Below are some great podcasts courtesy of MEDHOST from the largest rural advocacy event in the country, the NRHA Rural Health Policy Institute.

GMEC’s very own Wendy Welch discussed the crushing effects opioid addiction has on rural communities and advocates strongly that the solution to many problems may just reside in the community itself. Click HERE to listen.

Beth O’Connor, Executive Director of Virginia Rural Health Association, shared her plans to meet with lawmakers on the Hill, for the thirteenth year in a row. She offered her advice that one benefit of living in a rural community can be the ability to connect with partners, neighbors and other community leaders faster and more effectively than in larger, urban areas. Click HERE to listen.

To hear even more great podcasts from MEDHOST at the NRHA Rural Health Policy Institute, click HERE.

The 2019 Ballad Cardiovascular Summit is coming up soon!

About: The 13th Annual Cardiovascular Summit will provide an overview of current topics in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and management of cardiovascular disease.  This conference will also address updates on federal health policy and pending legislation as well as analyze the new Tennessee STEMI legislation/law and how it affects patient care.

When: February 2, 2019

Where: Meadowview Conference Center – Kingsport, TN

For more information and to view the agenda, click HERE.

From the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine:

This document represents AACOM’s Public Policy Agenda for the 116th Congress. It reflects the association’s federal advocacy priorities to ensure that osteopathic medical education (OME) is an active force in the formulation of national health and higher education policies. AACOM will aggressively pursue these goals, notwithstanding the challenging political and fiscal environment, as osteopathic medical schools continue to grow in number, size, and importance to the U.S. health care and medical education systems.

Public Policy Agenda Objectives:

• Graduate Medical Education
• Physician Workforce
• Medical Students and Federal Student Financial Aid
• Research
• Osteopathic Representation

For more detailed information, please click HERE.

FROM THE RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH:

With Virginia’s Medicaid program poised to expand coverage for hundreds of thousands of people, the state is considering a proposal to increase reimbursement rates for doctors to encourage them to provide care to more patients under the program.

To read more, please click HERE.

2018 Virginia Rural Collaborators Conference
Hosted by the Virginia Rural Health Association
November 14 & 15
Virginia Horse Center
Lexington, VA

For over twenty years, the Virginia Rural Health Association has served as “The Voice for Rural Health in Virginia.”  Rural Health is DIFFERENT.  Rural Americans face a unique combination of factors that create disparities in health care not found in urban areas. Economic factors, cultural and social differences, educational differences, lack of recognition by legislators and the isolation of living in remote rural areas all conspire to impede rural Americans in their struggle to lead a normal, healthy life.

The Virginia Rural Collaborators conference is an occasion to recognize that health in rural areas is not the sole responsibility of doctors and nurses.  Education, economic development, transportation, the built environment, and even social opportunities play a role in the health of individuals and communities.  All aspects of the community are providers or barriers to health.

For more information and to register, please click HERE.

Below are resources from the many excellent talks from Head for the Hills 2018.

• Physician Well-Being (and Burnout Prevention), Dael Waxman, M.D.
  •  Physician Well-Being (and Burnout Prevention) (Powerpoint)
• Mindfulness for Physician Wellness, Leah S. Cobb Snodgrass, MD
  • Mindfulness for Physician Wellness (Powerpoint)
  • STOP One Minute Breathing Space (Handout)
  • Ten Facts About Physician Suicide (Handout)
  • Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Research Base (Video)
  • Everyday Mindfulness Activities (Video)
  • Headspace Letting Go of Effort (Video)
• Insomnia: Tips for a better night’s sleep, Lauren Burns, DO, PGY3
  • Insomnia: Tips for a better night’s sleep (Powerpoint)
• Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment, Lyn O’Connell, Ph.D., IMFT
  • Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (Powerpoint)

The Rural Health Voice is the podcast of the Virginia Rural Health Association.  It discusses rural health issues at the grassroots level and how state and federal policies play out in our local communities

The Rural Health Voice is sponsored by the Virginia State Office of Rural Health and underwritten by the National Rural Health Association.

To check out The Rural Health Voice podcast, please click HERE.