What's New
Uniform Data System 2022 Reporting Season Begins Sunday, January 1, 2023
All Health Center Program awardees and look-alikes are required to submit complete and accurate Uniform Data System (UDS) reports by Wednesday, February 15, 2023.
IMPORTANT: Make sure you review the EHBs downtime information that appears earlier in this newsletter.
For assistance with your UDS submission:
- UDS Help Desk: Assists with UDS measures and requirements. Call 866-837-4357 (866-UDS-HELP) or email udshelp330@bphcdata.net.
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BPHC Contact Form: Helps with completing and submitting UDS reports via EHBs.
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For guidance on viewing UDS standard reports, select Uniform Data System (UDS), UDS Reporting, Accessing UDS Reports in EHBs.
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For technical issues with EHBs, select EHBs Tasks/EHBs Technical Issues.
Visit the UDS Training and TA website to access the 2022 UDS Manual and other resources to help health centers submit accurate, timely, and complete UDS reports. This includes the recordings and slides for our recent 2022 UDS Reporting TA webinar series and our Preliminary Reporting Environment webinar. Find these on the Special Topics webpage.
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Service Area Competition Notice of Funding Opportunity Released for September 1 Starts
HRSA released the FY 2023 Service Area Competition (SAC) notice of funding opportunity (NOFO, HRSA-23-103), for service areas with a September 1, 2023, period of performance start date. Find details for each of the announced service areas on the Service Area Announcement Table.
This NOFO announces the service areas for September 1 start award recipients that received a 1-year period of performance through a SAC/SAC-Additional Areas in FY 2022.
Applications are due in Grants.gov by 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday, February 13, 2023, and in EHBs by 5:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, March 15, 2023. TA materials are available on the SAC TA webpage.
Compliance Resolution Update for FY 2023 Health Center Program Look-Alike Renewal of Designation Applicants
HRSA has updated the pre-award processes for all FY 2023 Look-Alike (LAL) Renewal of Designation (RD) applicants that have areas of non-compliance with Health Center Program requirements. The new language states that HRSA will contact your Authorizing Official (AO) to submit additional information documenting compliance with program requirements prior to making final designation decisions. The AO will have 14 calendar days to submit the additional compliance resolution information.
For details, see “Section V. Review and Designation Process” in the FY 2023 LAL RD Application Instructions, available on the FY 2023 LAL RD TA webpage.
National Primary Care HIV Prevention TA Showcase
BPHC, with HRSA’s HIV/AIDS Bureau, will host this opportunity for Ending the HIV Epidemic – Primary Care HIV Prevention (PCHP) award recipients. You’ll learn about TA that can support successful project implementation and expansion of HIV prevention services. It’s an opportunity to engage with AIDS Education and Training Centers and HRSA-funded National Training and Technical Assistance Partners (NTTAPs) and Primary Care Associations (PCAs) funded under the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. initiative.
Tuesday, January 10, 2023
12:30-5:00 p.m. ET
Registration page
See examples of HRSA-sponsored PCHP training and TA (PDF). Learn more about PCHP on our PCHP TA webpage.
Health Center Workforce Well-being Survey
By completing the workforce well-being survey, you will contribute to the first ever nationwide picture of workforce well-being specifically at health centers. Thank you to those who have already completed the survey! As a reminder, our website includes a preview of the survey and provides answers to questions on how we’ll keep your responses confidential and more.
Not all health centers are participating in this survey. Your leadership can let you know if yours is. If participating, you should have received an email from hrsa_workforce_wellbeing@surveys.jsi.com. It contains your unique link for accessing the survey.
Health center leaders:
We’re seeing great results from health centers that have been creative to boost their participation rates. They’ve shared these success strategies, which you might consider:
- Dedicating staff meeting time to complete the survey.
- Setting aside a specific day to encourage staff to participate and offering lunch.
- Sharing the response rate with staff and setting goals for participation benchmarks (our contractor should be sharing the response rate with you regularly).
- Incentivizing staff to reach 100% participation.
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Optimizing Virtual Care Program Supports Telehealth Innovations in Hawaii
Since March, the Optimizing Virtual Care program has helped awardees systematically design, implement, and evaluate ways to use innovative technologies and virtual care models. Our Health Center Stories webpage now features a story on how Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center in Hawaii is expanding telehealth access through digital literacy programs and kiosks.
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FY 2023 State and Regional PCA Non-Competing Continuation Progress Report Instructions Released
The non-competing continuation progress reports are available in EHBs for the FY 2023 PCA cooperative agreement award recipients. Submissions are due by 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday, February 6, 2023. Progress report instructions, a recorded TA webinar, and other resources are available on the PCA TA webpage.
