What's New
Next Week: Today with Macrae
The upcoming Today with Macrae webcast will include a segment with Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., the director of FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, who will provide the latest guidance to health centers on COVID-19 vaccines and other updates on vaccine safety and efficacy.
Tuesday, November 9
3:00-4:00 p.m. ET
Join the day of the session
If you prefer to join by phone: 833-568-8864
When prompted, enter meeting/webinar ID: 161 531 7599
As a reminder, we post the slides and recordings for recent Today with Macrae sessions on the COVID-19 Information for Health Centers and Partners webpage.
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Fiscal Year 2022 Health Center Controlled Networks Funding Now Available
HRSA released the fiscal year (FY) 2022 Health Center Controlled Networks (HCCN) Notice of Funding Opportunity (HRSA-22-009). Funded HCCNs will support health centers in leveraging health information technology and data to deliver high-quality, culturally competent, equitable, and comprehensive primary health care, with a specific focus on improvements in:
- Clinical quality,
- Patient-centered care, and
- Provider and staff well-being.
FY 2022 HCCN applications are due in:
- Grants.gov: Tuesday, January 4, 2022
- HRSA’s Electronic Handbooks (EHBs): Tuesday, January 25, 2022
A recorded webinar and other technical assistance (TA) resources are available on the HCCN TA webpage. HRSA will host a TA question and answer session for applicants:
Tuesday, November 9
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Join the day of the session
If you prefer to join by phone: 833 568 8864
When prompted, enter meeting/webinar ID: 161 810 3046
Attention National Hypertension Control Initiative Award Recipients
A new Federal Register Notice related to this supplemental award is open for public comment through Friday, November 19. It is for the proposed collection of data for the purpose of evaluating your efforts to improve hypertension control among your patient population. The data collected will assist in determining the level and degree of success achieved by individual health centers and in aggregate by the cohort.
Data collected will be used to:
- Track and monitor systems change implementation.
- Assess the capacity of National Hypertension Control Initiative (NHCI) partners to implement the project, their needs, the strengths and weaknesses of the systems change approach, and the feasibility of the implementation of the NHCI in their organizations and communities.
- Assess the reach and success of NHCI project strategies implemented by partners.
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Uniform Data System Preliminary Reporting Environment Open
The Uniform Data System (UDS) Preliminary Reporting Environment (PRE) is now accessible to health centers via the EHBs reporting portal. Learn more about the PRE by attending this UDS reporting TA webinar:
Thursday, November 4
2:00-3:30 p.m. ET
Register here
As a reminder, HRSA is collaborating with Primary Care Associations (PCAs) to host UDS trainings. These trainings are for staff responsible for UDS data collection, as well as health center management, clinical staff who need to understand the definitions and concepts used, and those who use UDS data for program management and quality improvement activities.
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Improved Scope of Project Webpage and Related Resources
Recently, HRSA released a new and improved Scope of Project webpage. We improved it to help orient you to the different components of Scope of Project and to more easily guide you to resources to help ensure your health center's scope of project is accurate.
We expanded the previous list of resources, adding two NEW ones:
- Answers to common Change in Scope questions.
- A new tool for health centers to self-assess if a site is eligible for a temporary service site request, with an optional submission template for submitting a request to BPHC.
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HHS Secretary Becerra Announces New Overdose Prevention Strategy
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra announced the release of the new HHS Overdose Prevention Strategy, designed to increase access to the full range of care and services for individuals who use substances that cause overdose, and their families. This new strategy focuses on the multiple substances involved in overdose and the diverse treatment approaches for substance use disorder.
Public Consultation on the Draft HHS Strategic Plan FY 2022-2026
HHS seeks public comment on its draft Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2022-2026 that articulates how the Department will achieve its mission through five strategic goals. You can comment by email, fax, or mail through Sunday, November 7.
Open Enrollment Period on HealthCare.gov
The Marketplace Open Enrollment Period on HealthCare.gov is now open and will remain so until Saturday, January 15, 2022. Consumers who enroll by Wednesday, December 15, can get full year coverage that starts Saturday, January 1. Learn more.
PCA CEO Core Competencies
This document produced by NACHC outlines 12 domains, related tasks, and behavioral examples of core competencies for PCA CEOs. These domains and related tasks and examples were identified and vetted through a National Advisory Panel made up of key staff who interact with the PCA CEO position in various settings.
COVID-19
Health Center Plans for Pediatric Vaccinations
We recently asked you about health centers’ plans for pediatric vaccinations if a vaccine is approved for children ages 5-11. THANK YOU to the 772 health centers that responded!
- 511 of you confirmed plans to conduct pediatric vaccine clinics in partnership with schools and/or school-based health centers pending CDC and FDA approval of pediatric vaccines.
- Some of you shared that you’re planning clinics independent of such partnerships, or that you’ll partner with other providers (e.g., hospitals, pharmacies, or departments of health).
- Many of you expressed that staffing issues present a challenge.
HRSA will use this feedback to inform TA for health centers. We’ll reach out to the health centers experiencing challenges, share resources to boost vaccine confidence, and continue to increase access to COVID-19 vaccines in communities served through health centers.
As a reminder, HRSA collaborated with CDC to create a Checklist for Pediatric COVID-19 Vaccination for health centers. See additional resources from CDC.
