January 21, 2014
January is Glaucoma Awareness Month!
In This Week’s Issue
Announcements
Funding Opportunities
Ask CHCACT!
Upcoming CHCACT Meetings
Resources
This Week in Health Policy News
Events/Educational Opportunities
Announcements
The Final Plan for CT’s State Innovation Model (SIM) initiative has been released. Read the plan here!
Community Health Vote has launched a new website – www.communityhealthvote.net, featuring a wealth of national and state resources designed for health centers to incorporate voter registration into their services, including ACA health insurance enrollment. The Community Health Vote Website contains a Health Center Voter Registration Toolkit that can be downloaded in as well as voter registration guides for all 50 states and answers to frequently asked questions about voter registration in the states. On Wednesday, January 22nd at 2:00 pm, a national webinar will provide an introduction to the Community Health Vote website, its training resources and online voter registration platform. We invite you to attend this free webinar and learn how you and your health center can participate in Community Health Vote this year. Register here.
VICNetwork is offering a webinar focusing on the HPV vaccine and the role that health care providers and public health communicators have in improving HPV vaccination rates among adolescents. The webinar is Tuesday, January 28, 2014 @ 2:00 pm ET. To register, go to http://www.vicnetwork.org
The Emergency Management and Homeland Security Division of DESPP is conducting ICS-300, Intermediate ICS for Expanding Incidents training on at the DESPP/DEMHS Brainard Facility, 269 Maxim Road, Hartford, from 8-5:00 each day. The last day to register is February 3. Questions please contact Tom Romano, 860-256-0844 or thomas.romano@ct.gov.
Hear Here Hartford is hosting a free information session on PPTs for students who are deaf/hard of hearing: Thursday, February 6th, 7-9 pm @ CREC Soundbridge Auditorium, 123 Progress Drive, Wethersfield.
On February 18, 2014 @ 3:00 pm, Feldesman, Tucker will be offering a webinar on the newly released Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Grants (the “Supercircular;” also known as the “Omnicircular”). The Supercircular sets standard requirements for financial management of Federal awards across the entire Federal government and significant changes are being made to federal grant administration. Learn more and register for the webinar here.
The 2014 NURSE Corps Loan Repayment Program application cycle is now open. The application cycle will close on February 27 at 7:30 pm. Eligibility is open to registered nurses and advanced practice registered nurses (e.g., nurse practitioners) who have qualifying educational loans, and who are dedicated to serving the Nation’s medically underserved populations in health professions shortage area (HPSAs).
Connecticut Association of School Based Health Centers is offering an exciting training opportunity, Fostering Diversity in School Based Health Centers, on Friday, March 21, 2014 from 8:00 am – 2:30 pm. This training is for mental health clinicians, nurse practitioners, and all other school based health center staff. Cultural competency is now required for licensure by the State of Connecticut for all mental health clinicians, and is required for all SBHC staff in DPH-funded sites. This event will satisfy these requirements. For more information and to register, click here.
Did you miss the webinar, Privileging: Real World Applications and Challenges, presented by ECRI Institute on behalf of HRSA on December 10 and 11, 2013? A recording of the 60-minute webinar, handouts and post-conference speaker questions and answers are now available in the Webinar and Audio Conference Archive on the Clinical Risk Management Program web site. Log onto the web site with your username and password to access the recordings; if you need to obtain a log-in ID, email Clinical_RM_Program@ecri.org.
The SAMHSA-HRSA Center for Integrated Health Solutions Telebehavioral Health Training and Technical Assistance Series is designed to help safety net providers and rural health clinics understand and adopt telebehavioral health services. The implementation of telehealth services for mental health and substance abuse allows for increased access to these services, particularly in rural or underserved areas. The 6-session training will provide health centers with the tools/resources necessary to identify and implement a telebehavioral health program. Learn more here.
Time to vote in the Health Justice Challenge! Vote for your favorite video on outreach and enrollment by March 31!
Send us your success stories! How are the outreach and enrollment efforts going at your health center? How many people have you helped so far? We’d love to know. Please send your success stories to ask@chcact.org.
