Governor Releases Rural Hospital Committee Report
Gov. Nathan Deal has released the final report of recommendations from his Rural Hospital Stabilization Committee.
The committee was created last April to identify and provide solutions for the needs of Georgia’s rural hospital community.
Included in the recommendations is the establishment of a four-site pilot program, to relieve cost pressures on emergency departments and ensure that the best, most efficient treatment is received by patients.
The program aims to do that by increasing the use of new and existing technology and infrastructure in smaller critical access hospitals, Wi-Fi and telemedicine equipped ambulances, telemedicine equipped school clinics, federally qualified health centers, public health departments and local physicians.
The committee, which included Ty Cobb Healthcare CEO Greg Hearn, along with health care professionals, legislators, local officials and business owners, also recommended the maintenance of existing Certificate of Need laws to protect existing rural hospital infrastructure.
Other legislative fixes include the expansion of the scope of practice for midlevel providers, such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants, who could help bolster health care resources in rural communities.
Meantime, the Rural Physician Bus Tour that was scheduled to be at Ty Cobb Regional Medical Center today has been postponed until sometime in May.
The tour will bring representatives from the The Georgia Health Information Technology Extension Center, HP-Medicaid, the Georgia Department of Community Health , Georgia Health Information Network, HomeTown Health, and other resources to seven communities in north Georgia, including Lavonia.
The group is touring rural counties to meet with area physicians and their staff about changes and updates in the medical billing code called ICD, which is used by doctors.
The two-day tour in our area will give medical providers the opportunity to meet with the tour and also receive assistance with Medicaid Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Program payments, provider enrollment, and reimbursement issues.