MCMLA Library Advocacy Task Force is sponsoring a contest for “High Altitudes and New Attitudes on Library Marketing and Promotion!”

Here is your chance to show off your marketing project or promotional activities that you have used to improve or expand services in your library or for your users. MCR members are encouraged to submit materials to Marketing and Promotion Categories: you may enter one or both categories.

Prizes for the best entry scoring above 80 points will be awarded. Entries will be evaluated on Design, Presentation and Evaluation Criteria. Categories for entry are Hospital Libraries, Academic Libraries and Other Libraries. Entries should be submitted to Barb Jones (jonesbarb@health.missouri.edu) by September 1, 2009. Judges for the contest will be members of the MCMLA Library Advocacy Task Force. All entries are encouraged to display their projects and promotional materials at the Marketing Booth at MCMLA. The winners will be announced at MCMLA 2009 in Breckenridge, Colorado. (bbj)

Developing Proposed Requirements to Advance Effective Communication, Cultural Competence, and Patient-Centered Care for the Hospital Accreditation Program
The Joint Commission, with funding from The Commonwealth Fund, is developing proposed accreditation requirements for hospitals to advance effective communication, cultural competence, and patient-centered care. This 18-month project will explore how diversity, culture, language, and health literacy issues can be better incorporated into current Joint Commission standards or drafted into new requirements. In conjunction with the proposed requirements, The Joint Commission is developing an implementation guide that will help hospitals meet the proposed requirements and provide best practice information and educational resources and tools. Additional project information can be accessed at: http://tinyurl.com/5fhryd See the Joint Commission’s Culturally Competent Patient Centered Care for Hospital Accreditation Program Wiki at http://tinyurl.com/pzn5mw [posted on Health Literacy Listserv] scb

Last week, I attended the National Rural Health Association Quality and Clinical Conference. The NRHA has made the handouts from the conference available at http://tinyurl.com/l48pgb. Topics include electronic health records, telemedicine, and models for rural health care. [SD]

The MCR has announced the availability of funding through its Continuity of Health Information Award. If you’ve started writing your proposal or are considering writing a proposal, attend a technical session to gain clarification of what is expected and consults on your project ideas. Claire Hamasu will review the request for proposal (RFP) explaining the different sections. You’ll then have the opportunity to describe your project to a liaison and receive feedback on what you should emphasize and other issues you may need to consider, and get advice on how to make your proposal fundable.

No registration is required. To attend you’ll need an Internet connection and a telephone. Sessions will be held at https://webmeeting.nih.gov/nnlmmcr. Sign in as a guest with your first and last name. Instructions will then follow about the phone connection. /ch

August Sessions (Additional sessions are being planned):

Wednesday Aug 5 - 2pm MT, 3pm CT

Tuesday Aug 11 - 3pm MT, 4pm CT

Last week, I attended the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) Quality and Clinical Conference in Park City, UT. At the conference, Doug Romer, Executive Director-Patient Care Services at Grande Ronde Hospital in LaGrande, OR, gave a fascinating talk and demonstration of the “remote presence” telemedicine services provided by the hospital in conjunction with various partners.

The hospital uses an inTouch RP7 robot that can be controlled remotely by physicians not located at the hospital. The robot has a monitor, camera and audio system so that the patients and remote physician can see and hear each other.

At the conference, Mr. Romer conducted a live demo of the system using the hotel’s wireless Internet access — participants were able to communicate with a patient undergoing an ultrasound and see the results of the ultrasound live. We were instructed that the patient did not want to know the sex of the baby, so to please not reveal that information when we saw the ultrasound!

To see the system in action, view the video the hospital has made available on this page: http://www.grh.org/srvTelmed.html. [SD]

The MLA Board of Directors has approved the joint MLA/AAHSL statement, Health Sciences Librarians and Health Care Reform, which highlights the role of information and information services provided by health sciences librarians to support informed decision making to lower costs and reduce waste, improve health care quality and reduce medical errors, and enhance consumer choice. The statement will be distributed to congressional committees with jurisdiction for health care reform legislation. Watch for future announcements about grassroots advocacy initiatives as Congress moves forward with legislation. (bbj)

The MCR has announced the availability of funding through its Continuity of Health Information Award. If you’ve started writing your proposal or are considering writing a proposal, technical sessions will start next week to provide clarification of what is expected and consults on your project ideas. Claire Hamasu will review the request for proposal (RFP) explaining the different sections. You’ll then have the opportunity to describe your project and receive feedback on what you should emphasize and other issues you may need to consider, and get advice on how to make your proposal fundable.

No registration is required. To attend you’ll need an Internet connection and a telephone. Sessions will be held at https://webmeeting.nih.gov/nnlmmcr. Sign in as a guest with your first and last names. Instructions will then follow about the phone connection. Additional sessions will be held in August. /ch

The schedule for July is:

Tuesday July 28 2pm MT, 3pm CT

Thursday July 30 2:30 pm MT, 3:30 pm CT

Friday July 31 2pm MT, 3pm CT

Are you a hospital librarian whose access to information resources and Web 2.0 services is blocked by institutional firewalls and filters? If so, funding is available to help you! MCR will provide a one year subsidy to pay for mobile broadband service, offered by the major cell phone networks, to hospital librarians that are blocked from information access, distance education, and committee activites due to their institution’s firewalls and filters.

For more information, download and complete the application (MS Word format). Deadline for applications is August 14, 2009. For questions, please contact Sharon Dennis, MCR Technology Coordinator, at sdennis@lib.med.utah.edu. [SD]

MCR’s own stimulus funding is available again. We are now accepting applications for projects focussed on health information literacy, hospital library advocacy, or emergency planning.

Network members in the MidContinental Region are eligible to apply for up to $15,000 and take up to 18 months to complete the project. Deadline for proposals is December 31, 2009. We expect to fund approximately 8 projects. For the Continuity of Health Information Request for Proposal go to http://nnlm.gov/mcr/funding/Continuity.html

We will review applications as they are received and awards will be announced as they are approved. Do not wait till December to apply; we may have run out of funds by that time. RML liaisons are ready to answer your questions. Technical sessions will be scheduled starting in July. During these sessions the request for proposal will be reviewed, questions on writing proposals will be answered, and advice provided on your project ideas. /ch

The Medical Library Association is busy working for health science librarians by advocating for healthcare reform legislation. MLA is currently working on a policy statement which should be released in approximately one month. Watch for publication in the next MLA Focus, which will also include suggestions of actions librarians can take. MLA’s “Three Principles for Meaningful Healthcare Reform” can be found at http://www.mlanet.org/government/gov_pdf/2009-jan_hlth%20rfrm%20princ.pdf (bbj)