What's New
Deadline Reminders: Service Area Competition Applications for June 1 Starts
Service Area Competition (SAC) HRSA-21-007 applications for June 1 starts are due in EHBs by 5:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, December 17. TA materials are available on the SAC TA webpage.
Resources to Help You with Uniform Data System 2020 Reporting
We understand that this Uniform Data System (UDS) reporting season will come with additional challenges due to COVID-19 and we want to support you along the way.
- Recordings of this fall’s TA webinars focused on 2020 UDS are now available. The sessions covered a range of important reporting topics—from virtual visits to clinical and financial tables. Visit the UDS Training site to view the recordings and comprehensive training materials.
- Developed to provide additional information about the impacts of COVID-19 on UDS reporting, this new guidance includes information about reporting visits and patients, staffing, clinical quality, and revenue. For additional information on other COVID-19-related reporting considerations, such as temporary sites, health center staffing (e.g., volunteers), and funding and revenue, see our COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
- Project Officers are available to answer any health center-specific questions you may have. The UDS Support Center is accessible to answer any UDS reporting content questions, with extended hours during the UDS reporting period, by email or phone: 866-UDS-HELP (866-837-4357).
Today with Macrae: Health Center Program Updates
Thank you for joining last week’s session. As a reminder, we’ll post the recording on our COVID-19 Information for Health Centers and Partners page as soon as it’s available. Here are some of the topics covered:
- If you are interested in the compliance tips CDR Kevin Bates discussed, please contact your Project Officer.
- We’re piloting a new approach to streamlining Operational Site Visits (OSV) by doing the bulk of document review before the onsite visit. We’ll still follow the Site Visit Protocol and Compliance Manual. We hope that this will reduce burden on health centers and improve the OSV experience, and we’ll be assessing this throughout the pilot. Stay tuned to hear more!
Save the date for these upcoming sessions in 2021 (all at 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET):
Thursday, January 21
Tuesday, February 9
Tuesday, March 2
Tuesday, March 23
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Data Integration Best Practices for Health Centers and Homeless Services
Data plays a significant role for health centers of any size, but many still struggle to collect, analyze, and interpret data for meaningful program improvement. This paper from the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) explores how clear policies, consistent practices, and regular use of data can shift data from being a hurdle to a tool in decision-making and care. It also discusses how improving data collection, usage, and sharing may provide a more complete picture of a patient’s service history and improve care. CSH is a HRSA-funded National Training and Technical Assistance Partner (NTTAP).
COVID-19
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ Interim Recommendation for Allocating Initial Supplies of COVID-19 Vaccine
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended, as interim guidance, that both 1) health care personnel and 2) residents of long-term care facilities be offered COVID-19 vaccines in the initial phase of the vaccination program. Read more.
HHS COVID-19 Outpatient Therapeutics Mini-Series
The HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response presents a mini-series providing a deep dive on new and emerging COVID-19 outpatient therapeutics, including monoclonal antibodies. The goal is to equip clinicians with the appropriate knowledge, resources, and tools needed to initiate and scale administration of these therapies and reduce strain on the U.S. health care system. Topics will include:
- Clinical trials and drug efficacy.
- Best practices from the field (e.g., workflows, training, IT).
- Priority settings (e.g., nursing homes, federally qualified health centers).
- Ethical issues (e.g., equitable access, prioritization of highest-risk patients).
- Considerations for use of vaccine and therapeutics.
Please join the first session:
Wednesday, December 9
Noon-1:00 p.m. ET
Register here
**1.0 CME available**
Webinar Recording Available: Provider Recruitment and Retention Training for Health Centers
In October, we held a webinar on staffing-related shortages—a common barrier identified by health centers, especially in light of the pandemic. Speakers from HRSA, HRSA-funded NTTAPs (Community Health Center, Inc., and the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved), and a health center discussed recruitment and retention promising practices and provided resources. Watch the recording if you missed it.
