What's New
Ensuring We Can Reach You
In communicating about the Health Center COVID-19 Vaccine Program, we’ve recently encountered some challenges reaching certain health centers.
First, please make sure you are subscribed to this Digest newsletter. We use the same mailing list to send out other important communications. If you received this as a forward from someone else, please take a moment to subscribe today. Doing so will ensure you receive future bulletins about the Health Center COVID-19 Vaccine Program and other important topics.
Second, please make sure your health center’s contact listings in HRSA’s Electronic Handbooks (EHBs) are accurate. Please be sure to double check:
- Names.
- Phone numbers.
- Email addresses.
- EHBs roles and rights.
Consider establishing a regular schedule to review this very important information. These resources can help:
Note: You can change contact information for the Project Director, but you cannot change the name of your Project Director without approval from your Grants Management Specialist. This is because the Project Director is listed on your Notice(s) of Award. However, if you need to request approval to make a change, this video can help you through the steps: How do I change my Project Director.
For assistance with updating EHBs roles and rights, contact Health Center Program Support online or by phone: 877-464-4772, 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET, Monday-Friday (except federal holidays).
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New Study Examines the Important Role of Patient-Provider Communication in Cholesterol Management
We recently published a study examining how patient-provider communication is associated with patient-reported adherence to cholesterol management advice. Data from the 2014 Health Center Patient Survey (HCPS) showed that health center patients report favorable patient-provider communication, with more than 80% reporting providers always give easily understandable information or spend enough time with them. Positive perceptions of providers’ communication practices were found to positively influence patients’ adoption of cholesterol management guidance, such as adherence to medication, physical activity, and weight management advice. Results underscore the value of patient-provider communication, a critical component of patient-centered and culturally competent care delivered by health centers, and the positive influence it can have on bolstering adoption of healthy behaviors. Visit BPHC’s Health Center Library to read other articles.
As a reminder, the 2021 HCPS is underway. While COVID-19 continues to present challenges, collecting data is critical for studies like the one above. The data will help us understand how the pandemic has impacted the country’s most medically underserved populations, and will provide a voice to the patient experience.
Quarterly 340B Program Registration
Quarterly 340B Program site registration is open from April 1 to 15. Health centers will be able to register a site that has been verified as implemented and with a site status reflected as “active” in EHBs Form 5B through Friday, May 28. After that date, the system will close to prepare for the July 1 start.
Email the 340B Prime Vendor Program or call 888-340-2787 (Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. ET) to register a new site or ask questions. 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.
- 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.
COVID-19
The Ad Council and COVID Collaborative’s COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative Toolkits
The Ad Council developed communication toolkits to help community partners educate and provide answers to their members and stakeholders. These free, easy-to-use toolkits include messaging tips, videos, FAQs, social and digital media assets, educational events, and research that was rigorously vetted by CDC.
New CDC MMWR Reports
These CDC articles may be of interest for health centers:
National Initiative to Address COVID-19 Health Disparities Among Populations at High-Risk and Underserved, Including Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations and Rural Communities
CDC has published a two-year Notice of Funding Opportunity aimed at improving health equity. This non-research cooperative agreement is funded through the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2021 and is expected to award funding to up to 108 state, local, territorial, and freely associated state health departments, or their bona fide agents. Though health centers are not eligible to apply, you may be interested in partnering with applicants. Learn more.
Adverse Event Reporting
The FDA recently launched the COVID-19 Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) FDA Adverse Events Reporting System (FAERS) Public Dashboard providing weekly updates of adverse event reports submitted to FAERS for drugs and therapeutic biological products used under an EUA during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Special Populations Roundtable – Health Center COVID-19 Vaccine Program
Join several HRSA-funded NTTAPs for a bi-weekly roundtable discussion about the COVID-19 vaccination rollout for special populations. Subject matter experts will convene every other Friday to provide health centers with updated information about the COVID-19 vaccine and respond to your questions.
Friday, March 26 | Friday, April 9 | Friday, April 23 | Friday, May 7
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Register here
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Social Determinants of Health in the Context of COVID-19 – Speaker Series
Join HRSA for an informative and timely webinar on the role of social determinants of health (SDOH) in the COVID-19 pandemic. The session will include an overview of the foundational science for SDOH, as well as a discussion about identifying effective integrative, multilevel approaches to improve health and address health inequities as part of the pandemic response. Dr. Shannon Zenk, Director of NIH’s National Institute on Nursing Research, will present.
