What's New
Hypertension Supplemental Funding Deadline Extended
HRSA has extended the deadline for the fiscal year (FY) 2021 National Hypertension Control Initiative Supplemental Funding for Health Centers (NHCI-HC). Submissions are now due in HRSA’s Electronic Handbooks (EHBs) by 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, December 4.
See the NHCI-HC technical assistance (TA) webpage for submission guidance, example forms, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), and other TA resources, including slides from last week’s webinar. Here are some additional FAQs from last week’s webinar:
Q: Is the funding amount from the November 17 email (subject: Updated EHBs Link: FY 2021 Supplemental Funding for Hypertension) available for each year?
A: No. The funding amount from the email is the total funding available for the 3-year period, which you can divide across the 3 years as needed. We do not expect you to spend it evenly across all 3 years.
Q: Does ensuring access to remote monitoring for a majority of patients diagnosed with hypertension mean that more than half of my hypertensive patients need to be using remote monitoring self-measured blood pressure (SMBP) devices each year?
A: No. By the end of the 3-year period, you must have made access to remote monitoring SMBP devices available to a majority of your patients diagnosed with hypertension. You have flexibility in how you meet this requirement, which, in addition to devices you purchase and provide to patients, could include devices already in use by your hypertensive patients, as well as devices provided through SMBP device loaner programs. We understand that not every patient to whom you make a SMBP device accessible will participate. The training and TA provider will give additional guidance on SMBP device options and considerations to award recipients in January 2021.
HRSA World AIDS Day 2020 Commemoration Activities
HRSA will hold an agency-wide commemoration aligning with this year’s World AIDS Day theme, “Ending the HIV Epidemic: Resilience and Impact.”
Tuesday, December 1
11:00 a.m.-noon ET
Join the day of the session
Call-in: 888-677-5734
Passcode: 5005575
We’ll recognize the 30th anniversary of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) as people with HIV share personal stories of resilience and the impact of the RWHAP on their lives.
We also invite you to participate in our Twitter thread campaign, which will kick off Tuesday, December 1, and continue through Wednesday, December 9. We’ll use #HRSAHonorsWAD to promote awareness about HIV and RWHAP’s role in ending the HIV epidemic.
@HRSAgov will send four messages tied together by their connection to World AIDS Day. Please consider jumping on HRSA’s “wagon”: comment, like, retweet, or post your own content to our Twitter thread focusing on your health center’s goals/accomplishments!
Due TODAY! Million Hearts® Innovation Competition Applications
CDC has a national cooperative agreement with the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) aimed at reducing heart attacks and strokes. (NACHC is also a HRSA-funded National Training and Technical Assistance Partner (NTTAP).)
As part of this effort, NACHC’s Million Hearts® Innovation Competition seeks to fund organizations with innovative strategies aligned with the Million Hearts® 2022 goals and priority populations. They will fund proposals that demonstrate feasible and impactful approaches to prevent cardiovascular events with the vision to share these innovations nationally. Applications are due TODAY by 11:59 p.m. ET. Learn more in the request for proposals (which includes the application link) or this recorded webinar for potential applicants.
FY 2020 Primary Care HIV Prevention Grantee Progress Reporting TA
We invite grantees and Project Officers to join us to review key project requirements for FY 2020 Primary Care HIV Prevention (PCHP), the progress report components and schedule, and reporting resources. We will also answer grantee questions.
Wednesday, December 2
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Join the webcast the day of the session
Call-in: 888-950-7567
Passcode: 9902759
The progress report module opens in EHBs on Tuesday, December 1, and is due on Tuesday, December 15.
COVID-19
FHIR®-Up Your Electronic Health Records to Help Manage the Spread
The eCR Now initiative and the Association of Public Health Laboratories call on health care organizations to implement electronic case reporting (eCR) for COVID-19 and other diseases. Public health agencies need more timely and complete data. Hospitals, health care systems, ambulatory practices, and their partners can increase the implementation of eCR through participation in the eCR Now COVID-19 Challenge.
The challenge will increase the number of electronic health records (EHRs) enabled with eCR capabilities by use of the eCR Now FHIR® App and the HL7 FHIR® standard. The app enables eCR, helps meet legal reporting requirements, fulfills CMS’ Promoting Interoperability Program requirements, and moves public health in our nation forward.
The eCR Now COVID-19 Challenge will make up to three awards of $100,000 and three awards of $60,000 to eligible participants that accomplish production eCR for COVID-19 using the eCR Now FHIR® App.
Find out more about the challenge and pose questions to eCR public health and technical experts:
Tuesday, December 1
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Webinar details will soon be available on the eCR Now COVID-19 Challenge webpage.
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HHS Allocates Therapeutic to Treat Patients with Mild to Moderate COVID-19
HHS recently announced plans to allocate initial doses of Eli Lilly and Company’s investigational monoclonal antibody therapeutic, bamlanivimab, which received emergency use authorization from FDA for the treatment of non-hospitalized patients with mild or moderate confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Last month, the federal government announced a purchase of 300,000 doses of bamlanivimab. HHS will allocate these doses to state and territorial health departments which, in turn, will determine which health care facilities receive the infusion drug. Weekly allocations to state and territorial health departments will be proportionally based on confirmed COVID-19 cases in each state and territory over the previous seven days.
