What's New
Hurricane Florence Reporting
For the 2018 hurricane season, HRSA has asked Primary Care
Associations (PCAs) to take the lead in gathering critical health center
information and reporting impact data back to us on the operational status of
delivery sites. Read the
bulletin we recently sent. For health centers in areas impacted by Hurricane Florence (i.e., North
Carolina and South Carolina), we ask that you report site-level operational
status to your PCA.
Service
Area Competition (SAC) NOFO Released for June 1 Starts
BPHC released the sixth fiscal year (FY) 2019 SAC
Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), HRSA-19-016, for service areas with a
June 1, 2019, project period start date (current project period end date of May
31, 2019). Current award recipients should refer to box 6 of the most recent
Notice of Award (NoA) to obtain their project period end date.
Applications are due in Grants.gov by
11:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, November 6, and in HRSA’s Electronic Handbooks (EHBs)
by 5:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, December 11. Technical assistance materials are
available on the SAC Technical Assistance website.
SAC Applications for May 1 Starts
(HRSA-19-015) Deadline Reminder
SAC applications for
service areas with a May 1, 2019, project period start date (HRSA-19-015) are due in Grants.gov by 11:59
p.m. ET on Tuesday, October 9, and EHBs by 5:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, November
7. Technical assistance materials are available on the SAC
Technical Assistance website.
New FAQs Available: Upcoming
SAC and RD Application Reviews and Awards
HRSA has
released a new set of FAQs focused specifically on the FY 2019 SAC
and Renewal of Designation (RD) Application Review and Award Process. We encourage you to read
through the FAQs to learn more about what to expect for the upcoming fiscal
year.
Updating Your Authorizing Official’s Contact
Information
Please make sure the contact information for your health center’s
Authorizing Official is up-to-date in EHBs. This is essential, as the
Authorizing Official will be the only one able to receive and respond to EHBs
requests for information during the F) 2019 SAC and RD application review
period. See
instructions for confirming and/or updating your Authorizing Official’s contact
information.
For
general inquiries about updating your Authorizing Official information, contact
Health Center Program Support online
or by phone: 877-974-BPHC (2742) from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. ET, Monday through
Friday (except federal holidays). For specific questions related to your health
center, please contact your Project Officer.
Quarterly
340B Program Registration
Quarterly
340B Program site registration is open from October 1 to 15 for the standard
two-week registration period. Health centers are still able to register a site
that has been verified as implemented and with a site status reflected as
“active” in EHBs Form 5B through November 23, after which the system will close
to prepare for the January 1, 2019, start. You will need to provide the
following information when calling:
- Health
center name,
- Site/clinic
name,
- Site
IDs for all sites,
- HRSA/BPHC
grant number,
- Contact
name and email address, and
- Authorizing
official name and email address.
The authorizing official
will receive an email message that the account is unlocked and a registration
may be submitted. Email the 340B call center
or call 888-340-2787 (Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. ET).
New! Contact Health Center Program Support
Coming soon, the BPHC Helpline
will change its name to Health Center Program Support and there will be a new
toll-free number, 877-464-4772. We will notify you in the Primary Health Care
Digest when the change has taken place. You may also submit your inquiry online.
Open
for Your Input! Health Center Training and Technical Assistance Needs
Assessment
HRSA has requested the National Association of Community Health
Centers (NACHC), a HRSA-funded National Cooperative Agreement (NCA), to conduct
a national health center needs assessment in collaboration with the other 19 HRSA-funded
NCA organizations. Health center responses to the
needs assessment will inform the NCAs’ development of operational training and
technical assistance.
The
survey is available now
and we encourage all health center staff members to complete it. For more
information, please contact KaRon
Campbell.
FY 2018 Quality Improvement Awards (QIAs)
Technical Assistance Webinar Archived
We archived the recent FY 2018 QIAs webinar online; watch it now.
The presentation provides an overview of the Health Center Program’s quality
improvement strategy and goals, eligibility and criteria used to determine the
QIAs, and guidance for the use of award funds. Find more
information on the QIAs, including FAQs and the
Adjusted Quartile Rankings.
Uniform Data System Technical Assistance
Webinar Series
HRSA presents three technical assistance webinars to help you work
with the Uniform Data System (UDS). Please see the Technical Assistance &
Training section for webinar details.
-
Using UDS Data and Reports for Program Evaluation and Quality
Improvement
Participants will learn how to identify and
access standard UDS reports, interpret the data in the reports, and use the
data for tracking performance and quality improvement efforts.
-
Preparing for and Understanding Your UDS Submission
Participants will learn about the importance
of UDS submission, the processes and systems requirements of UDS submissions,
and UDS table specific considerations.
-
Introduction to Clinical Measures
HRSA will review UDS Tables 6A, 6B, and 7 clinical measures. Participants will
learn about strategies for evaluating reporting data and how to identify
benchmarks for assessing quality.
Behavioral Health Virtual Job Fair
HRSA will host a Behavioral
Health Virtual Job Fair on Wednesday, October 17,
6:45-10:15 p.m. ET.