Special and Vulnerable Populations COVID-19 Forum Webinar Series
Join several National Training and Technical Assistance Partners (NTTAPs) to hear discussion of how COVID-19 has impacted health centers and the special populations they serve. Suma Nair, PhD, Director of BPHC's Office of Quality Improvement, will join the sessions. She will provide up-to-date information about assistance for health centers as they recover and stabilize their workforce while continuing to respond to the pandemic.
The next session is on Friday, November 19. Elisabeth Wilhelm, Vaccine Hesitancy Strategist and Team Co-Lead of the Vaccine Confidence and Demand Team on CDC’s COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force, will address evidence-based strategies to increase COVID-19 vaccine confidence.
See all session dates and register now.
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National Diabetes Month
Behavioral Health
HHS Secretary Becerra Announces New Overdose Prevention Strategy
See the announcement above.
Rural Communities Opioid Response Program-Implementation
HRSA will make approximately 50 awards of $1 million each to rural communities to enhance prevention, treatment, and recovery from substance use disorder. Eligible applicants are domestic public, private, and nonprofit entities that can deliver services in HRSA-designated rural areas, particularly for populations that have historically suffered from poorer health outcomes. See “Related Documents” in Grants.gov for more information, including details of a TA webinar on Wednesday, November 10. Applications are due Thursday, January 13, 2022.
SAMHSA Releases 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health
The data suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative impact on the nation’s well-being. Americans responding to the survey reported that the pandemic adversely impacted their mental health, including by exacerbating use of alcohol or drugs among people who had used drugs in the past year. Read more.
Hypertension
Attention National Hypertension Control Initiative Award Recipients
See the announcement above.
Intensifying Treatment to Achieve Blood Pressure Control
Join the second session of a bi-monthly learning series co-sponsored by CDC and CMS focused on heart disease prevention and management.
Wednesday, November 17
3:00-4:00 p.m. ET
Register here
Speakers will:
- Describe how to apply key recommendations from the 2017 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults.
- Discuss benefits of treatment intensification for achieving blood pressure control, including the use of single pill combination therapy.
- Identify causes of therapeutic inertia and practical tips for mitigating it.
This series is part of a CDC Million Hearts® cooperative agreement with the National Association and Community Health Centers (NACHC), which is a HRSA-funded NTTAP. The series is open to all health center staff, especially clinicians and quality improvement staff.
**Clinicians may earn 1.0 CME credit per session and up to 5.0 credits for attending the full series through the American Medical Association's EdHub.**
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Workforce
HHS Announces Health Workforce Strategic Plan
The strategic plan will help coordinate efforts to address long-standing barriers to strengthening the health workforce.
These HRSA-funded NTTAPs present learning collaboratives:
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Oral Health Workforce Learning Collaborative
The National Network for Oral Health Access and the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved’s (ACU) STAR2 Center invite health centers to participate in a learning collaborative focused on developing a recruitment and retention plan for oral health workforce. At the conclusion, the project team should be able to produce and share a clear outline for their recruitment and retention plan for oral health team members. Apply by 8:00 p.m. ET on Monday, December 10.
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Measuring, Celebrating, and Amplifying the Value of Community Health Worker Programs
NACHC and MHP Salud invite your health center staff to gain a foundation to measure and analyze the value of Community Health Workers (CHWs) within team-based care models. Experts will guide you through the process of conducting a return-on-investment analysis for CHW programs. Through engagement in peer-to-peer discussions, you will learn promising practices and better position your health centers to quantify and share the value of your CHW programs. Apply by Thursday, November 11.
Building an Inclusive Organization Toolkit
This toolkit responds to common questions and needs of health center staff engaged in efforts to build a more inclusive organization by implementing policies that help to recruit and retain a workforce representative of the patients served. It also includes health center profiles, best practices, and strategies to implement these efforts. The toolkit is produced by ACU’s STAR2 Center, the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, and the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations—all HRSA-funded NTTAPs.
Additional Resources
Update of the Blood Lead Reference Value
CDC updated the blood lead reference value (BLRV) to 3.5 μg/dL, which provides an opportunity for additional progress in addressing longstanding disparities in lead exposure and blood lead levels in children. Read more.
80% in Every Community Conference
The National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable (NCCRT) invites health center staff to register for the second 80% in Every Community Conference. This no-cost, virtual conference will take place Monday, November 15, through Wednesday, November 17, with a pre-meeting session on Wednesday, November 3. It will feature presentations by nationally known experts, thought leaders, and decision makers on colorectal cancer screening policy and delivery. The goal is to further catalyze efforts to increase screening rates to 80% or higher in communities across the nation. Learn more and register.
New Accreditation Resources from the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care
Join the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care's on-demand webinar series for HRSA-funded health centers. To register for access, use this enrollment key: lMYUUtGMrDbCWXwAmroZ. The field is case sensitive so be sure to copy and paste the enrollment key exactly as is (no spaces before or after).
Topics covered include how to perform peer reviews, complete a mock survey, and conduct medication reconciliation. There’s also a session on the implications of the pandemic on quality of care.
Patient-Centered Medical Home Health Equity TA Symposium
The Joint Commission encourages you to save the date for the first annual Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Health Equity TA Symposium. The virtual event will take place from 11:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. ET on Monday, January 31, 2022, and Tuesday, February 1, 2022.
Health centers will have an opportunity to share their health equity innovations, learn from peers, and hear how PCMH initiatives drive improvements in health equity. We’ll share registration information and instructions for submitting your innovations soon.
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