To find out how much bamlanivimab has been allocated to specific states, territories, and jurisdictions, visit the allocation dashboard.
Considerations for Holiday Celebrations and Small Gatherings
To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 during the upcoming holidays, CDC recently released considerations for Holiday Celebrations and Small Gatherings. Consider making your patients aware of this guidance, including this Thanksgiving tip sheet, to prepare for upcoming holidays
Health centers may also want to share the following resources leading into the holiday season:
COVID-19 Health Center Survey – We Want to Hear from You
Please make sure to complete this week’s survey to help us understand your health center’s needs and how we can help. Your continued feedback helps us provide relevant information and resources in the ongoing fight against COVID-19.
Last week, 69% of health centers and 50% of Health Center Program look-alikes submitted data through the weekly COVID-19 survey. We challenge you to help beat that this week! The survey you received on Friday, November 20, is due by 11:59 p.m. your local time today. As always, thank you for sharing your invaluable insight!
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Housing Innovations for Health Centers during COVID-19
Communities nationwide have set up alternative care sites, often in hotels, for people experiencing homelessness or housing instability and who have no safe, stable home in which to quarantine. The Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), a HRSA-funded NTTAP, invites you to learn more about this practice. Hear from three health centers (from Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Maine) regarding how they are supporting these sites and assisting in the re-housing process for those being served at the sites.
Monday, December 14
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Register here
FAQs
We continually update our COVID-19 FAQs webpage. Other resources:
Substance Use Disorder & Mental Health
The Collaborative Care Model: A Proven Approach for Integrating Physical and Behavioral Health Care
Collaborative care programs are a proven approach to integration in which primary care providers, care managers, and psychiatric/behavioral health consultants work together to provide team-based care and monitor patients’ progress. The model provides the platform for a range of targeted behavioral health services such as brief psychosocial treatments; pharmacotherapies for substance use (medication-assisted treatment) and mental disorders; Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT); and patient education.
Wednesday, December 2
3:00-4:00 p.m. ET
Register here
JBS International, a HRSA contractor, will host this webinar.
HIV
HRSA World AIDS Day Activities
See the announcement above.
Webinar Recording: Improving PrEP Access through Monitoring and Engagement
We recently hosted a webinar featuring health center experts in the field to discuss how to improve access to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) through monitoring and patient engagement. Speakers addressed real-time challenges and solutions that health centers face daily as they integrate HIV care and testing into primary care settings. Watch the recording.
AHEAD Dashboard Now Available
A new online data visualization tool, developed by OIDP, will guide work on the EHE initiative: America’s HIV Epidemic Analysis Dashboard (AHEAD). It provides the most up-to-date information available about EHE progress to help inform community, jurisdictional, and national decision-making. The dashboard tracks national and jurisdictional progress for the six EHE indicators leading to the overarching goals of the initiative. HHS will add new features and data based on stakeholder input. Please visit HIV.gov for more information on the EHE Initiative.
Diabetes
Living a Healthy Lifestyle: Community Health Workers Promoting Diabetes Prevention Among Families
The first in Health Outreach Partners and MHP Salud’s article series on “Diabetes Across the Lifespan,” this article focuses on educating the community on preventative measures and risk factors for the disease, and how Community Health Workers play a key role in implementing family-centered diabetes interventions. Both organizations are HRSA-funded NTTAPs.
Workforce
The New CFO Leadership Institute
NACHC presents a six-month learning collaborative offering big picture concepts, strategic leadership training, and peer networking for new health center financial leaders. It will ensure you have the training, resources, and support you need to successfully lead your health center in an ever-changing health care environment. The curriculum will provide interactive and action-oriented learning experiences that meet the training needs of today’s Chief Financial Officers.
Health Professions Student Training Learning Collaborative
Community Health Center, Inc., (CHCI), a HRSA-funded NTTAP, invites health centers to join a four-month learning collaborative that will provide transformational strategies and coaching support to help health centers evaluate, replicate, and sustain a health profession student training program. Participants will learn to use quality improvement practices and playbook development to achieve these goals. Apply by Friday, December 4.
Comprehensive Care Learning Collaborative
CHCI offers a four-month participatory learning experience for health centers that are beginning or restarting their move to high performance team-based comprehensive primary care. It will assist staff who are developing their clinical care teams to provide access to integrated comprehensive primary health care (e.g., primary, medical, oral, mental, substance use disorder, vision, enabling services). Participants will gain knowledge about the basic principles and best practices of care and the strategies to plan for implementation. Apply by Friday, December 11.
Additional Resources
The Importance of Screening for Transportation Barriers to Care
Use your coffee break to watch an on-demand webinar from Health Outreach Partners. Speakers explain why it is so important to gather data regarding your patients’ transportation barriers before engaging in a new transportation service or intervention and how to screen for your patients’ needs, including using the Transportation Quality Improvement Toolkit.
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