What's New
Compliance Tip: Billing and Collections
Be sure to provide appropriate documentation to meet the Service Area Competition/Renewal of Designation (SAC/RD) review criteria for Element h of Billing and Collections, which is about ensuring that patients are not denied services due to their inability to pay. You must demonstrate that your:
- Board-approved policies and operating procedures for waiving and reducing fees define the specific circumstances and criteria that could impact a patient’s ability to pay.
- Policies and procedures outline the processes for waiving or reducing fees.
- Policies and procedures describe how fee waivers/reductions are implemented.
Resources:
Our monthly tip series aims to help you maintain continuous compliance. Previous tips focused on the sliding fee discount program (May 28 Digest), board composition (June 25 Digest), and budget (July 30 Digest).
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Deadline Reminder: Phase 1 of NAP Application
If you wish to apply for New Access Points (NAP) funding, you must complete your application in Grants.gov by the deadline of 11:59 p.m. ET on Friday, August 30. After meeting this deadline, you must complete your application in HRSA’s Electronic Handbooks (EHBs) by 5:00 p.m. ET on Monday, September 30.
Use the NAP FAQs and the NAP TA webpage to find quick answers to your questions, or contact us through the BPHC Contact Form.
En español:
Recordatorio de fin de plazo: Fase 1 de la solicitud de NAP
Si desea solicitar financiamiento para Nuevos Puntos de Acceso (NAP, por sus siglas en inglés), debe completar su solicitud en Grants.gov antes de las 11:59 p.m. (hora del este) del viernes 30 de agosto. Después de cumplir con la fecha límite, debe completar su solicitud en los Manuales Electrónicos de HRSA (EHBs, por sus siglas en inglés) antes de las 5:00 p.m. (hora del este) del lunes 30 de septiembre.
Vea las preguntas más frecuentes (en inglés) y visite la página web de asistencia técnica de NAP para encontrar respuestas a sus preguntas o contáctenos usando el formulario de contacto de la Oficina de Salud Primaria (BPHC, por sus siglas en inglés).
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Deadline Reminder: FY 2025 BPR Non-Competing Continuation for February 1 Budget Period Starts
Budget Period Progress Report (BPR) submissions for Health Center Program award recipients with a February 1 budget period start date are due in EHBs by 5:00 p.m. ET on Friday, September 6. TA materials are available on the BPR TA webpage.
Office Hour: School-Based Award Progress Reporting
Our School-Based Investment Team is hosting an office hour to address progress reporting questions from FY 2021-2023 School-Based Service Sites (SBSS) and School-Based Service Expansion (SBSE) award recipients. The School-Based Health Alliance will also be on hand to answer questions about promising practices for successful award implementation.
Wednesday, September 4
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Registration page
Progress reports will be available in EHBs on Sunday, September 1, and are due by Sunday, September 15. Find resources for reporting on the Manage the SBSE Award page.
UDS Training for PCAs and HCCNs
PCA and HCCN staff, join our overview of key resources available to health centers to support timely annual UDS reporting. We’ll answer common questions about the UDS and highlight areas where you can assist health centers.
Tuesday, September 10
2:00-3:30 p.m. ET
Registration page
Health center staff: If you prepare UDS report submissions for your health center, we encourage you to join our other upcoming trainings. Access our training flyer (PDF) to see webinar topics, dates, times, and registration links.
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New CMS Medicaid Guidance on Family Planning Services
CMS released guidance (PDF) to state Medicaid agencies about access to family planning services and supplies. The bulletin highlights state obligations, provides strategies to enhance access to contraception, provides guidance on confidentiality requirements for those seeking family planning services, and shares recommendations about ways to measure quality in delivering these services.
National Immunization Awareness Month
Vaccinate, Educate, and Celebrate a Healthy School Year
The new school year is the perfect opportunity for you to leverage Expanding COVID-19 Vaccination (H8G), COVID-19 Bridge (H8L), and/or SBSS/SBSE (H2E) funding to boost immunization efforts and ensure a safe, healthy return to the classroom.
Why Focus on Immunizations this Season?
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Protect Against COVID-19: Keep students and their families safe with the latest vaccinations.
