The North Dakota Disability Health Project is designed to promote the health and wellness of North Dakota citizens with disabilities, and prevent or lessen the effects of secondary conditions associated with disabilities. This project is administered by the North Dakota Center for Persons with Disabilities at Minot State University, is funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and involves partners including the North Dakota Department of Health and the Center for Rural Health (CRH). The CRH assists in this project by using state data to examine the health status and health care access of North Dakota adults and children with disabilities.

To learn more about the North Dakota Disability Health Project, contact Kari Schmidt, project director, at 701-858-3048 or 1-800-233-1737. You can also visit the North Dakota Disability Health Project’s website.

Congratulations to the Winners of the National Rural Health Day Photo Contest!

• 1st Place – “Sweet Pea Treat” submitted by Wendy Thomas
  Wendy will receive free admission to the 2012 Dakota Conference on Rural and Public Health for taking first place.
• 2nd Place – “A Ride in the Badlands” submitted by Maureen Roden
  Maureen will receive a $150 gift card to Cenex gas stations for taking second place.
• Honorable Mention – “Checking Cows” submitted by Paula Flanders
• Honorable Mention – “Growing Healthy Gardeners” submitted by Trisha Jessen

We Can't Wait: Obama Administration Takes New Steps to Encourage Doctors and Hospitals to use Health Information Technology to Lower Costs, Improve Quality, Create Jobs
Nov 30—Today, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released a report showing that doctors’ adoption of health information technology (IT) doubled in two years. HHS also announced new actions to speed the use of health IT in doctors’ offices and hospitals nationwide, which will improve health care and create jobs nationwide.

Over 100,000 Primary Care Providers Sign Up to Adopt Electronic Health Records Through Their Regional Extension Centers
Nov 17—The HHS Office for the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology announced today that more than 100,000 primary care providers are adopting certified Electronic Health Records (EHRs) to help improve their quality of care and ultimately lower health care costs.

Eight-week Certificate in HIT
Lake Region State College is offering a special eight-week certificate in health information technology. The course will run January 30 through March 23. Individual’s completing Lake Region’s health IT certificate will be prepared to support electronic health records (EHRs) in clinics, hospitals, long term care facilities, public health agencies or vendors of EHR systems.

Medical Coders – Get Ready for ICD-10
North Dakota State College of Science will be offering ICD-10 training beginning as early as January 10, 2012. Enhance your knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and pathophysiology to prepare for ICD-10 with affordable online modules that may be customized to meet your needs.

Advisory Panel on Ambulatory Payment Classification Groups – Nominations and Membership Changes
On November 25, 2011, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a Federal Register Notice (FRN) announcing the name change of the Advisory Panel on Ambulatory Payment Classification Groups to the Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Payment. In addition, the FRN announces the renewal and amendments to the charter including changing the scope of the Panel to include supervision of outpatient hospital services, changing the Panel membership to include Critical Access Hospitals (CAH), and the solicitation of six nominations for individuals to serve on the Panel in 2012. Nominations will be considered if they are received no later than 5:00 p.m. (Eastern) on December 27, 2011.

National Rural Health Day Webinar Presentations
For those who couldn’t participate – or for those who joined and would like to share the information with others – NOSORH is pleased to offer slides and recordings from National Rural Health Day webinars.

Speaker's Bureau
The Center for Rural Health is proud to announce its new Speaker’s Bureau. Center faculty and staff are available to speak at community meetings, annual meetings, or special events on a wide range of subjects important to understanding health issues and factors influencing those issues. The service is meant to assist health organizations and others to better inform their constituents on critical health and community subjects. The service is also part of the Center’s mission to “connect resources and knowledge to serve people in rural communities.”

Webinar Series: Improving Children’s Health through Federal Collaboration
The Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8, and the Health Resources and Services Administration, Region VIII, have organized, in collaboration with other Federal partners, a one-year-long webinar series titled Improving Children’s Health through Federal Collaboration. Webinars will take place the second Thursday of every month from 2:00 to 3:30 pm MST.

