October 6, 2014
You’ve seen the pink ribbons, the pink wristbands and the pink socks…you know the Walk is coming up…that’s because October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But did you know that your local FQHC can be a great place to receive breast health services? The National Association of Community Health Centers has more information here.
In This Week’s Issue
Announcements
Trainings & Webinars
Funding Opportunities
SBIRT
Ask CHCACT!
Upcoming CHCACT Meetings
Resources
This Week in Health Policy News
Events/Educational Opportunities
Announcements
Congratulations to CIFC Greater Danbury Community Health Center for its NCQA Level 3 Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) recognition! This is the highest level of recognition that can be achieved through NCQA and demonstrates CIFC’s commitment to high quality health care for all, regardless of ability to pay.
A reminder to all CEOs of CHCACT-affiliated FQHCs: CHCACT Board meetings are now the first Wednesday of the month @ 3:00 pm. Information will be sent prior to each meeting.
Tweet of the Week
2014-15 @CommHealthCorps members kicking off the year with a service project at @Foodshare! @americorps pic.twitter.com/kqGedqUu2K
— CHCACT (@CTHealthCenters) October 2, 2014
Follow Us
New on Get-Centered
Our New Get-Centered Blog features a Back to School message about SNAP from SNAP Program Coordinator Leah Tully.
SBIRT in Your Corner
Learn more about CT SBIRT here!
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Trainings & Webinars
CT Health Policy Project Webinar on Payment Reform. Join this webinar, November 18th @ 1:00 pm to learn about shared savings models and other health care payment reform options from Bob Berenson, MD of the Urban Institute. Click here to register.
Medicaid PPS Webinars: NACHC and Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell present a two-part webinar series on Medicaid PPS. The series will provide an overview of the Medicaid prospective payment system (PPS) reimbursement methodology and an exploration of broad trends in payment and service delivery in the Medicaid program and how they impact health centers today. The webinars will be held on September 23rd and October 7th from 2-3:30 pm. Registration/payment are required.
BPHC Thursday TA Sessions: The Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC)’s Project Officers will be offering technical assistance sessions every other Thursday @ 1:00 pm, beginning September 25th, by webinar. Contact David Dietz for details. The tentative schedule of sessions is:
9.25.14: LCDR Bryna Forson – Behavioral Health Integration among FQHCs
10.9.14: Erica Clary – Community-Based Information Sharing – Community Circles
10.23.14: Su Walter – Current Models at CHCs that Reduce Preventable Hospitalizations and ER Visits
11.6.14: Melissa Howard – Best Practices and Effective Health Center Leadership
11.20.14: Sam Price – UDS Data Trends in New England Health Centers – Best Practices in Improvement
Coffee Break Webinar: The New Federal Grants Supercircular: How Super Is It? The federal Office of Management and Budget recently revised and consolidated the federal grants circulars into a massive guidance document: the “Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Grants,” also known as the “Supercircular.” Significant modifications were made to the rules that govern the administration and management of all federal grants and subgrants related to time and effort reporting, sole source procurement restrictions, mandatory disclosures and indirect cost rates. This 15-minute webinar highlights the Supercircular’s key reforms that community mental health and addiction treatment organizations receiving federal grant grants should know. Click here to register/watch the webinar.
COPE (Collaborative Opioid Prescribing Education) for REMS. Prescribing opioids safely ultimately depends on the trust between prescriber and patient. Training can enhance trust by improving communication and collaborative skills. COPE-REMS is an interactive, self-paced, online training developed at the University of Washington-Seattle. This no-cost, online CME course is aimed at opioid prescribing providers—including physicians, registered nurses, ARNPs, physician assistants, psychologists—and other care managers who are involved in treating patients with chronic pain. Click here for more information.
Tobacco Treatment Specialist Training. This course is for those who want to provide tobacco cessation services/brief intervention in their offices. Register by October 3rd at CT TRAIN, www.ct.train.org, course ID #1052101. Contact Katie Shuttleworth with questions: Kathryn.Shuttleworth@ct.gov.
40th Yankee Dental Congress. The Massachusetts Dental Society (MDS) is preparing for this annual event, which will be held January 28th- February 1, 2015 at the Boston Convention Center. The Yankee Dental Congress is a conference of continuing education courses, workshops and exhibits geared specifically for oral health professionals. MDS is waiving the general registration fee ($295) and offering 3 free CEU courses geared specifically for community health center oral health staff in New England on Saturday, January 31, 2015. All CHC dentists, hygienists, assistants, externs, residents and office staff can attend for FREE. To register now, simply visit yankeedental.com and input priority code: 15CHCCT before check out.
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Funding Opportunities
REMINDER from HRSA: There are several critical actions you must take to ensure competitive Health Center Program applications can be submitted successfully. First, your organization must have an active SAM.gov registration at the time of application submission. Second, you must have an active AOR (Authorized Organization Representative) in Grants.gov that is approved to submit an application. As a matter of HHS grants policy, without a current SAM.gov registration and a registered AOR, your application will be rejected in grants.gov without further consideration.
