What's New
Due Tomorrow! COVID-19 Progress Reporting Module Now Open
The second progress report for FY 2020 Look-Alike Expanding Capacity for Coronavirus Testing (LAL ECT) recipients is due by 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, January 13. Visit the LAL ECT TA webpage or watch the TA webinar* for more details and guidance. *The recording may not be suitable for users of assistive technology. For assistance, contact us.
The third COVID-19 progress report for HRSA-funded health centers is also due by 11:59 p.m. ET on Wednesday, January 13. The reporting module is now open in HRSA's Electronic Handbooks (EHBs). Progress report resources that detail requirements are available on these TA webpages:
View the progress report TA webinar for additional guidance.
Uniform Data System 2020 Reporting Season Open Now
The Uniform Data System (UDS) reporting period for calendar year 2020 has started. All HRSA-funded health centers are required to submit complete and accurate UDS reports by Monday, February 15.
Upon successful submission, we will assign your UDS report to a UDS reviewer who will work with you throughout March to finalize your data submission. We will not allow changes after Wednesday, March 31.
The 2020 UDS Manual and other resources are available on HRSA’s website to help you complete an accurate report. The manual includes an introduction to the UDS, instructions for completing each of the tables, and information on how to submit the UDS through EHBs.
Time Extended: Today with Macrae
We’ve extended the time for our upcoming Today with Macrae. We have a number of updates and want to make sure we spend time talking about COVID-19 vaccine deployment.
Thursday, January 21
2:00-3:30 p.m. ET
Access details coming soon.
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HHS Telemedicine Hack: Recordings Available
HHS Telemedicine Hack (TM Hack) was a virtual, peer-to-peer learning community to accelerate telemedicine implementation for ambulatory providers. The TM Hack took place last fall, but the recordings and other materials are available online and we encourage health centers to view them. The TM Hack included TeleECHO sessions, virtual “office hour” discussion panels, and peer-to-peer learning sessions. Sessions included:
- Telemedicine: Where Do I Start?
- Workflows and Documentation
- Clinical Best Practices and the Art of the Tele-Physical Exam
- Overview of Telehealth Billing & Reimbursement Policies
- The New Normal: Tips to Make Telemedicine Part of Your Permanent Practice
Viral Hepatitis National Strategic Plan: A Roadmap to Elimination
Last week, HHS released the Viral Hepatitis National Strategic Plan for the United States: A Roadmap to Elimination (2021-2025). The plan provides goal-oriented objectives and strategies that can be implemented by a broad mix of stakeholders at all levels and across many sectors, both public and private, to reverse the rates of viral hepatitis, prevent new infections, improve care and treatment, and ultimately eliminate viral hepatitis as a public health threat in the U.S.
COVID-19
NIH Funding Opportunity Announcement on Vaccine Hesitancy and Uptake among Populations with Health Disparities
Community-engaged research is an important step toward addressing vaccine confidence, uptake, and implementation among populations that experience health disparities.
NIH has issued an R01 funding opportunity announcement for research to understand and address misinformation, distrust, and confidence regarding adult vaccines that protect against agents and diseases such as SARS-CoV-2, human papillomavirus, pneumococcus, influenza, hepatitis B, and herpes zoster in the U.S. and its territories. This community-engaged research will evaluate innovative interventions to increase reach, access, and uptake of vaccinations among populations who are at greater risk for morbidity and mortality because of long-standing systemic health and social inequities and chronic medical conditions.
Health Centered on COVID-19
Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. Health centers across the nation have distinguished themselves in responding to the current pandemic. Here’s a recent example:
The University of Minnesota/ Community-University Health Care Center (CUHCC) (Minneapolis, MN) has played an important role by expanding access to comprehensive primary health care through telehealth, bringing COVID-19 testing to the community, and helping fill the gap due to food insecurity and loss of pharmacies. They serve a diverse patient population of more than 11,000, many of whom live below federal poverty guidelines and suffer from comorbidities, such as mental health, substance use disorder (SUD), and physical health conditions.
