What's New
Deadline Reminder: Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Period Progress Report Noncompeting Continuation for March 1 Budget Period Starts
Budget Period Progress Report (BPR) submissions for Health Center Program award recipients with a March 1 budget period start date are due in HRSA’s Electronic Handbooks (EHBs) by 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, October 6. TA materials are available on the BPR TA webpage.
Policy Tip: Billing and Collections
If a health center provides "new patient visits" that involve a greater intensity of services based on locally prevailing rates and actual health center costs, then it may create a separate fee in its fee schedule for those types of visits. However, a health center cannot have sliding fee discount schedules that are different for new versus established patients. Sliding fee discounts must be applied uniformly to all patients and based only on income and family size.
Learn more in the Health Center Program Compliance FAQs.
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Preventing Gender-Based and Intimate Partner Violence
View and download HRSA’s newly released Implementation Framework for Preventing and Responding to IPV. Learn about HRSA and HHS programs that address gender-based and intimate partner violence (IPV) at HRSA’s Domestic Violence Awareness Month webinar:
Thursday, October 12 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET Registration page
Quarterly 340B Program Registration
Quarterly 340B Program site registration is open from October 1 to 15. You can register a site verified as implemented and with a site status of “active” in EHBs Form 5B through Friday, November 24. After that date, the system will close to prepare for the January 1, 2024, 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.
TOMORROW! Making Care Primary Model Webinar
CMS has opened the application portal for its Making Care Primary (MCP) Model. Interested FQHCs in eligible regions may apply. Find resources, details, and a link to the portal on the MCP Model webpage. CMS will also host a Q&A for applicants:
Wednesday, September 27 7:00-8:00 p.m. ET Registration page
Screening for Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently published final recommendations and an evidence summary on screening for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.
Suicide Prevention Month
Mental Health Promotion and Suicide Prevention for LGBTQIA2S+ Youth
The federally-support Suicide Prevention Resource Center is producing a series of guides to support the mental well-being of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual, and Two-Spirit (LGBTQIA2S+) youth. The first one focuses on resources for professionals, families, and communities. They plan to add one for health and behavioral health professionals.
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New PSAs from VA and the Ad Council Strive to Reduce Veteran Suicide
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Ad Council launched new public service announcements for their ongoing national campaign: “Don’t Wait. Reach Out.” They encourage veterans who are struggling to visit VA.gov/REACH, a comprehensive website designed to help veterans navigate the wide range of resources available.
Behavioral Health
Recruitment Boot Camp: Mental Health Staff Edition Learning Collaborative
Join the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved’s (ACU) STAR2 Center this fall to focus on pertinent topics affecting the successful recruitment and retention of mental health providers. Learn more or apply now.
HIV
Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S Initiative 2023 CDC and HRSA Virtual Community Listening Session – Regions 8 and 10
CDC and HRSA’s HIV/AIDS Bureau are hosting joint regional virtual community listening sessions. The next is for HHS Regions 8 and 10:
Thursday, October 5 4:00-5:30 p.m. ET Registration page
These sessions provide a venue for discussion and collaboration focused on barriers to and opportunities for improving HIV diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and outbreak response.
Workforce
TODAY! HRSA Region 3 Workforce Workshop
Join to hear about best practices from organizations in the region and how community partnerships are helping them build a more robust health workforce. Learn more about the presenters.
1:00-4:30 p.m. ET Registration page
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 various emergencies. This series is primarily 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 TODAY! 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. Registration deadline is TODAY.
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The Role of Identifying the Social Drivers of Health in Advancing Health Equity
The Renaye James Healthcare Advisors (RJHA) will cover how to assess disparities in health outcomes and barriers experienced within different communities. Trainings will focus on evidence-based health-risk assessment tools and how to use a team-based approach to incorporate these tools into patient care. Apply by Wednesday, October 11.
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Language Access
Join the National Center for Farmworker Health to focus on reducing health disparities and the gaps in language access to improve clinical quality delivery for the migratory and seasonal agricultural worker population. You’ll gain effective strategies to provide culturally responsive care and reduce barriers to care. Speakers will use the National CLAS Standards to assess the cultural appropriateness of staff and health center language access services. Registration page.
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Recruitment Boot Camp: Mental Health Staff Edition
See the announcement above.
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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 to develop and maintain 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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Common Application for Clinical Workforce Learning Collaboratives
Community Health Center, Inc. (CHC) invites staff from HRSA-supported health centers and PCAs to use its common application for learning collaboratives. Opportunities focus on:
- Comprehensive and Team-Based Care
- Postgraduate Nurse Practitioner Residency and Fellowship Programs
- Health Professions Student Training
- HIV Prevention
Additional Resources
Acting on Climate Change for a Healthier Future: The Role of Health Centers
The National Nurse-Led Care Consortium (NNCC) and the National Center for Health in Public Housing (NCHPH) invite you to a two-session web series examining health hazard exposures and their impacts on the health of vulnerable populations. Speakers will highlight adaptation strategies to counteract the effects of climate change on high-risk populations and provide health center examples of climate adaptation.
Wednesday, October 18, and Wednesday, October 25 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET Registration page
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