Today, people with Original Medicare have limited access to technology-supported care services for managing their chronic conditions because of Medicare payment barriers. Through ACCESS (Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions) Model, CMS will test a new payment option that emphasizes outcomes over activities, enabling clinicians to offer innovative technology-supported care that improves patients’ health and complements traditional care. Read more!

High blood pressure is a leading risk factor for heart disease and stroke, yet many people go undiagnosed or struggle to monitor their numbers consistently. Brady Lacy, Senior Community Impact Director at the American Heart Association in Little Rock Arkansas joins us to share everything about this special program.

Great news! Congress just approved a full-year FY 2026 Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations package. This means we officially have a two-year extension of Medicare telehealth flexibilities through December 31, 2027! The bill passed both the House and Senate and the President’s has officially signed, ending a brief partial government shutdown. As with the last shutdown, the new language is expected to apply retroactively and cover this previous lapse period.  This deal will restore continuity to Medicare telehealth coverage and avoid a prolonged return to permanent, pre-pandemic policy. Read more!

In this episode, Karina Leal Vargas, BSN, RNC-MNN, Clinical Research Nurse from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences shares the development and implementation of a TeleLactation pilot designed to support breastfeeding mothers during the demanding postpartum period. Listeners will learn how TeleLactation reduced barriers such as transportation and limited outpatient services while strengthening breastfeeding knowledge, confidence, and continuation. Listen Now!

If you missed our recent Telehealth Roundup: Mobile Health Units in the South Central Region, look no further! The recording and presentation slides are now available for viewing. Subject matter experts Denton Thompson, MBA RN, with the UAMS Mobile Health Units, Sonja Fuqua, PhD, RN, PCMH CCE, with the Community Health Center Association of Mississippi, and Diana Dedmon, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, AFN-C with the University of Tennessee Health Science Center discuss MHUs and their impact on communities!

The CMS Innovation Center will host a webinar TOMORROW Wednesday, March 18, 2026, to provide an overview of the ACCESS Model Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and data submission requirements. The ACCESS Model team will also provide more information on the application timeline and resources.

Today, people with Original Medicare have limited access to technology-supported care services for managing their chronic conditions because of Medicare payment barriers. Through ACCESS (Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions) Model, CMS will test a new payment option that emphasizes outcomes over activities, enabling clinicians to offer innovative technology-supported care that improves patients’ health and complements traditional care. Patients will have more options to help them meet their health goals, providers will gain new partners to help them co-manage their patients’ health, and Original Medicare will have a way to pay care organizations developing technology-supported services. ACCESS supports disease prevention and health promotion by empowering people who have Medicare and clinicians with more choices.

ACCESS Model tests an outcome-aligned payment approach in Original Medicare to expand access to new technology-supported care options that help people improve their health and prevent and manage chronic disease. The voluntary model focuses on conditions affecting more than two-thirds of people with Medicare, including high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic musculoskeletal pain, and depression. It will run for 10 years beginning July 5, 2026.

To be considered for the model’s first performance period beginning July 5, 2026, applications must be submitted via the Participant Portal by April 1, 2026. Applications received after this date will be considered for a January 1, 2027 start.

The first day of the 2026 RHAA Annual Summit focused on numerous topics essential to improving rural health care access. One of these topics is, of course, legislation! Opening the floor was a discussion with Arkansas US Representative Bruce Westerman who gave a congressional perspective on how we lead rural health care forward. Additionally Brock Slabach, Vice President of the National Rural Health Association elaborated on rural health policy in a changing federal landscape. University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Chancellor, Dr. Lowry Barnes, discussed the vision of UAMS leadership on advancing rural health in Arkansas. This was a fantastic precursor to the panel discussion, “Arkansas Rural Health Transformation: Strategy & Implementation” including Jim Hudson, Secretary, Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration; Janet Mann, Secretary, Arkansas Department of Human Services; David Long, Senior Manager, BDO, Arkansas Rural Health Transformation Program; and Brad Nye, Director, Arkansas Rural Health Transformation Program, Department of Finance & Administration. The initial day of the conference concluded with Dr. Sherry Turner, Associate Dean of GME/CME/DIO, Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine; Dr. Amanda Deel, Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs, NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine at Arkansas State University; Dr. Brian Jones, Vice Chancellor of Regional Programs at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences; and Dr. Jessica Atrio, MD, MSc, Associate Dean Clinical Research, Alice Walton School of Medical as they advocated for the focus on training the next generation of Arkansas physicians. Lastly, attendees were able to listen to a lively discussion from Arkansas State Representatives Howard Beaty, Mary Bentley, Lee Johnson, Aaron Pilkington, and Senator Ben Gilmore regarding the state of legislative leadership as it impacts rural health.

We weren’t sure how the RHAA was going to top such well-informed presentations from the first day, but we were keen to find out on the second day of the event! Opening remarks were followed by a topic everyone is dying to know more about: AI! Dr. Andrew Ibrahim, Professor at the University of Michigan and CCO of Viz.ai presented “Advancing Rural Health in Arkansas: The Power of AI Implementation” which had everyone energized for the morning! Following his discussion included a presentation from Charity Hallman, Senior Vice President, Hope Enterprise Corporation and  Jay Taylor, Partner and Attorney, Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP, about how to leverage new markets tax credits when attempting to solve financial hurdles in rural health transformation. In this same category was a panel presentation touching on how the Community Health Worker workforce in Arkansas needs advancement. Discussing the policies, payments, and practices that would make this possible included Cassie Cochran, Health Deputy Director, AR Department of Health; Judy Pile, Executive Director, Arkansas Community Health Worker Association; Dr. Pearl McElfish, Director, UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation; and Rosalinda Medrano Green, Assistant Director, UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation.

Read the full article and learn more!