Using their HRSA funding, CUHCC quickly pivoted to telehealth in March, offering 75% of its services through virtual video and phone visits. By April, the clinic launched COVID-19 testing, noting disproportionately high positivity rates among its patients of color.
With further support from HRSA, CUHCC expanded COVID-19 testing at its main site, offering drive-up and walk-up testing, and bringing testing directly into the community. In June, they began piloting a new community-informed mobile testing model, hosting events at nearby public housing high-rises, community centers, and parks. CUHCC initiated this endeavor by first seeking input from the community to ensure the approach would optimally meet their needs.
When civil unrest broke out in the city in late May, South Minneapolis became a food and pharmacy desert overnight. CUHCC stepped in to meet the needs. While continuing to offer virtual care, they also addressed food insecurity by holding a pop-up food and product donation drive to serve approximately 300 people, and they helped transfer patients to alternate pharmacies so they could access critically-needed medications.
Read The Minnesota Daily’s recent coverage of CUHCC’s efforts.
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If you’d like to share how your health center is helping your community address COVID-19 through HRSA funding, please contact us via our Health Center Stories inbox. We may share your story in future issues of the Digest or on HRSA social media.
If sharing a photo, please include names of everyone in the picture and make sure each person featured has signed a HRSA Photo Release Form. NOTE: Picture should include ONLY health center staff—not patients!
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Thank You for Completing the Weekly COVID-19 Survey!
The survey data helps us better understand your needs and contributes to important research, like the two articles about health centers published in CDC’s December 18, 2020, “MMWR Weekly.”
With the current survey (due today by 11:59 p.m. your local time), we’ve added five new questions related to COVID-19 vaccination, and removed two questions. We also made improved functionality to address your feedback:
- We numbered the questions so you can more easily use the Survey Tool User Guide, which allows you to quickly “jump” to the instructions for any question.
- Before you submit your answers, you’ll see a summary of your responses, which you can save as a PDF or print. You’ll also have the opportunity to make any needed corrections before you submit.
Increasing Staff Capacity to Respond to Intimate Partner Violence/Human Trafficking during COVID-19
Futures Without Violence’s National Health Network on Intimate Partner Violence and Human Trafficking invites you to a webinar offering a combination of self-care and organizational practice strategies to help prevent provider burnout and bolster staff readiness for implementing CUES (Confidentiality, Universal Education + Empowerment, Support). Speakers will also share information on trauma-informed and healing-centered practices.
Wednesday, January 20
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Register here
Futures Without Violence is a HRSA-funded National Training and Technical Assistance Partner (NTTAP).
Creating Effective COVID-19 Contact Tracing Initiatives for Agricultural Workers, Their Families, and Other Vulnerable Populations
The rapid spread of COVID-19 has highlighted both the necessity and the challenge of functional contact tracing efforts. Speakers will explore the origins of contact tracing through the experience of tuberculosis, including how public health officials addressed stigma, community engagement, and training. Then they’ll pivot to the current pandemic, highlighting the experience of a health center in PA that developed effective COVID-19 contact tracing in the agricultural worker population. Finally, the faculty will explore current partnerships with farmworker community organizations to address challenges around contact tracing and vaccines. These partnerships include the development of patient education resources, which we will share with webinar participants. This webinar is hosted by Migrant Clinicians Network, a HRSA-funded NTTAP.
Thursday, January 28
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Register here
Addressing the Behavioral Health Needs of Unsheltered and Vulnerable Populations during the Pandemic
HRSA’s Office of Regional Operations invites health centers to join a webinar focused on how providers can help persons experiencing homelessness, including those with SUD. Speakers include leadership from Duffy Health Center in Hyannis, MA.
Thursday, January 28
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Register here
Substance Use Disorder & Mental Health
Communities of Practice – Behavioral Health and SUD Care Integration
JBS International, a HRSA-funded TA provider, invites health centers to join upcoming communities of practice (CoP) on topics that support behavioral health and SUD care integration services in primary care. The first two CoPs will begin in February and conclude in April. Participants will meet weekly to share best practices. Get more information or register now.
