November 23, 2015
CHCACT joins NACHC in celebrating National Rural Health Day! Our rural FQHCs are Generations, CHWC-Greater Torrington and UCFS. Click here to learn more.
Announcements
FQHCs can bill Medicare for two new services starting January 1, 2016. The 2016 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, which was published on October 3, established two new types of services which FQHCs may bill for starting next January:
Chronic Care Management (CCM) – can be billed in addition to the regular visit rate. Note FQHCs must comply with numerous requirements to eligible to bill for CCM.
Advance Care Planning (ACP) – will qualify as a stand-alone billable visit.
For additional information on these services:
NACHC has prepared a brief CCM & ACP Fact Sheet, available at www.nachc.com/regulatory.
NACHC is developing trainings to address these and other Medicare issues (e.g., the new cost reporting format) – information coming soon.
CMS will be releasing sub-regulatory guidance on how to bill for these services. NACHC will send out alerts when this information is available.
Health Center Substance Abuse Warmline – Beginning December 1, 2015, the Clinician Consultation Center will offer free and confidential peer-to-peer telephone consultation, focusing on telephone substance use evaluation and management for primary care clinicians in health centers. Special expertise in pharmacotherapy options for opioid use, addiction medicine-certified physicians, clinical pharmacist and nurses are available by calling 1-855-300-3595, Monday through Friday, 10:00am – 6:00pm, ET. Voicemail is available 24 hours a day. Click here for more information and resources on the Clinician Consultation Center.
The Commonwealth Fund Mongan Fellowship in Minority Health Policy is now accepting applications for the 2016–17 class. This unique fellowship prepares physicians for leadership roles in transforming health care delivery systems and promoting policies and practices that improve access to high-performance health care for vulnerable populations, including racial and ethnic minorities and economically disadvantaged groups. For more information and to apply, click here. The application deadline for the 2016–2017 fellowship is December 15, 2015.
Call for Workshop Proposals: Deadline December 4, 2015
National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership Summit: April 6-8, 2016 The National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership seeks workshop proposals for its 11th annual Medical Legal Partnership (MLP) Summit on April 6-8, 2016, in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Summit is an annual conference that brings together hundreds of leaders from government, law, medicine, nursing, public health and social work to share how integrating legal care into health care can help combat health-harming social conditions. Read more about MLP in NACHC’s Community Health Forum magazine. Eighty FQHCs currently have MLPs, and HRSA now considers legal aid to be an enabling service. Click here to review the call for workshops and submit a proposal.
CHCACT is Hiring. Check our job bank for opportunities to work at CHCACT or Federally Qualified Health Centers in Connecticut.
Project ECHO, is looking for participants! Project ECHO is a video based intervention that joins primary care medical and behavioral health providers and specialist to discuss cases and brief didactics to improve health outcomes for patients with complex conditions. Click here to learn more.
AmeriCares is looking for Arabic and Farsi speaking nurses and doctors who are willing to volunteer to help with the Syrian humanitarian crisis. AmeriCares will cover all costs associated with travel to and from Lesbos, lodging, food and incidentals while on the island, and will coordinate all logistics. AmeriCares is seeking people who can making at least a 2 week commitment; 3 weeks or more is ideal. Please contact Garrett Ingoglia at gingoglia@americares.org or 202.487.4484 for more information.
National Association of Community Health Centers has partnered with Migrant Clinicians Network (MCN) and the Florida Association of Community Health Centers (FACHC) and designed a four day course for clinicians new to the world of FQHCs. Click here for more information.
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Trainings, Webinars & Conferences
Please check our Calendar of Events for upcoming trainings!
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Funding Opportunities
Check out the new CHCACT Funding Opportunities page here!
The State Departments of Social Services (DSS), Mental Health & Addiction Services (DMHAS) and Children & Families (DCF) are seeking applications from agencies who treat adults and wish to seek designation as Enhanced Care Clinics. This RFA is for Regions 1 & 5, the Southwest and Northwest areas of the state. Learn More!
The CVS Foundation & NACHC are making 10-20 one-year grants available to FQHCs that are members of NACHC. The grants are designed to help develop models for the treatment and management of chronic illnesses. Learn more!
The Bureau of Primary Health Care solicits applications for Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Oral Health Service Expansion (OHSE) funding. The purpose of this supplemental funding opportunity is to increase access to oral health care services and improve oral health outcomes for Health Center Program patients. Learn more!
The RGK Foundation awards grants to nonprofit organizations in the general areas of education, community and health/medicine. These grants are not geographically-restricted and are awarded on an ongoing basis. Learn more!
The Cigna World of Difference Grants Program looks for nonprofits with which to collaborate on projects to overcome barriers to their health and well-being. Learn more!
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Ask CHCACT!
“Ask CHCACT” features Outreach & Enrollment and other questions from health center staff, answered by your favorite CHCACT staff members! Send your questions to ask@chcact.org!
Arianne Cacciatore answers this week’s question:
Q: As a reminder to clients, what types of preventive services can they receive for free, under HUSKY and QHPs?