Tweet of the Week
DYK? 1-in-3 Hispanics aged 65+ have #diabetes. @FairHavenCHC + @nih are working to find a treatment! http://wnpr.org/post/nih-diabetes-study-targets-new-haven-clinic … #FQHCs #CT— CHCACT (@CTHealthCenters) January 15, 2014
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New on Get-Centered
Guest Blog by Dr. Mehul Dalal, Chronic Disease Director at Connecticut’s State Department of Public Health
SBIRT in Your Corner
SBIRT Health Educators are now officially health center employees.
Learn more about CT SBIRT here!
Click here to watch the new commercial from Access Health CT!
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Funding Opportunities
Please note that changes have been announced to the State of Connecticut Nonprofit Collaboration Incentive Grant Program. Applications are due February 14. Changes can be found here.
HRSA has announced a new funding opportunity for service expansion in behavioral health integration! Vice President Biden announced this funding of $50 million for health centers last month; applications will be due around 3/19/14. Learn more here.
The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) is pleased to announce that the 2014 NHSC Loan Repayment Program application cycle is now open. The application cycle will close on March 20th at 7:30 pm ET. Technical assistance webcasts and conference calls have been scheduled to address questions. Please mark your calendars for the following webcast and conference calls.
Webcast: Wed, January 29 at 8:00 – 9:30 p.m. ET
Conference Call: Wed, February 5 at 8:00 – 9:30 p.m. ET
Conference Call: Wed, February 12 at 8:00 – 9:30 p.m. ET
Ask CHCACT!
“Ask CHCACT,” a new advice column, will feature questions from health center staff, answered by your favorite CHCACT staff members! For the first several months, the column will focus exclusively on Outreach & Enrollment. Send your questions to ask@chcact.org! Ask CHCACT columns are also archived on the Outreach & Enrollment Resources section of the CHCACT web site. This site is now available to the public, with no log-in requirement!
Fran Freer answers this week’s question.
Q: Do any of the health plans have out of state networks?
A: Yes, some plans do. Healthy CT has contracted with a national network provider to provide network coverage outside of CT. Anthem has an out of state network on some of its plans: Anthem’s PPO plans have an out of state network, while their HMO plans do not. It is important to remember that these out of state networks are often sparser than networks in Connecticut. If you know you will be seeking care out of state, check the provider network to see if there is a nearby physician before enrolling.
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Upcoming CHCACT Meetings
“Coffee and En-Rolls” – a new weekly meeting for Certified Application Counselors (CACs) and their supervisors, facilitated by CHCACT consultant Fran Freer and AmeriCorps member Will Simmons. Join every Thursday @ 9:00 am to share Best Practices and hear the latest news about Access Health CT and enrollment: 888-994-2509, participant passcode 519603#. (Please note new number) This month: Thursday, January 23rd, 30th.
All CHCACT Staff can be reached by calling 860.667.7820.
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Resources
Check out the FQHC Resources Library on the CHCACT web site here! It’s chock full of webinars and other informative resources and includes a message board to facilitate communication across centers. To gain access to the Resources section, contact Deb Polun, at dpolun@chcact.org.
The Outreach & Enrollment Resources section has been updated. Click here to view the resources.
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This Week in Health Policy News
Here is a sampling of health policy news from around the state in the past few weeks. 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.
Featured Stories
1.15.14 WNPR: NIH Diabetes Study Features Fair Haven Clinic
1.14.14 CT Mirror: Uninsured Connecticut: Obamacare Comes to Hartford (feat. COHC’s Jesse Grant)
1.14.14 WNPR: Is Obamacare Working? (“Where We Live” episode feat. Deb Polun & CHS’s Zenia Oslan)
Health Reform
1.21.14 Governing: Obamacare’s Medicaid Expansion Brings a Surge in Signups
1.16.14 CT Mirror: Is Obamacare Age Mix a Problem?
State Health News
1.21.14 Hartford Business Journal: American Medical Association Jumps into United Health Fight
1.15.14 Fairfield County Business Journal: Cigna Expands Accountable Care Program
Other Health News
1.21.14 NPR: Diabetes, Cost of Care Top Latino Health Concerns
1.20.14 Hartford Courant: New Medical Codes Parse Ailments to the Finest Detail
1.20.14 Kaiser Health News: Health Law Spurs Shift in Long-Term Care
1.17.14 Governing: Fast Food Probably Not to Blame for Childhood Obesity
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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 new 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.
Comments About the Bulletin
For any questions or comments about This Week in CHCACTion, please contact Deb Polun.
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