Wednesday, March 31
Noon-1:00 p.m. ET
Register here
Weitzman ECHO Series on COVID-19
The Weitzman Institute presents a weekly webinar series focusing on COVID-19 vaccine administration for health centers. Sessions cover policies, procedures, roles and responsibilities, and different approaches for organizing vaccination events. These webinars take place on Wednesdays at noon for the next five weeks. Learn more or register now. The Weitzman Institute is part of Community Health Center, Inc. (CHC), a HRSA-funded NTTAP.
Mitigating Burnout and Maintaining Provider Satisfaction during Vaccination Rollouts
In this webinar series, speakers from the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (ACU) will explore provider burnout and satisfaction in the context of the pandemic, lessons learned, and strategies that health centers can take to minimize burnout and maintain provider satisfaction in the next several months. ACU is a HRSA-funded NTTAP.
Wednesday, March 31 | Wednesday, April 7 | Wednesday, April 21
Noon-1:00 p.m. ET
Register for the series
Promoting Vaccine Confidence in Older Adults
Community-dwelling older adults are a high priority group for COVID-19 vaccination, but their concerns regarding vaccine safety or availability may continue to leave them vulnerable to serious illness. Speakers from the National Center for Equitable Care for Elders (NCECE) will review approaches to build trust through tailored interventions that incorporate community norms and address barriers to vaccine uptake in this patient population. NCECE is a HRSA-funded NTTAP.
Thursday, April 8
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Register here
Reimbursement for COVID-19 Vaccine Administration Fees
Health centers, as you engage in efforts to support vaccine distribution, please consider HRSA’s COVID-19 claims reimbursement program for uninsured patients. Through this program, health care providers who have conducted COVID-19 testing or provided treatment for uninsured individuals with a primary COVID-19 diagnosis can request claims reimbursement. Providers can also request reimbursement for COVID-19 vaccine administration to the uninsured. See FAQs about the program.
Health Center and Look-Alike COVID-19 Survey
Thank you to those who complete the weekly survey! As a reminder, the survey you received on Friday, March 19, is due by 11:59 p.m. your local time today. If you have questions about how to complete the survey, visit our Survey User Guide.
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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:
Community Health Center, Inc. (CHC), which cares for more than 100,000 at-risk patients in Connecticut, has played a lead role in providing testing and now vaccinations for the state. Since early in the pandemic, CHC has offered COVID-19 testing at 18 locations statewide. CHC has administrated more than 400,000 COVID-19 tests throughout the pandemic, reaching more than 300,000 unique patients.
Recognizing their successful efforts, Governor Ned Lamont tapped CHC to set up and run mass vaccination sites. Their first site opened through a public-private partnership with an aerospace manufacturer, Pratt & Whitney, on a decommissioned runway in East Hartford.
The company made the runway available to CHC free of charge. Within one week, CHC transformed the dormant two-mile strip of concrete into one of the state’s largest mass vaccination site—a so-called “vaccine village” capable of administering approximately 5,000 COVID-19 vaccinations daily. A second runway exists on the property, which could allow for doubling of that capacity. Learn more about CHC’s mass vaccination efforts in this recent “New York Times” article.
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If you would like to share how your health center is helping your community address COVID-19, please contact us via our Health Center Stories inbox. We are especially interested in hearing about your efforts to promote equity in vaccine distribution and overcome vaccine hesitancy. We may share your story in future issues of the Digest or on HRSA social media.
If sharing a photo, please include a high resolution image along with 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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Behavioral Health
SAMHSA Funding Opportunities
SAMHSA is accepting applications for two new funding opportunities:
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Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT)
The purpose of this program is to implement SBIRT services for children, adolescents, and/or adults in primary care and community health settings with a focus on screening for underage drinking, opioid use, and other substance use. SAMHSA plans to issue approximately 10 awards of up to $995,000 per year for up to 5 years. Learn more or apply by Monday, April 19.
