What's New
Pool Parties and Cancer Screening Illustrate Health Center Successes
See our Health Center Stories webpage to enjoy these new featured stories:
- The De Baca Family Practice Clinic in Fort Sumner, New Mexico, is adding a new mobile unit to reach students in rural areas. The center also sponsored a back-to-school pool party among its outreach efforts (see picture above).
- A computerized approach to assessing social determinants of health at HealthLinc in Valparaiso, Indiana, helped staff increase screenings and even reduced community health worker workload by 42%.
- Family Health Center in Laurel, Mississippi, credits teamwork and extensive use of electronic records with its stellar cancer screening accomplishments.
Have a success story to share? Send it to HealthCenterStories@hrsa.gov.
Primary Care Association and Health Center Controlled Network Conference
The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) recently hosted a conference for staff from Primary Care Associations and Health Center Controlled Networks. Attendees discussed hot topics like health equity and Uniform Data System (UDS) modernization. They also heard presentations on how their organizations can support health centers facing common challenges like recruitment and retention. HRSA sent representatives to listen and participate. Deputy Associate Administrator Tonya Bowers (center, front) joined the group photo above.
Deadline Reminder: Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Period Progress Report Noncompeting Continuation for May 1 Budget Period Starts
Budget Period Progress Report (BPR) submissions for Health Center Program award recipients with a May 1 budget period start date are due in HRSA’s Electronic Handbooks by 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, December 8. Technical assistance (TA) materials are available on the BPR TA webpage.
Workforce Well-Being TA Kickoff
A thriving health care workforce promotes the health of people and communities. Join us to learn how we will use the HRSA Health Center Workforce Well-being Survey results to provide data-driven TA to address burnout and more. Speakers will introduce the TA providers, strategies, and topic areas available over the next two years.
Wednesday, November 29
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Registration page
Policy Tip: Required and Additional Health Services
If a health center contracts with an answering service that does not provide clinical advice or medical triage, the service is not recorded on Form 5A: Services Provided (PDF) as after-hours coverage. The answering service is not an actual health care service. Its only role is to connect patients to a medical professional who can exercise their professional judgment on the need for emergency medical care.
To learn more about this topic, and to find answers to other questions, check out the Health Center Program Compliance FAQs.
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Inflation Reduction Act Catalytic Program Kickoff
The HHS Office of Climate Change and Health Equity (OCCHE) will launch a "catalytic program" early next year to support health care organizations, including health centers, in taking advantage of the tax credits, grants, and other supports made available by the historic Inflation Reduction Act. OCCHE's initiative will occur through collaboration with federal partners and will feature national webinars as well as breakout sessions by provider type to help organizations assess their needs and opportunities. Learn more during an information session next week:
Thursday, November 30
Noon-1:00 p.m. ET
Registration page
New Medicare Opportunities in 2024
Health centers should take note of upcoming changes with Medicare starting Monday, January 1, 2024:
- Marriage and family therapists and mental health counselors may bill Medicare directly and be paid as a FQHC practitioner and receive the FQHC prospective payment rate.
- CMS approved new services to address the health-related social needs of Medicare beneficiaries.
- They closed a behavioral health coverage gap when patients require more intense services than traditional outpatient therapy.
- FQHCs may receive payment for intensive outpatient program services under Medicare.
Learn more about the changes at these upcoming NACHC webinars:
Growing CHC Behavioral Health Providers: Opportunities in Medicare and Medicaid
Wednesday, November 29
4:00-5:00 p.m. ET
Registration page
NACHC Regulatory Office Hours: Final Calendar Year 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Rule
Thursday, December 7
4:00-5:00 p.m. ET
Registration page
These webinars are not federally funded; they are funded by NACHC.
National Diabetes Month
According to 2022 UDS data, more than 2.7 million health center patients over age 18 live with diabetes and more than 30% of these patients have uncontrolled diabetes. The following resources can support your efforts to help patients prevent diabetes or improve control if they have it:
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Behavioral Health
Cherokee Health Integrating Primary Care and Behavioral Health Academy
HRSA will feature Cherokee Health Systems in an upcoming two-day virtual training. Speakers will discuss the integrated care clinical model, building team-based care, building a primary care provider/behavioral health provider panel, and using health information technology and data analytics.
Tuesday, December 12,
and Wednesday, December 13
10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. ET
Registration page
**12 CE available**
HIV
Increasing PrEP Uptake Among African American Cisgender Women
Black cisgender women in the U.S. continue to experience a disproportionately high burden of HIV diagnoses, yet relatively few are prescribed pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), a highly effective HIV prevention medication. (See an article in the National Library of Medicine.)
We invite health center staff to join us to hear about common barriers and strategies to promote successful uptake of PrEP among Black cisgender women. We’re featuring speakers from CDC and HRSA-funded Bee Busy Wellness Center. They will share their expertise and experiences to increase equitable access to HIV prevention.
Tuesday, December 5
2:00-3:30 p.m. ET
Registration page
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Addressing Health Disparities for LGBTQIA+ People and People with HIV in Public Housing
The National Center for Health in Public Housing (NCHPH) and the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center are holding a three-part series to give health centers background on and actionable steps for addressing health disparities for LGBTQIA+ people and people with HIV in public housing. Get the details on the registration page.
Workforce
Advancing Health Equity: Increasing Access to Care for IPV and Exploitation Survivors
This learning collaborative, hosted by Health Partners on IPV + Exploitation, will explore the health impacts of intimate partner violence, labor trafficking/exploitation on farmworkers, youth, and rural communities and will discuss strategies to advance health equity for survivors. Sessions will be in English with Spanish interpretation. Apply to participate by Friday, December 15.
Oral Health
Community Dental Health Coordinators: An Introduction to Oral Health Integration for Health Centers
This webinar will feature representatives from the American Dental Association (ADA) and two HRSA-funded health centers. ADA speakers will provide facts about the Community Dental Health Coordinators (CDHC) program while speakers from Zufall Health and Finger Lakes Community Health will share their experience having a CDHC on their team.
Thursday, December 7
1:00-2:00 p.m. ET
Registration page
**1.0 CDE available**
Dental Residency Rotations in Community Health Centers
Dental residents rotating through health centers get to experience how social determinants of health, the health care system, and other factors impact access to care. This service-learning opportunity may also create a pathway for workforce recruitment and retention.
A representative from the National Network for Oral Health Access (NNOHA) will provide an overview on academic partnerships in health centers. Speakers from the University of California San Francisco and two HRSA-supported health centers (La Clínica de la Raza and Asian Health Services) will share their experience forging partnerships – the benefits and challenges and long-term outcomes.
Tuesday, December 12
3:00-4:00 p.m. ET
Registration page
Additional Resources
Supportive Transition Care for Foster and Former Foster Youth
This webinar will help health centers – and those in the health center network – better understand and address the health and health-related social needs of foster youth as they transition to adulthood. You’ll learn about this group’s health needs and the disparities they face. Speakers will discuss youth identifying as LGBTQIA+, how school-based health centers serve as critical access points for health care and social services, and promising practices for integrating supportive transition care services that improve health and social outcomes for foster and former foster youth.
Wednesday, December 6
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Registration page
The National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership (NCMLP) hosts this webinar with the School-Based Health Alliance (SBHA) and the National LGBTQIA+ Health Education Center.
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