What's New
Fiscal Year 2020 Health Center Program Funding: Status of the Health Center Program Continuation Awards
The President’s fiscal year (FY) 2020 Budget includes $5.6 billion for health centers, including $4 billion in mandatory resources, to continue providing services to more than 28 million patients at approximately 12,000 health center service delivery sites in medically underserved communities throughout the country. HRSA has issued application guidance for FY 2020 Health Center Program continuation awards and is in the process of reviewing applications. Congress passed and the President signed a continuing resolution (H.R. 4378) that provides a portion of the anticipated Health Center Program discretionary and mandatory funding through November 21. At this time, HRSA anticipates providing short-term continuation awards using available FY 2020 funding.
Modification to the Fiscal Year 2020 Service Area Competition Funding Opportunity
HRSA modified the patient target for the Sausalito, CA, service area (ID: 388) announced under HRSA-20-020. Refer to the Service Area Announcement Table for the updated value.
Federal Tort Claims Act Deemed Health Center Search Tool
The Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) Deemed Health Center Search Tool is now available. Use the tool to search a listing of recipients of Health Center Program grant funding that have been deemed as Public Health Service employees for purposes of FTCA coverage for the performance of medical, surgical, dental, and related functions within the scope of employment. To confirm a health center’s deemed status, contact the health center. Visit HRSA’s website for information about the FTCA program.
Technical Assistance Webinar: 2019 Uniform Data System Preliminary Reporting Environment Training
Participants will learn about the reporting functionalities for calendar year (CY) 2019 Uniform Data System (UDS). This session will cover the Preliminary Reporting Environment for early access to UDS reporting and two offline UDS reporting features: an Excel and an offline HTML feature. These features, first introduced with CY 2018 UDS reporting, support HRSA’s UDS Modernization Initiative focused on reducing reporting burden and improving the quality of data.
Due to session popularity, we will hold the same webinar twice:
Wednesday, November 13
1:30-3:30 p.m. ET
Register here
OR
Wednesday, December 11
1:30-3:30 p.m. ET
Register here
Deadline Approaching!
It’s the final week to participate in the 2019 BPHC Stakeholder Satisfaction Survey. Survey links were emailed to Project Directors. To access the survey, check your inbox for your personalized link from “CFI Group on behalf of HRSA BPHC.” If you did not receive a link but should have, please email BPHCreviews@hrsa.gov. Be sure to check your SPAM folder. Thank you for your participation!
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BPHC All-Programs Webcast Date Change
We’ve changed the date of the November 12 BPHC All-Programs webcast to:
Tuesday, December 3
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Webcast link coming soon
Submit a question in advance by Wednesday, November 27.
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HRSA Gears Up for National Rural Health Day, November 21
The National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health created National Rural Health Day as a way to applaud the ongoing efforts, contributions, and collaborations occurring in rural communities to address the unique challenges in accessing and delivering health care services. HRSA and other HHS entities will host events for this annual commemoration. Get more information, including a detailed schedule for HRSA’s day-long celebration.
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HHS Request for Information on Chronic Disease Prevention
HHS recognizes a need for new approaches to prevention and, as a first step, requests input from the public to better understand:
- The barriers to effective chronic disease prevention in the U.S.;
- Highlights of effective chronic disease prevention strategies; and
- The potential of scientific and technological advancements, innovative partnerships, and human-centered design to create and scale new models of chronic disease prevention.
Help advance chronic disease prevention in the U.S. by sharing your input. HHS will accept responses to this request for information until Friday, December 13.
Call for Nominations
The National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable is accepting nominations for The 2020 80% in Every Community National Achievement Awards. This competitive recognition program highlights colorectal cancer screening success stories. It recognizes individuals and health centers who dedicate their time, talent, and expertise to advancing the shared goal of reaching colorectal cancer screening rates of 80% or higher in communities across the nation.
Visit the awards webpage to learn about contest rules, prizes and recognition, and to submit your nomination by Monday, November 25.
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AHRQ Safety Program for Improving Antibiotic Use
The AHRQ Safety Program for Improving Antibiotic Use is a one-year national program that will provide ambulatory clinics with expert coaching, online education and improvement tools, patient education materials, antibiotic use guidelines, and more to help you prevent harms associated with antibiotic resistance, such as Clostridioides difficile infections. By participating, your staff will have the opportunity to earn continuing education credits. The program kicks off on December, but you must enroll by the end of this month. Learn more, including how to attend an informational webinar about the program.
Substance Use Disorder & Mental Health
New Tool: FindTreatment.gov
SAMHSA recently launched FindTreatment.gov, a new and improved website for helping to connect Americans throughout the United States who are looking for substance use disorder treatment. The site aims to provide the most relevant information for each individual’s recovery needs by creating a modern, user-friendly experience that is visually clear, simple, and welcoming to those in crisis.
HIV
Advancing HIV Screening and Treatment: A Health Center’s Experience
Health centers play a key role in ending the HIV epidemic. ECRI Institute, on HRSA’s behalf, will host a webinar featuring a speaker from Fenway Health, a HRSA-funded health center. Fenway Health is well-known for delivering comprehensive care to people living with HIV.
