What's New
TOMORROW: Fiscal Year 2022 Ending the HIV Epidemic – Primary Care HIV Prevention TA Session Last week, HRSA announced a new round of Ending the HIV Epidemic – Primary Care HIV Prevention (PCHP) funding. Read the press release.
HRSA will host a post-award briefing for fiscal year (FY) 2022 award recipients:
Wednesday, August 31 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET Registration page
Visit the PCHP TA page for award recipient information and other resources. HRSA also released new training and TA resources that address the top HIV prevention TA areas requested by health centers.
Deadline Reminder: Service Area Competition Applications for March 1 and April 1 Starts Service Area Competition (SAC) HRSA-23-020 applications for March 1 starts are due in HRSA’s Electronic Handbooks (EHBs) on Wednesday, September 14, by 5:00 p.m. ET.
SAC HRSA-23-021 applications for April 1 starts are due in:
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Grants.gov: Monday, September 12, by 11:59 p.m. ET.
- EHBs: Wednesday, October 12, by 5:00 p.m. ET.
TA materials are available on the SAC TA webpage.
NEW Resources Available for Supplemental Funding Awardees HRSA posted new resources for health centers that have received supplemental funding awards.
“OHCIO” refers to BPHC’s Office of Health Center Investment Oversight.
Congratulations to Community Health Quality Recognition Badge Recipients HRSA released the 2022 Community Health Quality Recognition (CHQR) badges. View the CHQR Dashboard to see if your health center earned a CHQR badge in 2022 for the 2021 Uniform Data System (UDS) reporting period. Find CHQR badge recipient information on the Health Center Program UDS Data webpages.
CHQR badge recipients may request high-resolution badge images via the BPHC Contact Form:
- Under the UDS category, select “Community Health Quality Recognition (CHQR) Badges.”
- Select “Requesting a CHQR badge image” from the dropdown.
HRSA expects to mail certificates to National Quality Leaders and Health Center Quality Leaders by the end of October.
Fostering Workplace Wellness through the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond HRSA presents a webinar to share practical strategies for addressing burnout and promoting employee wellness and resilience. The webinar will feature the director of the Mental Health Technology Transfer Center and a panel discussion with health center staff from across the country describing specific strategies they use to foster workplace wellness.
Wednesday, September 14 1:00-2:30 p.m. ET Registration page
National Health Center Program Performance Evaluation Learn about recent Health Center Program research findings on health care access, equity, quality, and cost. Researchers will discuss how health centers have responded to emerging health priorities to better serve their communities.
Thursday, September 15 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET Registration page
Patient-Centered Medical Home Office Hours – Health Center Coaching Pilot HRSA is piloting a Health Center Coaching program to assist health centers in gaining Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) recognition. Learn more and get your questions answered during office hours held by The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA):
Thursday, September 8 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET Registration page
Monkeypox Updates
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HRSA Monkeypox Vaccine Distribution Initiative
HRSA has received an allotment of the JYNNEOS vaccine for monkeypox for rapid distribution to Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) recipients. This includes organizations dually funded through the Health Center Program and RWHAP Part C.
- CDC continues to share updates on these sites:
2023 Rural Health Network Development Program HRSA recently announced a new funding opportunity that will address gaps in service, enhance systems of care, and expand capacity of the local rural health care system. See a bulletin from HRSA’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy for more.
Comments Due Next Week: Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposes Changes to Shared Savings Program to Advance Health Equity CMS recently released the Calendar Year 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule for public comment by Tuesday, September 6. CMS encourages all interested members of the public, including accountable care organizations, providers, suppliers, and Medicare beneficiaries, to submit comments so that CMS can consider them as they develop the final rule.
The rule proposes a number of changes to the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) to increase participation in accountable care models in underserved communities, such as providing an option for advance investment payments and smoothing the transition to performance-based risk, among other changes. CMS published materials to help you understand these changes:
COVID-19
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky on COVID-19 Fall Booster Details Community Health Center, Inc. has a conversations series that features in-depth discussions on health policy and innovation. The hosts recently interviewed the CDC Director about COVID-19 boosters. Listen to the interview recording.
Celebrating the HRSA Health Center Therapeutics Program Since its launch last December, the HRSA Health Center COVID-19 Therapeutics Program has supported health centers to ensure equitable access to oral antiviral treatments for mild to moderate COVID-19. This month, the program crossed the milestone of delivering 100,000 courses of oral antiviral medications to health centers.
The program has also provided TA to all HRSA-supported health centers. We’ve shared provider prescribing guidelines, promising practices in implementing Test-To-Treat strategies, patient education resources, and more. Thank you to all health centers working to improve health outcomes for patients diagnosed with COVID-19!
If your health center would like to participate in this program, use the BPHC Contact Form to let us know. Under the COVID-19 category, select “COVID-19 Therapeutics Program.” You may also call 877-464-4772, from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET, Monday-Friday (except federal holidays).
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COVID-19 Response Program Office Hours Last week’s session covered bivalent boosters and new resources on long COVID. Register to watch the recording. At the September 6 session, we’ll feature three participants in our Therapeutics Program. They will discuss best practices and community strategies and share success stories.
Sessions are 1:00-2:00 p.m. ET every other Tuesday. Register one time and you’ll have access to all Office Hour sessions from now until February 2023. Though some information may be geared toward COVID-19 Response Program participants, these sessions are open to all HRSA-supported health centers.
National Immunization Awareness Month
Is your health center operating a school-based site or partnering with schools or child care providers? These resources might help:
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Behavioral Health
Caring for Women with Opioid Use Disorder: A Toolkit for Organization Leaders and Providers As part of National Recovery Month, HRSA’s Office of Women’s Health (OWH) and Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs Regions 3 and 9 will host a webinar. This webinar is part of OWH’s Women’s Health Leadership Series, which focuses on emerging issues and innovative women’s health practices by and for HRSA-supported organizations and other safety net settings of care.