Effective and Innovative Approaches/Best Practices in Health Care in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Request for Information
Through a new Request for Information, HHS seeks to gain a comprehensive understanding of the impact of changes adopted by health care systems and providers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many health care systems and clinicians have rapidly reengineered their policies and programs to improve access, safety, quality, outcomes (including mortality and morbidity), cost, and value for both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19-related medical conditions. HHS plans to identify and learn from effective innovative approaches and best practices implemented by non-HHS organizations in order to inform HHS priorities and programs. Respond by Thursday, December 24.
Issue Brief: COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Protections for Agricultural Workers
Farmworker Justice, a HRSA-funded NTTAP, developed an issue brief that highlights COVID-19 sick leave protections for agricultural workers at the federal level and in the top 10 agricultural states.
VA COVID-19 Training Module for Veteran Peer Support Specialists
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Center on Homelessness among Veterans and the University of South Florida have collaborated to create a publicly available training module (registration required) focused on COVID-19 for Veteran Peer Support Specialists (also known as Community Integration Specialists). Find additional information on this and other VA resources, including podcasts on wellness and self-care, on the VA Community Integration Specialist Training website.
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 55% 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, December 4, is due by 11:59 p.m. your local time today. As always, thank you for sharing your invaluable insights!
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Telehealth during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Join The Joint Commission for an overview of the expansion of telehealth during COVID-19 and discussion of its standards and survey process to evaluate the quality and safety of telehealth services.
Thursday, December 10
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Register here
Replays of past educational sessions are accessible on The Joint Commission’s website.
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. 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
COVID-19 Learning Series
The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), a HRSA-funded NTTAP, has been offering a multi-session learning series on COVID-19. Each webinar dives into different challenges and explores opportunities around business contingency planning and data fundamentals while sharing lessons learned, models, and workflows from health centers who mobilized early during the first phase of COVID-19. The final session is next week:
Looking Over the Horizon
Wednesday, December 16
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Register here
Finance Office Hours for Health Centers: Strategies for Managing COVID-19
NACHC and its partners have joined forces to provide timely information and resources to support health centers through this challenging time. Topics will address real-time challenges based on health center input and feedback.
Wednesday, December 16
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Register here
Submit questions in advance to trainings@nachc.org.
FAQs
We continually update our COVID-19 FAQs webpage. Other resources:
Substance Use Disorder & Mental Health
HRSA Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center Survey
HRSA’s Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center at the University of Michigan and the School of Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh have launched a survey to help us learn more about how HRSA-funded health centers integrate and bill for behavioral health care. We hope to better understand the clinical and administrative barriers to providing integrated behavioral health services.
The survey targets a specific audience based on Medicaid funding. If you work in a leadership position at a HRSA-funded health center in one of the following states, please consider taking this short (10-minute) survey: Alaska, Arizona, California, Kansas, Kentucky, New York, Pennsylvania, Montana, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, or Wisconsin.
Questions? Contact Brianna Lombardi, PhD MSW.
Diabetes
A Call for Reinforcements in Diabetes Care: Maximizing the Role of Non-Clinical Staff and Partners
Successful diabetes care for vulnerable populations demands a multipronged approach, deploying direct health interventions, medications, and support from a range of community resources to address the social determinants that impact diabetes. This report from CSH (a HRSA-funded NTTAP) outlines promising practices in using an interdisciplinary team of providers that interact with individuals on a regular basis and the community resources they have access to that can support consumers’ self-management and in turn diabetic control.
Workforce
HRSA Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center Survey
See the announcement above.
New Funding Opportunity to Expand the Behavioral Health Workforce
See the announcement above.
Advanced Nursing Education - Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners Program
HRSA is accepting applications for the FY 2021 Advanced Nursing Education - Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners Program. It will increase access to physical and mental health care treatment for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence. Grantees will train sexual assault nurse examiners to practice in rural and underserved health settings. Apply by Wednesday, February 17, 2021.
Capital Expansion for Health and Housing Partnerships
Are you exploring capital expansion for your health center? Are you working with community partners to address housing needs? Join a learning collaborative from CSH (a HRSA-funded NTTAP) to understand how to leverage your capital project to meet broader community housing needs. This learning series is for health centers interested in expanding their health services in collaboration with housing partners to strengthen engagement in social determinants of health and advance efforts to build a community's safety net infrastructure. Learn more at a webinar on Thursday, January 14, 2021. Apply by Friday, January 22, 2021.
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