The speaker will discuss the organization’s approaches to providing screening, comprehensive care, and treatment to people living with HIV, including:
- The roles of health centers and free clinics in HIV diagnosis, prevention, and early treatment.
- Practical strategies for making HIV screening and early treatment programs operational.
- Potential challenges encountered and lessons learned.
ECRI Institute will offer the webinar at two times:
TODAY: Tuesday, November 5
Noon-1:00 p.m. ET
Register here
OR
Wednesday, November 6
3:00-4:00 p.m. ET
Register here
Diabetes
New Promising Practice: Using Telehealth for Diabetes Education in Rural Areas
ARcare provides primary care and other specialty services to over 65,000 patients in 48 clinics across Arkansas, Kentucky, and Mississippi. ARcare provides diabetes education to patients with prediabetes, those who have high risk, and patients with uncontrolled diabetes. They use telehealth to connect to patients in rural areas. Read more. |
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Diabetes Prevention & Management Change Package
The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) Diabetes Change Package offers tools, strategies, and interventions for health centers to transform their diabetes-related care. It supports assessing and addressing body mass index more effectively to prevent new onset diabetes and promotes better HbA1c control in patients with diabetes to prevent complications. NACHC is a HRSA-funded National Cooperative Agreement (NCA).
Diabetes and Infection Control in the Health Center Setting
Join a webinar focused on best practices in infection control during blood glucose monitoring and insulin administration. Featured speakers from CDC and the Joint Commission will share how you can improve patient safety related to diabetes testing and care.
Thursday, November 7
3:00-4:00 p.m. ET
Join the webcast the day of the session
Call-in: 888-323-5262
Passcode: 3607910
For questions, please contact the Quality Division.
Workforce
HRSA’s Virtual Job Fair for Health Centers in Rural Communities
In celebration of National Rural Health Day, HRSA is hosting a Virtual Job Fair specifically for health care facilities serving rural communities.
Wednesday, November 20
6:45-10:15 p.m. ET
Employers and job seekers can register here.
HRSA's virtual job fairs connect job-seeking primary care trainees and practicing clinicians with health centers with employment opportunities.
Oral Health
Oral Health Infrastructure Webinar Series
The National Network for Oral Health Access (NNOHA), a HRSA-funded NCA, is offering a series of webinars on strategies for oral health infrastructure enhancements.
This webinar series is a companion to the NNOHA Oral Health Infrastructure Toolkit released in April. The webinars will highlight health centers who have completed infrastructure enhancements and expansion of their dental programs to increase access to oral health care. Each session offers 1.0 Continuing Dental Education credit.
School-Based Dental Programs
Wednesday, November 13
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Register here
Access recordings and slides for previous webinars.
Collaboration Guide May Give Kids a Smile
The National Advisory Council on Migrant Health encourages health centers to explore a new Effective Partnerships Guide about oral health for children. Published by the National Migrant and Head Start Collaboration Office, the guide provides information about collaboration between health center grantees and Head Start Programs that serve migratory and seasonal agricultural workers. Migratory and seasonal agricultural workers and their families often face geographic and logistical barriers to getting dental care. The guide suggests various partnership approaches that help to deliver oral health services in a timely and effective way. |
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Telehealth
Telehealth Payment Policies – New Resources
The National Consortium of Telehealth Resource Centers has resources to help health centers understand telehealth payment policies, including a fact sheet that outlines reimbursement for telehealth services and recent changes to the physician fee schedule. Earlier this year, CMS changed the 2019 physician fee schedule to begin reimbursement for certain services offered through remote communication technology.
CMS has also summarized telehealth services for Medicare patients, including the 2019 Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment (SUPPORT) for Patients and Communities Act, which addresses telehealth services sites for treatment.
Additional Resources
Cancer Screening in Health Centers
Cervical and colorectal cancer are highly preventable and treatable if detected early. Since 2013, the number of patients screened for these types of cancers at HRSA-funded health centers continues to increase. Using data from the 2015 Uniform Data System, HRSA researchers have uncovered organizational and contextual factors that are linked with increased cancer screening rates at health centers.
Visit the HRSA Health Center Library for more information on this research and other Health Center Program research articles.
Adolescent Health ECHO
The School-Based Health Alliance, a HRSA-funded NCA, presents an Adolescent Health ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes). This opportunity is for primary care or behavioral health providers, clinic nurses, medical assistants, and health educators. Participants will work and learn virtually with other health centers. Faculty will lead exploration of topics including adolescent-friendly environments, preventive health care, behavioral health, and sexual/reproductive health. From January to April 2020 there will be eight, 1.5-hour, CE-accredited sessions. Learn more and apply by Friday, November 29.
Patient-Centered Medical Home Trainings for Health Centers
HRSA contracts with The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) to provide technical assistance and training to health centers on the NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) recognition process. HRSA is sponsoring regional trainings, organized by Primary Care Associations, on NCQA’s Introduction to PCMH and Advanced PCMH courses for health centers. Learn more about the trainings available in your region:
- Region 5: November 12-14 in Springfield, IL: Intro and Advanced
- Region 9: November 19-21 in Sacramento, CA: Advanced (Intro session is full)
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