Click here to view all of HRSA’s open funding opportunities.
The Office of Rural Health Policy has released a Funding Opportunity Announcement for Rural Healthcare Services Outreach. The goals for the Outreach program are to: 1) expand the delivery of health care services to include new and enhanced services exclusively in rural communities; 2) deliver health care services through a strong consortium; 3) utilize and/or adapt an evidence-based or promising practice model(s) in the delivery of health care services; and 4) improve population health, demonstrate health outcomes and sustainability. Deadline to apply is November 14, 2014.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) released a Funding Opportunity Announcement that invites applications from clinical investigators to participate in the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network (CTN). Letters of Intent to apply are due November 3, 2014.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is soliciting proposals from small business concerns: “Mobile Technologies Extending Reach of Primary Care for Substance-Use-Disorders.” The objective is to develop and test a prototype mobile/tablet technology-based application suitable for U.S. primary care settings, to serve as a low-cost user-friendly tool that primary care providers (PCPs) may use to deliver timely tailored feedback to patients following up on interventions for risky substance use. For more information,
New Markets Tax Credits Allocation Awards Announced. The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) announced $3.5 billion in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocation awards aimed at revitalizing low-income communities and increasing economic opportunity nationwide. More information is available here. Applications for CDFI & CDE Certification are being accepted on an ongoing basis. Click here for application trainings and deadlines.
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Ask CHCACT!
“Ask CHCACT” features 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!
Deb Polun, CHCACT’s Director of Government Affairs/Media Relations, answers this week’s question:
Q: During Open Enrollment, can individuals who are renewing switch carriers?
A: Yes! Please keep in mind, though, that doing so could cause a delay in billing and receipt of ID cards.
Upcoming CHCACT Meetings
SBIRT Health Educator Meeting: Friday, October 17th from 10-3:00 pm. The meeting will be held at CHCACT, 100 Great Meadow Road, Ste 400, Wethersfield. Email Katie Henley to RSVP.
ICD-10 Clinical Workgroup Meeting: Wednesday, October 22nd from 10-11:00 am. The meeting will be held at CHCACT, 100 Great Meadow Road, Ste 400, Wethersfield. Email Katie Henley to RSVP.
ICD-10 Financial Workgroup Conference Call: Wednesday, October 22nd from 2-3:00 pm. Please call 888-994-2503, participant passcode 519603#. Email Katie Henley to RSVP.
HR Directors’ Meeting: Thursday, October 23rd from 10:00-3:00. The meeting will be held at Southwest Community Health Center (46 Albion Street, Bridgeport, CT 06605). Email Katie Henley to RSVP.
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.
Featured Stories
10.2.14 It’s Relevant: NCC Goes Smoke Free with New Campus Policy (feat. Norwalk Community Health Center)
9.29.14 New Haven Independent: Fair Haven Targets Colon Cancer
State Health News
10.6.14 CT Mirror: Ten Things Dan Malloy Thinks About Health Care
10.6.14 Hartford Business Journal: Two Large, Greater Hartford Docs’ Groups to Merge
10.5.14 Hartford Courant: Breast Density Can Affect Accuracy of Mammograms
10.2.14 CT NewsJunkie: Feds Decide to Make Partial Medicaid Payment, Surplus Remains at $300K
10.2.14 CT Mirror: Anthem, Hartford Healthcare Reach a Deal
10.1.14 CT Post: Grant to Boost Fairfield University’s Nurse Practitioner Program
10.1.14 CT Mirror: DCF – Redesign Children’s Mental Health System
10.1.14 CT Health I-Team: Blumenthal Hosts Discussion on Use of Antipsychotic Drugs
9.30.14 CT Health I-Team: Hospitals Required to Tell Patients of Observation Status
9.30.14 CT NewsJunkie: Medical Providers Will Have to Give Notice of Mergers/Acquisitions
9.29.14 Fairfield County Business Journal: CDC Confirms Enterovirus in CT
ACA/Health Reform News
10.6.14 CT NewsJunkie: Access Health CT Reminds Consumers About Enrollment
10.6.14 Kaiser Health News: Obamacare Enrollment – Second Year An Even Tougher Challenge
10.6.14 AP: Walmart Plans One-Stop Health Insurance Shopping
National/Other Health News
10.1.14 Kaiser Health News: Long-Acting Contraceptives Help Reduce Teen Pregnancy Rate
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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!*
The CT Health Foundation has created “Covering Connecticut 2014: Because Coverage is the Foundation for Good Health,” a resource packet providing town-by-town information about health insurance coverage and health care access.
CT Voices for Children’s latest report, “Poverty, Median Income and Health Insurance in CT: Summary of 2013 American Community Survey Census Data,” is now available.
2013 UDS Data: The Bureau of Primary Health Care has released the 2013 UDS Data for federally-qualified health centers across the country. Click here to get the latest demographic, quality and other data.
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 Deb Polun.
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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.
Agenda
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