CMS Pausing Requirement that Good Faith Estimates include Co-Provider Charges in 2023
The No Surprises Act required that all providers give Good Faith Estimates (GFE) to uninsured and self-pay patients as of January 1, 2022. The next phase of GFE implementation requires that GFEs for uninsured and self-pay patients include expected charges from co-providers or co-facilities that are part of an episode of care for a patient coordinated by a health center. However, CMS is pausing enforcement of this requirement based on comments it received during the rulemaking process indicating that compliance with this provision is likely not possible by Sunday, January 1, 2023.
SAMHSA Proposes Update to Federal Rules to Expand Access to Opioid Use Disorder Treatment and Help Close Gap in Care
SAMHSA proposes expanding access to treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD) at a time when more than 107,000 Americans lost their lives to an overdose last year. The proposal would update the federal regulations that oversee OUD treatment standards as part of HHS’ Overdose Prevention Strategy that supports President Biden’s National Drug Control Strategy – a whole-of-government approach to beat the overdose epidemic. Specifically, the proposed rule change would allow people to access the treatment by allowing take home doses of methadone and the use of telehealth in initiating buprenorphine at opioid treatment programs. Read the press release.
See the Federal Register Notice to submit comments on the proposed changes.
COVID-19
CDC Study Confirms Effectiveness of Bivalent Vaccines
 CDC’s study emphasizes the importance of staying up to date with recommended COVID-19 vaccinations.
Behavioral Health
Oral Health-Behavioral Health Learning Collaborative Kickoff
Research shows direct links between oral health, behavioral health, and physical health. Understanding these relationships supports care providers positively impacting their patient's overall health.
Get a preview of an upcoming learning collaborative from the subject matter experts that will lead it. They’ll cover its approach, process, and content, as well as expectations for participation. Speakers will also share national data trends in integrated oral and behavioral health and introduce the National Council’s, “Oral Health, Mental Health, and Substance Use Treatment: A Framework for Increased Coordination and Integration.”
Wednesday, January 4, 2023
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Registration page
**1.0 CE available**
Sessions for the learning collaborative take place on the two subsequent Wednesdays. Find details and registration information on our Technical Assistance Calendar.
Workforce
Workforce Resiliency and Retention Community of Practice
The health care industry has been heavily affected by the great resignation/re-evaluation that continues throughout the U.S. workforce. This community of practice will help health centers build resiliency in the integrated primary care and behavioral health care workforce. Participants will learn strategies for enhancing employee recruitment, engagement, and retention. This includes low- and no-cost approaches that integrated primary care and behavioral health care teams can use to improve staff retention, boost morale, and reduce stress and burnout. Visit the registration page for dates, times, and more information.
**Earn 1.5 CE for each session, with a maximum of 12 CEs for participation in all eight sessions.**
These HRSA-funded NTTAPs present learning collaboratives:
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A Financial Planning Learning Collaborative for Leadership Creating Health Professions Education and Training Programs
The Association of Clinicians for the Underserved’s STAR² Center invites health center C-suite leadership team members to join this opportunity. Through presentations from subject matter experts, facilitated discussions, and guided activities, participants will be introduced to the full scope of opportunities involved in Health Professions Education and Training and will work to develop financial plans and action steps to develop or grow programs of their own."
Visit the registration page to apply by close of business on Wednesday, January 11, 2023.
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Patient-Centered Climate Resilience
The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) is partnering with Harvard’s Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment and the Migrant Clinicians Network on this opportunity. They invite health centers to co-design clinical interventions based on a “patient-centered climate resilience” concept developed by Harvard in collaboration with Americares. This pioneering approach focuses on the unique needs of the patient during a climate event. Visit the registration page to apply.
Updated Workforce Projections Dashboard
HRSA's National Center for Health Workforce Analysis has released its updated Workforce Projections Dashboard. The interactive dashboard shows projections of the supply and demand for the health workforce across the U.S. Learn more.
Oral Health
Oral Health-Behavioral Health Learning Collaborative Kickoff
See the announcement above.
Additional Resources
All Hazards Emergency Preparedness and Response Competencies for Health Center Staff
To successfully perform their assigned emergency/disaster roles, health center staff must understand how their organization will respond to hazards, including the use of altered management structures and modified operations. The National Nurse-Led Care Consortium (NNCC) and the Community Health Care Association of New York State developed a set of competencies to improve health center staff’s preparedness for emergencies and disasters. NNCC is a HRSA-funded NTTAP.
211, a Community Service Accessed by Millions of Every Year
People contact 211 for confidential help with a wide range of social services, including food, housing, utilities payment assistance, health care, transportation, childcare, employment opportunities, mental health crises, disaster information and more. Trained 211 specialists provide expert, caring help that addresses not only the presenting issue, but underlying challenges people are facing as well. You can reach 211 by phone or computer at 211.org. A toll-free call to 211 connects people to a local community specialist who can put them in touch with local organizations that provide critical services.
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