network.
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