March 24, 2016 Edition

Recap: NACHC P&I Hill Visit Day 
A big thank you to the health center leaders and staff from across the state who joined the CHCANYS Policy Team in Washington, D.C. on March 17 for Hill Visit Day. Collectively, our group met with 26 New York State Representatives and/or their staff, as well as Senator Schumer and staff in Senator Gillibrand’s office to thank them for their ongoing support and ask for their help in preserving and expanding the vital work of FQHCs in FY2017 and beyond. Click here to see some pictures we took during our successful day of meetings.  

NYS Senate and Assembly Release One House Budget Bills  
Both the NYS Senate and Assembly have released their one house bills, which are spending and revenue recommendations made by the Legislature in response to the Governor’s proposed Executive Budget. The Legislature and the Governor will now enter into negotiations to adopt a final budget by April 1st. For highlights relevant to health centers, click here.   

Updated VBP Roadmap Open for Public Comment
The annual update to the 2016 Value Based Payment (VBP) Roadmap has been posted to the NYS Dept. of Health’s DSRIP website in draft form for public comment through April 18, 2016 at 3:00 p.m.  Developed with the input of the Value Based Payment Workgroup and other stakeholders, the Roadmap has been updated based on broad stakeholder engagement from a number of workgroups and subcommittees.  Public comments should be submitted to dsrip@health.ny.gov by the aforementioned deadline.  

HRSA Announces $7.29 million in Substance Abuse Service Expansion Awards to NYS Health Centers
On March 11, 2016, HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced $7.29 million in Affordable Care Act funding to 21 New York State health centers to improve and expand the delivery of substance abuse services, with a specific focus on treatment of opioid use disorders in underserved populations. Administered by the HHS Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), these awards will increase the number of patients screened for substance use disorders and connected to treatment, increase the number of patients with access to MAT for opioid use and other substance use disorder treatment, and provide training and educational resources to help health professionals make informed prescribing decisions.    

CHCANYS / CHCACT Compliance Webinar Series: Registration Still Open  
Registration is still open for the final two webinars in the compliance series jointly hosted by the Community Health Center Association of Connecticut (CHCACT) and CHCANYS.  This series has been very well received and well attended by New York FQHCs thus far. The remaining webinars will focus on Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) coverage. For more information, including dates, times and registration links, click here.  

Learning Lab:  Coding and Documentation in a Transitioning VBP World 
Date: Tuesday April 5, 2016 
Time: 9:30 a.m. -  2:00 p.m. 
Location: Jacob K. Javits Federal Building, 26 Federal Plaza, NYC

CHCANYS has retained Coding & Compliance Initiatives, Inc. (CCI) to provide a face-to-face training on coding guidelines and documentation improvement. Appropriate documentation and accurate coding are essential components of effective charge capture and compliant billing practices. This hands-on training workshop is designed to prepare physicians and non-physician practitioners for a successful transition to ICD-10 requirements related to documentation and specificity. This course provides a solid background regarding the documentation required by providers to support the ICD-10 codes and severity of a patient’s condition. 

Save Money with CPG 
CHCANYS partners with the CommonWealth Purchasing Group (CPG) as a value-added service to FQHCs in New York State. With a portfolio of over 60 nationally recognized vendors, CPG can help you save money. In addition, the 2016 CPG webinar series provides educational content designed to assist health center employees in improving efficiency and saving money within their organizations. Topics covered include evaluating patient satisfaction, website design strategies, mitigating medical malpractice risk, and more! To learn more about the series and/or the benefits of CPG membership, click here.

NHSC Loan Repayment Program Application Cycle Now Open 
The 2016 National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Loan Repayment Program application cycle is now open to support primary care medical, dental and mental/behavioral health clinicians committed to caring for underserved people where they are most needed. Health centers are strongly encouraged to recruit and retain qualified health care providers through the NHSC. The competitive application cycle will close on Tuesday, April 5, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.   

2017 Budget Sets BHW on Strong Path  
The President’s 2017 Budget includes $1.27 billion to support the work of the Bureau of Health Workforce (BHW), including $380 million for the National Health Service Corps and $295 million in mandatory funding each year through 2021 for the Children’s Hospital Graduate Medical Education program.  
For more details, see the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) full FY 2017 Congressional Budget Justification  and Budget Overview  fact sheets. 

NACHC Report: Health Centers Identify Workforce Challenges as Barrier to Growth 
The shortage of primary care doctors has become a critical problem as efforts to improve the nation’s health delivery system continue. Staffing The Safety Net: Building the Primary Care Workforce at America’s Health Centers, a new report released by NACHC, describes current challenges and opportunities in developing a strong clinical workforce in underserved areas. To read it, click here. 

Webinar: Understanding How the Diffusion of Physicians Affects Underserved Areas
Date: March 30, 2016 
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Hosted by: Health Workforce Technical Assistance Center

The local supply of physicians in any community, especially smaller and rural communities, depends on a flow of physicians into those communities from the places where they train or from more populous places that may have more than enough physicians to meet population needs. The factors that influence whether a physician will move from one place to another depends on their personal characteristics, the places from and to which they move, and the programs that support or inhibit those moves. In this webinar, Dr. Tom Ricketts (Carolina Health Workforce Research Center, Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research) will describe his work on physician diffusion and help explain its effects and policy implications on underserved areas.  For more information, click here. 

NY State of Health Ends 2016 Open Enrollment with More Than 2.8 Million Covered 
NY State of Health, the state’s official health plan Marketplace, recently announced more than 2.8 million people have signed up for health insurance as of January 31, 2016, the end of the 2016 open enrollment period.  Since the Marketplace opened in 2013, the number of uninsured New Yorkers has declined by nearly 850,000. To read more, click here. 