Integrating Primary Care and Behavioral Health Academy
The HRSA Behavioral Health Integration Technical Assistance Initiative invites health center staff to join a two-day, virtual Integrating Primary Care and Behavioral Health Academy. This highly interactive event will teach participants about the integrated care clinical model, building team-based care, building a primary care/behavioral health provider panel, financing integrated care, and the use of health information technology and data analytics. Please register for each day separately:
Wednesday, January 13
9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. ET
Register here
Thursday, January 14
9:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. ET
Register here
Addressing the Behavioral Health Needs of Unsheltered and Vulnerable Populations during the Pandemic
See the announcement above.
Webinar Recording Available: The Collaborative Care Model: A Proven Approach for Integrating Physical and Behavioral Health Care
Our contractor recently hosted a webinar on collaborative care programs, 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. Watch the recording if you missed it.
HIV
Ending the HIV Epidemic Quarterly Stakeholder Webinar
The event is a collaboration with federal partners from CDC, HRSA, IHS, NIH, SAMHSA, and the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS program at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Wednesday, January 27
2:00-3:30 p.m. ET
Register here
Workforce
Several HRSA-funded NTTAPs present learning collaboratives:
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Patients-to-Policy Housing Learning Collaborative
The National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership invites you to explore the ways medical-legal partnerships can leverage patient-centered legal services to implement clinic- and policy-level solutions to address the housing crisis as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This opportunity is specifically for health centers and their legal partners, but individuals from other health systems that collaborate with health centers are welcome to attend. In this four-part learning collaborative, brief didactic presentations will precede peer-to-peer learning sessions. The first session is tomorrow (Wednesday, January 13). Learn more or register now.
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Teaming & Integrating for Smiles and Health
The HRSA-funded Center for Integration of Primary Care and Oral Health is recruiting 20 primary care and oral health teams (two teams from each of HRSA’s 10 regions) to participate in an innovative research opportunity and four-month accelerated learning collaborative. Participants will focus on strengthening primary care and oral health partnerships and increasing early detection of hypertension and gingivitis while also leveraging recent advances in telehealth. Learn more or register now.
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HRSA Loan Guarantee Program Learning Collaborative
Capital Link presents a forum for health centers interested in financing a capital project through HRSA’s Health Center Facility Loan Guarantee Program. Read more or register for an introductory webinar.
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Planning and Financing a Capital Project to Accommodate Integrated Care Learning Collaborative
Capital Link will provide participants with guidance to successfully navigate the process of building or renovating facilities. This will include practical direction and tools for planning, financing, and completing a capital project. Apply now or register for an introductory webinar.
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Advancing Interoperability: Using Technology and Data Sharing to Bring Health Centers and Others Together for Coordinated COVID-19 Care and Response
The Health Information Technology, Evaluation, and Quality (HITEQ) Center invites health center staff to learning about advancing interoperability. Within five structured sessions, participants will discuss practical interoperability applications in health centers, major interoperability initiatives, and a look toward future interoperability goals and visions. Learn more or register now.
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Social Determinants of Health Screening Learning Collaborative
Farmworker Justice, Health Outreach Partners, Migrant Clinicians Network, MHP Salud, and the National Center for Farmworker Health (NCFH) present a multidisciplinary learning collaborative designed for staff of community and migrant health centers. The purpose is to increase the number of health centers that screen for social determinants of health affecting migratory and seasonal agricultural workers. Learn more or register here.
Additional Resources
Heart Health Prevention Toolkits for Community Health Workers
Community health workers are a valued resource for many health centers, educating patients on topics as varied as COVID-19 prevention and treatment and heart disease. The NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute released the Community Health Worker Tools, from The Heart Truth®. It includes tools for community health workers in various populations.
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New Resources from the CMS Office of Minority Health
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