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Support Community Health and Prevent Disease: Ensure routine vaccinations are up to date to protect against other preventable illnesses.
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Support a Smooth School Transition: Promote health and wellness to facilitate a successful and safer in-person learning experience.
Some Ways to Maximize Your Funding
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Enhance Outreach and Education: Use your funding for targeted awareness campaigns about the importance of COVID-19 and routine vaccinations.
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Organize and host vaccination events: Set up accessible clinics at schools, community centers, or through mobile units to make vaccination convenient for families.
Let’s work together to ensure that every student and family is prepared for a successful and safe school year!
National Suicide Prevention and National Recovery Month
September is an opportunity to focus on two critical behavioral health areas: suicide prevention and recovery. SAMHSA offers toolkits to make it easy for you to participate:
- Their Recovery Month Toolkit includes social media content to spread awareness about the recovery process, to support those in recovery, and much more. Visit SAMHSA’s website.
- Their 2024 Suicide Prevention Month Toolkit offers assets like social media posts and shareable graphics to raise awareness about the information, services, and resources they offer. Visit SAMHSA’s website.
On Sunday, September 8, SAMHSA is holding the first-ever 988 Day to raise awareness about the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and emphasize the importance of mental health and suicide prevention. Visit their website for materials, tools, and ideas to support your promotional efforts and activities.
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Behavioral Health
Crisis Intervention and De-escalation in Primary Care
In this learning collaborative, Renaye James Healthcare Advisors (RJHA) will help health care workers identify, de-escalate, and intervene in crisis behaviors in the health care setting. Speakers will use evidence-based practice interventions that promote safety for patients and staff by emphasizing preventive measures and least-restrictive/non-physical interventions to reduce the risk of unsafe crisis behaviors. Each session will provide an opportunity for participants to plan de-escalation and crisis interventions that promote patient and staff safety in their health centers. Visit the application page for details.
Workforce
Office Hour: Overcoming Obstacles Developing a Workforce Well-being Strategy
Have you watched our latest webinar on designing and implementing a workforce well-being strategy? We invite you to join our virtual office hour where we will clarify your questions and go over common challenges health center leadership face when developing such a strategy, as well as point out ways you can tackle these issues.
Tuesday, September 10
2:00-3:00 p.m. ET
Registration page
Don't forget to download our Workforce Well-being Strategy Template to support your health center in building an effective strategy.
Workforce Well-being Communities of Practice
Join one of our upcoming communities of practice, which kick off next month. The application pages include dates, times, and more details.
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Technology in Workforce Well-being: Friend or Foe: Discover ways to address staff burnout related to health information technology and electronic health records. Share your experiences and learn strategies to optimize clinical efficiency. You can leverage technology for positive change. Visit the application page.
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Integrating Workforce Well-being into Health Center Culture: Learn how you can address moral distress, which impacts staff mental health, job satisfaction, and overall productivity. Learn approaches to build an organizational culture of support and share insights with peers. Visit the application page.
Integrating Diabetes and Oral Health Learning Collaborative
The National Network for Oral Health Access invites you to participate in a learning collaborative on integrating diabetes and oral health. The goal is to improve outcomes for people with diabetes by increasing the number of dual users of medical and dental services. Visit the application page to apply by Friday, September 27.
Weaving the PCMH Model of Care into Your Operations
In this learning collaborative, RJHA focuses on the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model as a way to organize health care delivery, ensure the patients' needs are identified, coordinate care for patients, and optimize health care outcomes. Despite various certifications, some people feel that a true PCMH is not attainable. Learn how to communicate about PCMH to your health care teams and incorporate PCMH standards into everyday operations. Visit the application page for details.
Crisis Intervention and De-escalation in Primary Care
See the announcement above.
Teaching Health Center Primary Care Residency Fair
We invite all mission-driven medical and dental students to find your next residency or training opportunity at HRSA’s Teaching Health Center Primary Care Residency Fair. Learn about the Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education Program and available opportunities to advance your career. You will be able to network with recruiters from Teaching Health Centers across the nation.
Wednesday, September 25
6:00-8:00 p.m. ET
Registration page
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Oral Health
Integrating Diabetes and Oral Health Learning Collaborative
See the announcement above.
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