What's New
Health Centers with a September 1 Start Date: Review Your Patient Target by Thursday, September 28
We updated patient targets for Health Center Program award recipients with a September 1 budget period start date. On Thursday, September 14, we sent an email message to the Authorizing Officials and Project Directors of these health centers. It clarifies whether the health center would complete a FY 2024 Service Area Competition (SAC) or Budget Period Progress Report. It also provides a direct link to the updated patient target. Health centers that will complete an FY 2024 SAC and have a September 1, 2024, award start date should review their patient target and take appropriate action in HRSA’s Electronic Handbooks (EHBs) by Thursday, September 28.
View the Patient Target Management Guide on the SAC technical assistance (TA) webpage to learn how to access your patient target in EHBs. See our Patient Target FAQs for more information.
Submit questions using the BPHC Contact Form (Health Center Program > Patient Targets).
FY 2024 Budget Period Progress Report Noncompeting Continuation for April 1 Budget Period Starts
HRSA released the FY 2024 Budget Period Progress Report (BPR) Non-Competing Continuation (NCC) (5-H80-24-004) for Health Center Program award recipients with an April 1 budget period start date. These award recipients have a BPR submission available for completion in EHBs with a deadline of 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, November 3.
TA materials and a listing of deadlines for all FY 2024 BPRs are available on the BPR TA webpage.
Winners Announced in Primary Health Care Challenge
HRSA awarded a total of $400,000 to eight final winners of our first-ever Building Bridges to Better Health: A Primary Health Care Challenge. Announced in June 2022, this national competition aimed to connect more patients to primary care in health centers and strengthen the link between clinical care and social services.
Washington County Mobile Integrated Health Network, the Challenge’s grand prize winner of $150,000, presented an overview of their winning solution during last week’s TWM webcast. They developed a network of HRSA-funded health centers, local emergency medical service agencies, and social service organizations to care for high-risk and chronically ill patients across Missouri. Examples of other winning solutions include social services referral software and artificial intelligence-enabled chatbots to increase preventive services and screen patients for social risk factors. Learn more about the winning initiatives on the Challenge webpage.
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Policy Tip: Required and Additional Health Services
Contracts/agreements or referral arrangements for enabling services do not need to include all the provisions required for clinical services, such as documentation in the patient record or follow-up care. This is because enabling services, including transportation, translation, and outreach, are generally not documented in the patient record nor do they involve follow-up care; therefore, related provisions would not be included in the associated contract/agreement or referral arrangement.
Learn more in the Health Center Program Compliance FAQs.
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Share Your Health Center Training and TA Needs
Attention health center staff and leaders! Help BPHC, NTTAPs, and Primary Care Associations understand your training and TA needs by answering questions like: What topics should be a priority for training efforts? What types of training best meet your needs?
The National Association of Community Health Centers invites you to complete a brief survey to share your thoughts. It should take less than 15 minutes.
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HRSA August Roundup
Last month, HRSA awarded funding to respond to fentanyl and opioid overdose risks, made investments to grow the nursing workforce, celebrated National Health Center Week and the 33rd anniversary of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, and commended HRSA team members who were recognized for exceptional public service. Read more.
Updated Lender Handbook: HRSA’s Health Center Facility Loan Guarantee Program
Capital Link has updated its HRSA Health Center Facility Loan Guarantee Program (LGP): A Handbook for Lenders. It’s a resource for lenders seeking to use the LGP with loans to eligible health centers. The LGP involves the lenders’ participation, working with HRSA, to bring much-needed capital with affordable rates and attractive terms to the non-profit sector.
New Educational Materials on Living Organ Donation
HRSA developed new English and Spanish language materials on living organ donation. They include web content, donor and recipient fact sheets, videos, and an infographic. They describe the benefits, risks, and considerations that come with living organ donation. Health centers can use these materials to educate patients.
Hispanic Heritage Month
National Hispanic Heritage Month is observed each year in the U.S. from September 15-October 15 to celebrate the achievements, histories, traditions, and cultural diversity of Hispanic/Latino Americans. HHS’ Office of Minority Health’s website includes graphics, social media messages, and a reading list.
We shared these Spanish-language resources during the TWM webcast:
Featured guest speakers discussed the importance of folic acid supplementation before and during pregnancy. Hispanic/Latina women are at increased risk of having a baby affected by neural tube defects. This risk may be reduced by increased consumption of folic acid. Visit CDC’s site to learn more and get patient education resources.
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COVID-19
CDC Recommends Updated COVID-19 Vaccine for Fall/Winter
If you missed it, see our bulletin from last week about updated COVID-19 vaccines.
COVID-19 Response Program Office Hours
Here are the details for the October session:
Tuesday, October 10
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Join the day of the session
We will publicize Office Hours in the Digest and on BPHC’s online TA calendar. Note that you will no longer need to pre-register for these sessions.
Provider Relief Fund Reporting Period 5
The Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Reporting Portal is open until 11:59 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 30. Providers who received one or more PRF (General or Targeted) and/or American Rescue Plan Rural payments exceeding $10,000, in the aggregate, from January 1 to June 30, 2022, must report on their use of funds during Reporting Period 5 to comply with PRF Reporting Requirements (PDF). Find more information and resources on the PRF Reporting webpage.
HIV
APPLY BY FRIDAY: PrEP Champion Preceptorship
The HRSA-funded National Clinician Consultation Center is accepting applications for its preceptorship: an intensive pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) training and capacity-building opportunity for pharmacists, nurses, and other non-physician clinical team members. Applicants must be non-physician clinical staff at health centers that have received Ending the HIV Epidemic – Primary Care HIV Prevention (PCHP) funding. Apply by Friday, September 22, as space is limited.
Workforce
2023-2024 National Health Center Preparedness and Response Forum
A dozen HRSA-funded NTTAPs are collaborating on this four-session forum focused on preparing for and responding to a variety of emergencies. This series is especially for health centers serving priority populations, such as agricultural workers, individuals experiencing homelessness, public housing residents, and other vulnerable groups including older adults, and Asian American, Pacific Islander, and Native Hawaiian patients.
The first session will focus on infectious and vector-borne diseases.
Thursday, October 12
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Registration page
NTTAP Learning Collaboratives
Visit the registration pages for dates, times, and more information:
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DUE TOMORROW: Suicide Prevention and Risk Assessment Strategies
Sign up for four interactive sessions hosted by Renaye James Healthcare Advisors to learn about suicide prevention and risk assessment strategies and tools. Visit the website to learn more or register by Wednesday, September 20.
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Access to Comprehensive Care and Health Coverage for Farmworkers
Farmworker Justice invites health center staff to learn about the landscape of health access for farmworkers and barriers to obtaining comprehensive health coverage. Participants will have the opportunity to problem-solve around these barriers, share best practices and strategies with peers, and access educational resources to improve outreach and access to health insurance in their communities ahead of this year’s Open Enrollment period. Registration page.
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Partnering with Older Adults for Chronic Disease Management
This National Center for Equitable Care for Elders opportunity will focus on supportive counseling techniques for providers and staff to encourage older adults in developing and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Participants will discuss special considerations for chronic disease self-management in this population, including physiological changes and social risk factors. Registration page.
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Improving Health Center Cybersecurity: Risk Assessment, Breach Defense, Mitigation and Response
Does your health center need TA in establishing or implementing a cybersecurity strategy? Join the Health Information Technology, Evaluation, and Quality (HITEQ) Center to engage with subject matter experts and colleagues in peer-to-peer learning and discussion. Planned topics include reducing the risk of cybersecurity incidents, the potential impact of generative artificial intelligence, and incident response planning. Register by Tuesday, September 26.
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