Thursday, September 15 3:00-4:00 p.m. ET Registration page
HIV
Addressing STIs: Ask. Test. Treat. Repeat. HRSA supported an initiative to increase the screening, testing, and treatment of bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STI). Nine clinics in three U.S. regions implemented evidence-based interventions. Join to hear the national findings and get tips and tools from CareSouth Medical and Dental (Baton Rouge, LA) and Family Medical and Counseling Service (Washington, D.C.).
Thursday, September 15 Noon-1:00 p.m. ET Registration page
Hypertension
Million Hearts Learning Lab for Health Centers The Million Hearts Learning Lab is a bi-monthly learning series focused on cardiovascular disease prevention and management topics. The series is open to clinicians, staff focused on quality improvement, and other interested staff, but with a focus on health centers. See session details on the registration page.
**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.**
The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) co-hosts this series (through a cooperative agreement with Million Hearts) with the American Medical Association. CDC and CMS fund Million Hearts.
2022 Million Hearts Hypertension Control Challenge Now Open Has your health center made significant progress in helping patients get hypertension under control? Consider submitting your application for CDC’s 2022 Million Hearts Hypertension Control Challenge. Applicants must have achieved hypertension control rates of at least 80% for a 12-month period. The website includes rules and eligibility requirements.
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Workforce
Virtual Job Fair HRSA’s next Virtual Job Fair will take place next month.
Wednesday, September 14 6:00-9:30 p.m. ET Registration page
We connect health care sites with job-seeking primary care trainees and practicing clinicians. We invite clinicians and trainees to come learn about medical, nursing, dental, and mental/behavioral health job openings.
Human Resources Issue Brief: Employee Freedoms in the Health Center Workplace This issue brief by NACHC examines employee freedoms in the health center workplace and summarizes legal issues that must be considered when establishing policies. NACHC is a HRSA-funded National Training and Technical Assistance Partner (NTTAP).
Several HRSA-funded NTTAPs present learning collaboratives:
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Health Center Remote Patient Monitoring and Digital Health
The Health Information Technology, Evaluation, and Quality (HITEQ) Center offers health centers support in the strategic implementation of remote patient monitoring (RPM). Through four structured sessions, participants will identify how RPM can help them and consider the best solution for their needs. They’ll discuss how to set up technology and processes, then evaluate and scale (sustainably) these operations. Visit the information page on HITEQ's website.
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Increase Access to Care Plus
The National Center for Farmworker Health (NCFH) invites health centers to focus on addressing social determinants of health (SDOH). Participants will discuss health literacy and digital literacy for migratory and seasonal agricultural worker (MSAW) populations, as well as how to improve screening of MSAW patients using technology. Visit the registration page for details.
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Promoting Healthy Choices and Community Changes: A Virtual Workshop for Community Health Workers (content and materials in Spanish)
Community Health Workers (Promotores de Salud) bridge the gap between underserved community members and health care/community resources. They’re invited to join the National Center for Health in Public Housing (NCHPH) to learn how to effectively promote healthy choices and changes at individual and community levels. Sessions will focus exclusively on Hispanic communities living in public housing. Participants will be eligible for continuing education (CEU) and a certificate of completion. Visit the registration page for details.
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Addressing Diabetes Risk Factors in School-Aged Children
The National Nurse-Led Care Consortium and the School-Based Health Alliance invite health centers and school-based service sites to join. Sessions will highlight evidence-based programs for virtual and in-person interventions. They’ll also address how best to reach students by leveraging school and other community-based organization partnerships. Visit the registration page to apply by Friday, September 23.
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Clinical Workforce Development Learning Collaboratives
Community Health Center, Inc. has upcoming opportunities on comprehensive and team-based care, postgraduate nurse practitioner residency and fellowship programs, health professions student training, and HIV prevention. For each, the goal is to help health centers effectively move from planning to implementation of replicable models. Visit the registration page for details and apply by Friday, September 30.
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Implementing & Responding to Staff Satisfaction Surveys
Health center teams are invited to gain an understanding of, and learn action steps for, how best to conduct and follow up on staff satisfaction surveys. Visit the information page on the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved’s (ACU)’s STAR2 Center website and apply by Thursday, September 8.
Call for Podcast Interviewees ACU’s STAR2 Center is looking for health centers and Primary Care Associations interested in participating in a 20- to 30-minute interview for the STAR2 Center Talks Workforce Success podcast series. The series focuses on the importance of employee and organizational well-being to address burnout and compassion fatigue. Tell the story of how your organization approaches and supports staff well-being! If interested, please contact Michelle Fernández Gabilondo. ACU is a HRSA-funded NTTAP.
Additional Resources
Serving Veterans in Health Centers NACHC developed a two-page fact sheet and comprehensive toolkit to orient health center administrators to the enrollment requirements and program benefits of the VA’s Community Care Network.
They also compiled 10 success stories from health centers supporting the unique needs of military veterans. Topics include oral health care, care coordination, housing, and VA outreach. These stories capture the ingenuity, advocacy, and passion of local health centers giving back to veterans.
Non-Clinical Approaches to Diabetes Prevention: Lessons Learned from Health Centers and Community Partners In a new publication (PDF), the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH) compiles lessons learned from health centers and other community-based partners implementing new strategies for diabetes prevention. These emerged from CSH’s learning collaboratives in 2021-22. Participants were all health, housing, and homeless services providers. The publication will be useful for community-based providers initiating new prevention strategies or seeking to improve their existing efforts. CSH is a HRSA-funded NTTAP.
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