We hope you find this an efficient, useful tool and we welcome your feedback and comments. --Elizabeth Swain, CEO
If your health center has a training or technical assistance that you'd like to share with others around the state, or would like to subscribe others at your health center to Your CHCANYS please email the pertinent information to Libby Post at lpost@commservices.net. Thank you.
CHCANYS UPDATES--NEW CALL for PROPOSALS - CHCANYS Clinical Forum & Statewide Annual Conference Health centers statewide are invited to submit proposals from now through August 28th for this year’s conference – October 14-16 in Rye Brook, New York. The theme is Integrating Community Health Across Populations to focus on the work of community health centers in diverse rural and urban communities throughout the state. To learn more and to submit a proposal click here.
Region II Presentations & CME Available CHCANYS thanks all conference participants, presenters, and sponsors/exhibitors for making this year’s conference a success. To continue to share resources and information, you may review presentations by clicking here.
The Region II conference has been reviewed and is acceptable for up to 12.50 Prescribed credits by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). Clinicians who are members of AAFP may file credits online. Clinicians who are members of other medical associations and organizations, may request a certificate for submission by sending an e-mail to rwynn@chcanys.org
Primary Care Physicians Sought for Focus Group in Manhattan, NY
On Thursday, August 20 from 6-8 pm in midtown Manhattan, Primary Care physicians will gather to provide feedback on a New York State public health campaign.Participants will receive a $200 stipend on the day of the focus group and food will be served.For more information, please contact Carlos Moreno at 212-234-1500.
Diabetes Policy Brief Release by NYS Health Foundation and Bridges To Excellence
The New York State Health Foundation’s Diabetes Policy Center in partnership with Bridges To Excellence has released their policy brief, Aligning Diabetes Incentive Programs Among New York’s Health Plans. The brief describes their new Diabetes Incentive Program Endorsement - the strategy created to promote incentives that drive excellence in diabetes care and outcomes. The Center’s goals are to encourage the majority of health plans in New York State to offer and deliver incentives to physicians and practices that demonstrate delivering quality care and achieving better outcomes for patients with diabetes and to encourage the alignment of incentive programs across New York’s health plans.
New AHRQ Evidence Report on Community Health Worker Effectiveness Available A new AHRQ evidence report says that community health workers can improve appropriate use of some cancer screening services among minority and low-income patients and may improve their health knowledge. However, the report could not determine other ways these workers impact health behaviors, health outcomes, or utilization of other health services because of conflicting or absent study findings. Researchers led by Meera Viswanathan, Ph.D., of the AHRQ-supported Research Triangle Institute International-University of North Carolina Evidence-based Practice Center, reviewed studies on the effectiveness of community workers compared to other health education methods, such as health care interventions such as nurse-led education, mass-marketing of health information, and usual care. Specifically, the researchers found evidence that community health workers can be effective for improving people’s knowledge on preventive health measures. Community health workers also seem to increase use of cervical cancer screening, mammography screening, and asthma self-management. However, the researchers did not find evidence that community health workers were more effective than other health care interventions when it comes to getting people into the clinic for clinical breast examination, colorectal cancer screening, management of their chronic diseases, and for most maternal and child health indicators. For access to the full report, click here.
FTC Delays Red Flag Rule
On July 29, 2009, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the postponement of the Red Flag rule enforcement deadline from August 1, 2009 to November 1, 2009. Click here for the FTC "Frequently Asked Questions" on the rule. Additionally, NACHC has prepared an issue brief on this topic which can be found here.
NACHC UPDATES--NEW NHSC LRP Conference Call Scheduled The NHSC Loan Repayment Program (LRP) conference call will take place August 30, 2009 from 2:30-4:30pm EDT. Call 1-888.889.0974, passcode 8360318.Find more information about LRP by clicking here.
Establishing and Collecting Fees for Health Center Services One of the most important and challenging decisions every health center must make is the setting of an appropriate schedule of fees for its services and a corresponding schedule of discounts off fees that are required to be made available to eligible patients.A just-released NACHC analysis examines this topic in detail by clicking here.
UPCOMING MEETINGS AND TRAININGS – NEW HHS Announces $200 Million in ARRA Funding to Expand Health Professions Training On July 28, 2009, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the availability of $200 million to support grants, loans, loan repayment, and scholarships to expand the training of health care professionals. The funds are expected to train approximately 8,000 students and credentialed health professionals by the end of fiscal year 2010. These funds are part of $500 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding that has been allotted to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to address workforce shortages including $300 million to expand the National Health Service Corps.Read the full HHS press release here.For more information from NACHC on how the information pertains to the primary care workforce, click here.
Executive Quality Academy offers program to achieve quality improvement According to the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, “responsibility for measured performance in clinical quality and safety rests squarely on the shoulders of each member of the senior executive team, regardless of whether or not they have a clinical background.”
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement is offering an Executive Quality Academy for executive teams struggling with:
Measuring performance on items such as the CMS Core Measures
Achieving measured quality aims that they have no idea how to reach
Implementing successful improvements that become imbedded into standard work practices.
The Executive Quality Academy will be held in Cambridge, Massachusetts October 19- 21.This three-day intensive program promises to enhance the ability of your leadership team to achieve measured quality improvement at the level of the whole system.To learn more about the Academy, click here.
HRSA PINS AND PALS--NEW Changes in Uniform Data System (UDS) Reporting Requirements HRSA Issues Program Assistance Letter (PAL) related to changes in the UDS to reflect Recovery Act Funding.For details about the changes, click here.