North Dakota HIT Planning Loan Program
North Dakota Health IT Planning Revolving Loans are available to health care providers at 1% with a ten year principal and interest payments. Starting with this application notice, the Health Information Technology Advisory Committee will accept applications on a quarterly basis until the funds are loaned out.

National Institute of Mental Health – FREE publications
The National Institute of Mental Health has many free publications on various mental health topics. These publications can be ordered through the Center for Rural Health, free of charge to your organization. Visit NIMH's publications page to learn more, or contact Kristine Henke at the Center for Rural Health if you would like to order any publications.

Get Free Assistance Toward Reaching Meaningful Use!
As a result of successful State legislation, funds have been made available to be used for the required matching dollars for North Dakota providers receiving services from the Regional Extension Assistance Center for HIT (REACH). (These funds are contingent on continued appropriation in the ND State budget.)

The Regional Extension Assistance Center for HIT (REACH) offers webinars on many different subjects surrounding the topics of electronic health records, health information technology, meaningful use, and health information exchanges. Learn more about upcoming and recorded webinars.

Free Educational Resources from CRH
The Center for Rural Health has a number of health care professions educational items for loan, and we encourage their use. Our goal is to provide tools to encourage the interactive learning and grow student’s interest in health care professions.

Holly Gabriel exhibited for the Rural Assistance Center and Alex McEllistrem-Evenson exhibited for the Rural Health Research Gateway at the National Rural Health Association’s Multiracial and Multicultural Health Conference in Daytona Beach, Florida December 7 and 8.

Brad Gibbens attended the national program meeting of the Community Transformation Grant program, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is a collaborative program involving a number of North Dakota partners. The focus of the program is to employ community engagement techniques with local/regional community groups to improve health status around three disease states: chronic disease, healthy eating and physical activity, and tobacco. Nationally, there were 26 community capacity building grants awarded (North Dakota's award is in this category) and 35 community implementation grants.

Brad Gibbens was interviewed on Prairie Public Radio for National Rural Health Day. The interview focused on the importance of rural health and its contribution to providing access to quality health care, improved health status, and economic development. The interview also addressed the role and importance of rural communities and rural citizens in being actively involved in local decision making on health.

Brad Gibbens and Kyle Muus were elected by their fellow medical school faculty to serve on three University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences Standing Committees. Muus was elected to the Research Committee and to the Nominations Committee. Gibbens was elected to the Bylaws Committee. Committee terms are for three years. Gibbens is completing a term on the Nominations Committee.

Kristine Sande presented on NOSORH’s Rural Health 101 webinar in honor of National Rural Health Day. Sande gave a brief overview of rural health issues and an introduction to the Rural Assistance Center. Co-presenters were Tom Morris of the Office of Rural Health Policy and Rebecca Davis of the National Cooperative of Health Networks.

The National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program 2012 Application Cycle is now open!
The application cycle will be open until May 2012, however as in previous years, the program is expected to be competitive and providers are strongly encouraged to apply early. Visit the application Web page, review the Application and Program Guidance for additional program details, then print out the application checklist to get started today!

3RNet: Don't forget to update your open physician and allied health provider needs on the 3RNet website. Each year over 10,000 providers register on the website and over 1,000 health care professionals are placed through 3RNet referrals. For information on how to list your practice opportunity on 3RNet, contact Aaron Ortiz 701.777.6788.

National Institute of Mental Health
The December 1 Update from NIMH includes new resources including a fact sheet on secondary traumatic stress and its potential impact on child-serving professionals.

The December 15 Update from NIMH includes information on the largest repository to date of data related to research on autism spectrum disorders.

The Informer
The most recent electronic transmission from the North Dakota Hospital Association.

HRSA Webcast: HRSA Objective Reviewer Training – Roles and Responsibilities

Mind Matters 2012 Head Injury Conference
Bismarck, N.D.

Dakota Conference on Rural and Public Health
Grand Forks, ND