Call for Abstracts: CHCANYS 2016 Annual Conference  
CHCANYS welcomes your proposal to share expertise, innovative strategies, cutting-edge ideas and measurable implementation plans with our 2016 Conference attendees. Conference dates are October 30 – November 1.  The deadline for submission is April 11, 2016.   To view abstract guidelines and submit your proposal, click here. Registration is now open - reserve your space and hotel room today! Click here to get started. 

Electronic Prescriptions Mandatory as of March 27, 2016 
As of March 27, 2016,  it will be mandatory for all NY State practitioners, excluding veterinarians, to issue electronic prescriptions for controlled and non-controlled substances. Utilizing modern prescription technology has the potential to minimize medication errors for patients in New York State. Additional benefits of e- prescribing include the integration of prescription records directly into the patient’s electronic medical record and reduction in prescription theft and forgery. If you have not already done so, please contact your EHR vendor to get your health center set up. More information is available here.  

AIU Attestation For Meaningful Use: Deadline Extension Form 
The Attestation Deadline Extension (ADE) Request Form is used to request an attestation deadline extension by providing evidence that extenuating circumstances beyond the provider’s control prevented the provider to attesting in MEIPASS by the attestation deadline. The ADE Request Form must be submitted to HIT@health.ny.gov by email within 30 days after the attestation deadline to be formally considered for an extension by the NY Medicaid EHR Incentive Program and NYS Dept. of Health. To access the form, click here.

Meaningful Use Update: Alternate Exclusions available for Public Health measures
Providers maynow claim an alternate exclusion for the Public Health measures of Syndromic Surveillance and Specialized Registry, if they did not previously intend to report to them when they were previously a menu measure in Stage 2,  and if they do not have the necessary software in CEHRT or the interface the registry requires available in their health IT systems. More information is available here. 

Healthy People 2020 Webinar on Improving Oral Health Services for People Living with HIV/AIDS 
Date:  March 24, 2016 
Time: 12:00– 1:00 p.m.
Sponsored by: Healthy People 2020 
Oral health is an essential part of staying healthy, especially for people living with HIV/AIDS. Inadequate oral health care can undermine HIV treatment regimens and diminish quality of life. People who are HIV-positive need comprehensive and individualized oral health care, yet many people with HIV have unmet needs for oral health care. Join this webinar to learn how the Boston Public Health Commission’s HIV Dental Ombudsperson Program is working on improving oral health services for people living with HIV/AIDS and the challenges encountered in provisioning these services.  For more information and to register, click here.

Clinical Symposium:  Routinizing Sexual Health in Primary Care
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the NYC STD Prevention Training Center are offering a free half-day clinical symposium on sexual health for clinical providers in the Bronx, on April 7, 2016. The goal of the symposium is to address provider awareness and proficiency in the following areas: sexual history taking; STD/HIV morbidity and trends, STD/HIV screening and diagnosis; and STD treatment recommendations. Free CME/CNE are available. Click here to register and for more information. 

Funding Available for Community Partnerships to Reduce Obesity and Improve Patient Self-Management 
The NYS Health Foundation is awarding one-time grant to project proposals that either support community engagement to reduce obesity and/or promote and support patient self-management and patient self-efficacy. Awards will range from $50,000-$400,000. 

Clinical Update for the Primary Care Provider  
Date: March 31, 2016 
Location:  Amsterdam, NY 
This free, half-day conference for medical providers will review current epidemiological trends and updates on HIV and HCV prevention and care best practices. CME/CNE credits are available. For more information and to register, click here.

Clinical Update in HIV Prevention, Hepatitis C, and STDs  
Date: April 6, 2016  
Location: Dansville, NY 
This free half-day conference will discuss current epidemiological trends and updates on HIV/HCV/STD prevention and care best practices. CME/CNE are available. For more information and to register, click here.

National HIV/AIDS Strategy: Updated to 2020
The first comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States, originally released in 2010, has recently been revised to include 10 quantitative indicators for monitoring progress toward achieving HIV goals. The Strategy encompasses tenets of the ACA, PrEP, and research conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), to name just a few. To access it, click here.

Emergency Management for Primary Care Centers In-Person Training
(*Three spots remaining)
This course will provide an overview of the four phases of emergency management, the key elements of an emergency management program and plan, and the role of the health center during emergencies and disasters. *The initial roll-out of this training is being offered to health centers located in the Capital District, Long Island and the Hudson Valley. 
If you are interested in bringing it to your health center, contact EMTeam@CHCANYS.org. The online version of this training is available on the NYS Department of Health Learning Management System. 

PCEPN Launches New Website 
The Primary Care Emergency Preparedness Network (PCEPN), a functional coalition of primary care providers within New York City led by CHCANYS, has recently launched its new website. The website has been completely redesigned and updated with useful content. Site visitors will find information on the coalition itself, its events, relevant news, etc. To access it, click here.

PCEPN Second Annual Full-Day Emergency Management Seminar 
Date: April 14, 2016 
Time: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. 
Location: Baruch College 
Featuring special guest speakers, breakout sessions, and networking opportunities, this seminar will provide information on a variety of preparedness and response activities. Breakfast and lunch are included. To register, click here. 

Save the Date: PCEPN Coordinated Tabletop Exercise for Primary Care Networks and Partners
This event will take place on May 19, 2016 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Baruch College.  More information to come.

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) Training Opportunity
PCEPN, in partnership with the NYC Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene and Northwell Health, will offer five PPE trainings for clinical providers in April 2016 to support infectious disease preparedness. Participating organizations will be provided with personal protective equipment kits, which can be used for training or in health center operations, as well as possible educational credits (CMEs) for participating providers.