Employers may register
until Wednesday, September 26. Job seekers may register
until the event.
National Survey for Health
Centers
Clinical Directors and CEOs
received the 2018 National Survey of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)
with instructions to complete it online or by mail. The aim of the study (which
began in 2009 and repeated in 2013) is to better identify the challenges FQHCs
face and to develop targeted initiatives to support health centers in providing
high-quality care for the underserved.
Robust national FQHC
participation will help ensure that the results will represent the real-world
challenges facing FQHCs and enable The Commonwealth Fund to identify effective
ways to support them.
The deadline to complete the survey is Sunday, September 30. A paper version of the
survey was sent via regular mail in May, and again in June. Email questions
or call James Noack at 800-633-1986, ext. 4330.
Resources
 Now Available: Health
Center Toolkit for Integrating HIV Services
HRSA recently announced a
new toolkit for health centers: “Integrating HIV Care, Treatment & Prevention
Services into Primary Care,” which is available on HRSA’s website.
The toolkit compiles resources that
were developed during the three-year Partnerships for Care (P4C) demonstration
project and highlights lessons
learned. Read more about
the toolkit in a HIV.gov blogpost.
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An Overview of TeamSTEPPS To Improve Quality
and Patient Safety in Office Settings
TeamSTEPPS for
Office-Based Care offers techniques, tools, and
strategies to assist health care professionals in developing and optimizing
team knowledge and performance in an office-based care setting. Join an
upcoming HRSA webinar for an overview of the course from an AHRQ expert. All
health centers and staff are invited to join the webinar.
Wednesday,
September 26
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. ET
Join the webinar the day of the session
Call-in: 866-454-4207
Passcode: 758263
CDC Guide to Infection Prevention for Health Centers
HRSA invites you to join the CDC National Center for Emerging &
Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Division of
Healthcare Quality Promotion, for a discussion of the significance of infection
prevention and control in health centers. Presenters will review core infection
prevention and control practices and discuss opportunities to apply them in
primary care settings. Attendees will also learn and have the opportunity to
share about challenges and barriers to implementing core infection prevention
and control practices in primary care settings.
Wednesday, October 3
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Join the webinar the day of the session
Call-in: 888-989-4721
Passcode: 1039201
Free MAT
Training and Mentoring to Become a DATA-Waived Practitioner
In a recent HRSA webinar, experts
from SAMHSA’s Providers
Clinical Support System (PCSS) – Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Program
gave an overview of no-cost training and mentoring programs available to health
center prescribers (physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants)
and their primary care teams. These programs support evidence-based treatment
of opioid use disorder. Watch the
webinar recording.
Learning Collaboratives from National Center
for Equitable Care for Elders
The National Center for Equitable Care for Elders, a HRSA-funded
NCA, is hosting two learning collaboratives which will run from October to
December.
-
Addiction and
Older Adults - Addressing Substance Use Disorders (SUD) in the Older Adult
Health Center Patient
Research suggests that substance use (illicit drug use, use of alcohol in
combination with other substances, or nonmedical use of pharmaceuticals, e.g.,
prescription medications, OTC remedies) is an emerging public health issue
among our nation's older adults. This learning collaborative will explore the issues
and causes of addictions in older adults (including opioid use/abuse), how SUD
uniquely affects older adults, evidence-based strategies, and available local
resources.
-
Improving the
Quality of End-of-Life Care for Older Adults in Health Centers
Health centers face many challenges to providing patients with optimal end-of-life
care. Primary care is typically fragmented across specialty, palliative, and
hospice care. This learning collaborative will address end-of-life care,
including advance directives, end-of-life decisions, palliative care, hospice,
and caregiver/family support.
Learn About Implementing Postgraduate
Residency Training Programs
Community Health Center, Inc., a HRSA-Funded NCA, offers a
learning collaborative designed to take a practice from planning to
implementation of a postgraduate
residency training program. (The program should target family
nurse practitioners and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners who have
recently completed their academic program.)
Participants will follow an evidence-based model, including strategies and
coaching. Apply by Monday, October 1.
For
more information, contact Amanda
Schiessl or visit the
website.
Now Accepting Health Center Applications for
SDOH Academy Learning Collaboratives
Founded by the National Center for
Medical-Legal Partnership (NCMLP), a HRSA-funded NCA, the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) Academy
is a virtual training series designed to help staff from health centers, Health
Center Controlled Networks, and PCAs develop, implement, and sustain SDOH
interventions in their clinics and communities.
The
SDOH Academy is launching four learning collaboratives that will provide a
shared learning opportunity to smaller cohorts:
- Addressing
SDOH in rural areas.
- Training
health center workforce to address SDOH.
- Leveraging
Medicaid policies to address SDOH.
- Developing
cross-sector partnerships to improve health outcomes.
Learn more or apply by
Tuesday, October 2 at 8:00 p.m. ET (NOTE: this deadline has been extended). Applicants
will be notified regarding acceptance by Friday, October 12.
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