A: The Affordable Care Act ensures that people can get a variety of services for free, with no copayment – even if their insurance plans have high deductibles. These services include depression screening for adolescents and adults, cholesterol screening, diet counseling for certain adults, immunizations, vision screening (children only), mammograms and more! Here is the full list for more information – please print out and give to your clients!
Upcoming CHCACT Meetings
Coffee & EnRolls. Coffee & EnRolls will be held on Tuesday, November 24th at 9:00 am and Tuesday, December 1st at 9:00 am. To join, please call: 866-670-8282, passcode 240 419 3770#. Please contact Deb Polun for information.
All CHCACT Staff can be reached by calling 860.667.7820.
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This Week in Health Policy News
Here is a sampling of health policy news from around the state. If you see something in your local newspaper that you would like featured here in future weeks, please contact Deb Polun at dpolun@chcact.org. Check out all the Health Policy News from the past month here!
Featured Stories
11.5.15 Hartford Courant: Hartford Commemorates World AIDS Day (feat. CHS, CHCACT)
State Health News
11.22.15 NH Register (Opinion): CT Medicaid – Don’t Mess With What’s Working
11.22.15 NH Register: CT’s Heroin Crisis – Fighting the Same Battle in New Haven, Litchfield Counties
11.20.15 CT Mirror: Public Health Commissioner Mullen Leaving for Federal Post
11.18.15 CT Mirror: The Story in Charts – Who Still Smokes?
11.18.15 CT Mirror: DSS Commissioner Bremby a Finalist for Kansas Post
11.16.15 Hartford Business Journal: Hospital CEOs Grapple With “Broken System,” Funding Worries
11.14.15 CT Latino News: Making Breasfeeding the Norm Among Inner City Latinas
11.12.15 CT Mirror: Post-Newtown Program Helps Children Get Mental Health Care
11.11.15 CT Mirror: Study – Black Women Twice as Likely to be Re-Hospitalized After Childbirth
ACA/Health Reform News
11.20.15 CT NewsJunkie: Connecticare Sees Largest Number of New Enrollees
11.20.15 CT Mirror: Unlike United Health, Aetna & Anthem Say They Will Stay in ACA Exchanges
11.17.15 Governing: To Many’s Surprise, Obamacare Barely Budged ER Wait Times
11.14.15 NY Times: Many Say High Deductibles Make Their Health Law Insurance All But Useless
11.13.15 CT Mirror: CT’s Insurance Co-Op Sticking Around, But Still a Work in Progress
11.13.15 Kaiser Health News: Study Finds Marketplace Silver Plans Offer Poor Access to HIV Drugs
National/Other Health News
11.22.15 NY Times: States Lead Efforts to Let Pharmacists Prescribe Birth Control
11.20.15 Governing: Feds Let States Use Medicaid Money to House the Homeless
11.19.15 Governing: Young People Are Dying From Drug Overdoses At Double the Rate
11.12.15 NY Times: US Smoking Rate Declines, But Poor Remain at Higher Risk
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Resources
CHCACT maintains and regularly updates resources on clinical issues, human resources, HIPAA, SNAP and more! Click here to check out CHCACT’s Resources!*
2014 UDS data for FQHCs are available here!
The TB Toolkit for CHCs/FQHCs is a web-based product that includes tools that can be used by community providers as well as TB programs and health departments for outreach to community health centers. Tools include existing resources that have been developed by the Global TB Institute, the other RTMCCs and CDC. The toolkit is meant to be a dynamic product which can be continually updated based on the availability of new information and user feedback. The first draft of the toolkit is posted at: http://globaltb.njms.rutgers.edu/educationalmaterials/tookitfqhc.html.
The Connecticut Department of Public Health has new resources, including data, for chronic diseases on its web site. Check out the information here!
Weekly Outreach & Enrollment Newsletter. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) produce the CMS Weekly Assister Newsletter. This weekly Newsletter is the best resource for O/E staff to stay up-to-date on information on health insurance marketplace changes, frequently asked questions, and general advice. To sign up, email CACQuestions@cms.hhs.gov with the subject line: “Add to listserv”
Scope of Project Webpage: HRSA has released a new “Scope of Project” Page on the BPHC website. This page provides a “one-stop-shop” for Health Center Program Scope of Project and Change-in-Scope policy, process, and resources. View the new Scope of Project webpage.
Capital Link Publications. As part of their assistance to health centers, Capital Link has developed a collection of resource publications to assist health centers in accomplishing specific tasks related to the capital development process. These publications are provided to Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Primary Care Associations (PCAs) free of charge. Their resources, including publications, reports, and past webinars are available here.
* Some Resources are password-protected. If you would like a password for www.chcact.org, please contact Tasheenah Brown.
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Events/Educational Opportunities
Click here to view our full events calendar. Click here for NACHC Seminars/Conferences/Webcasts.
Welcome to our events calendar! The calendar is updated on a regular basis with upcoming events, webinars, educational opportunities, outreach activities and more. You can sort the calendar by category and subscribe to calendar updates by clicking here.
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