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Medication-Assisted Treatment – Prescription Drug and Opioid Addiction
The purpose of this program is to expand and enhance access to medication-assisted treatment services for persons with an opioid use disorder. SAMHSA plans to issue approximately 89-135 awards of up to $1 million per year for states and up to $525,000 per year for other domestic public or non-profit entities, for up to 5 years. Learn more or apply by Tuesday, April 27.
HIV
Addressing the Unique Needs of Black Women with HIV
March 10 was National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. In honor of this observance, HRSA invites you to the second in our Women's Health Leadership Series. Learn how HIV disproportionately impacts Black women in the U.S., and how they often face stigmas related to HIV status, gender, race, and ethnicity.
Thursday, March 25
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Register here
Contact HRSA’s Office of Women’s Health for more information about the Women's Health Leadership Series.
Diabetes
Do You Know Your Diabetes Status? Get Tested on Diabetes Alert Day!
Today is Diabetes Alert Day. On this annual day of recognition, we encourage everyone to learn their risk for diabetes. CDC’s eight-question Prediabetes Risk Test assesses factors that increase the risk of developing diabetes. Those who find they are at risk can enroll in a Diabetes Prevention Program. Alert Day also is a reminder for providers to engage in patient education and diabetes testing. Many health centers have developed innovative approaches to diabetes prevention and treatment. The Health Center Resource Clearinghouse offers numerous toolkits and resources to support diabetes prevention and quality.
Community Health Workers and Peer Specialists: Key Roles in Addressing Diabetes Control before and during the COVID-19 Health Pandemic
This issue brief showcases the important role of front-line community health workers/peer specialists in leveraging connections with their communities for diabetes control in response to demand and challenges of the COVID-19 health pandemic. MHP Salud and the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), both HRSA-funded NTTAPs, developed the brief.
Workforce
Mitigating Burnout and Maintaining Provider Satisfaction during Vaccination Rollouts
See the announcement above.
Several HRSA-funded NTTAPs present learning collaboratives:
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Building Community Centered Health Homes
The National Health Care for the Homeless Council is partnering with the Prevention Institute to provide trainings and peer learning sessions to assist health centers in the adoption of the Community Centered Health Home model to address SDOH and support participating health centers as they build community partnerships to accomplish this goal. Though the learning sessions started a few weeks ago, health centers may still join the remaining sessions.
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Advancing Team-Based Care
CHC will provide transformational strategies and coaching support to help primary care practices in health centers implement and advanced models of team-based care. Participating teams will use assessments of their current team-based care model to identify areas for process improvement and role optimization; use quality improvement concepts and skills with coaching support to systematically achieve one or more specific aims; and contribute to the learning among participating practice teams. Apply by Friday, March 26.
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FUSE: Frequent Users Systems Engagement
FUSE is a proven model for identifying frequent users of hospitals, jails, shelters and/or other crisis public services and then connecting them to supportive housing. For health centers that are screening and documenting for SDOH, FUSE provides a pathway to use health and other system data. It also establishes effective housing partnerships to improve health and housing outcomes for patients that experience homelessness and have other co-occurring health and behavioral health conditions. CSH invites health centers to learn the history of the FUSE model, how data are applied to FUSE projects, and overcoming data-sharing challenges. Health center participants will learn actionable steps to initiate a FUSE program. Learn more or apply by Friday, April 2.
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Aging with Respect: A Framework for Addressing Intimate Partner Violence in Older Adults
Intimate partner violence in later life is often undetected by health care providers, in part due to misconceptions and the complexity of elder mistreatment. Speakers from Futures Without Violence and NCECE will review the various forms of abuse and discuss approaches for successful prevention and interventions that focus on safety and wellness for older adult patients. Learn more or apply by 5:00 p.m. ET, Friday, April 16.
Additional Resources
HHS Launches Free E-Learning Program for Maternal Health Care Providers
The HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH) recently launched a new, free and accredited e-learning program: Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) in Maternal Health Care. The program, available via OMH’s Think Cultural Health website, is designed to develop maternal health care providers' knowledge and skills related to CLAS. OMH encourages all physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, certified nurse midwives, and certified midwives to take this program and earn up to two continuing education credits at no cost. Learn more about the class in this on-demand mini-webinar.
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