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.
News from Health Center Support
National Health Center Week is a little over a month away. Start planning now. Click here for CHCANYS's NHCW resources. Email Darryl Ng at dng@chcanys.org for information on our joint NACHC/CHCANYS NHCW seminar to be held July 6th.
CHCANYS Clinical Forum & Statewide Conference: Register Today! This year’s conference will focus on health care reform and provide important content related to capital development, health care home and timely news and practices in health care policy, clinical quality, reimbursement, health information technology, and more. The conference will take place October 3-5 at The Desmond Hotel in Albany, NY. For hotel and registration, please click here.
Jeffrey T. Latman Foundation Grant: Supports Finance TA/Training & Scholarships CHCANYS is pleased to announce that we received a grant from the Jeffrey T. Latman Foundation to support technical assistance training and financial webinars for community health center finance and accounting staff. The grant also provides a limited number of scholarships for CHCANYS’ Clinical Forum and Statewide Annual Conference October 3-5 in Albany, NY. To apply for a scholarship, please click here.
Presentations from the Region II Conference – Community Health Centers: A Pathway to Healthcare Reform hosted by New Jersey Primary Care Association for New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are now available by clicking here.
NHSC improves application process As you know, the NHSC supports primary care professionals by offering loan repayment awards in return for service in an underserved community. NHSC is currently recruiting 4,000 new Corps members to receive loan repayment awards—more than ever before. This is an incredible opportunity for the interns, residents and other clinicians with whom you work or communicate, who want to make a difference in the lives of Americans who may not otherwise have access to basic health care.
Primary care professionals who have completed their training are eligible to receive up to $145,000 in loan repayment for completing a five-year service commitment, with an initial award of $50,000 for two years of service.
NHSC has recently improved the application process, making it simpler and easier for interested clinicians to apply. CHCANYS is spreading the word to get more clinicians to visit www.nhsc.hrsa.gov and check out the program’s details and application instructions. New materials have been developed that help to outline the program’s eligibility requirements and the process to apply, which can be found by clicking here and looking under “Next Steps”.
Applications for the current cycle are being accepted through July 29, 2010. Dr. Wakefield Interviewed by Washington Post on Reform Provisions A June 21st Washington Post article summarizes an interview with Mary Wakefield, Administrator of the Health Resources & Services Administration on HRSA's implementation of provisions of the Affordable Care Act. Dr. Wakefield discusses community health centers, workforce initiatives and other issues. To read the article, please click here.
HHS Announces $250 Million Investment in Enhancing Primary Care Workforce Department of Health & Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, just announced a series of new investments to increase the number of healthcare providers and strengthen the primary care workforce. Joined by HRSA Administrator, Dr. Mary Wakefield, Secretary Sebelius said, "These investments build on the Administration's strong commitment to training the primary care doctors and nurses of tomorrow and improving both health care quality and access for Americans throughout the country." The investments in the primary care workforce are the first allocation from the new $500 million Prevention and Public Health Fund for fiscal year 2010, created by the Affordable Care Act. Half of this fund - $250 million - will be used to boost the supply of primary care providers in this country by providing new resources for:
Creating additional primary care residency slots: $168 million for training more than 500 new primary care physicians by 2015;
Supporting physician assistant training in primary care: $32 million for supporting the development of more than 600 new physician assistants;
Encouraging students to pursue full-time nursing careers: $30 million for encouraging over 600 nursing students to attend school full-time so that they have better odds of completing their education;
Establishing new nurse practitioner-led clinics: $15 million for the operation of 10 nurse-managed health clinics which assist in the training of nurse practitioners; and
Encouraging states to plan for and address health professional workforce needs: $5 million for states to plan and implement innovative strategies to expand their primary care workforce by 10 to 25 percent over ten years to meet increased demand for primary care services.
"With these health care workforce investments, we have a unique opportunity to further strengthen our primary care workforce for the future," said Dr. Wakefield. For more information, please click here.
News from Clinical Quality Initiatives
Check the next Your CHCANYS for updates.
Emergency Preparedness
UPSTATE New York State Immunization Information System (NYSIIS) – The Public Health Law, which took effect January 1, 2008, mandates health care providers to report all immunizations administered to persons less than 19 years of age to the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH). The law also requires that immunization histories of all persons less than 19 years of age who receive vaccines after January 1, 2008 also be recorded in NYSIIS, if those histories have not already been reported. Those who are not currently participating are out of compliance with the legislative mandate and are a full two years behind in reporting. Failure to comply with public health law may result in monetary penalties. It is imperative that any provider organization that has not yet attended training or begun reporting to NYSIIS take the necessary steps to do so by reviewing the contents of the NYS DOH letter available by clicking here. Classroom training sessions, live webinar trainings and recorded webinars are available through December 2010. For the training schedule, please click here.
NYSDOH Critical Asset Survey (CAS) - The NYSDOH has released the 2010 CAS to survey the emergency preparedness assets and needs of health centers. This survey may be found on the Health Commerce System (HCS) portal. Questions on the survey may be directed to Jon Maskin, Project Manager, NYS DOH at 518-408-5161 or Mary Lou Caprara, CHCANYS Emergency Preparedness at 518-434-0767 x15.
News from HIT
Check the next Your CHCANYS for updates.
Policy News
NACHC is offering two new webinars on Health Care Reform. These webinars will give health centers the tools needed to keep up with the changes coming out of Health Care reform. Disability Insurance: How to be Sure Your Whole Staff is Covered. July 1 2-3:30 PM ESTLearn the nuances of disability coverage and get to know the discounts available to you as a NACHC member community health center! To register, please click here.
Staffing Your Health Center in an Era of Health Reform July 15 2-3:30 PM ESTThis convenient 90 minute webinar will address the challenges and obstacles of recruiting primary care physicians and dentists to your community health center. To register, please click here. For more information on these free webinars, please click here.
Health Center Practice Operations Management (POM) Seminar July 14-15, Memphis, Tennessee Designed for Health Center Chief Operating Officers, Executive Management, Other Management, Front Desk Staff and Board Members, this innovative seminar will provide clear strategies to maximize the productivity and resources of your health center. For more information, please click here. To register for this seminar, please click here.
Webinar on National Health Care Week On Tuesday, July 6th at 3:00 PM, CHCANYS will be hosting, in partnership with NACHC, a webinar entitled Getting the Most Out of National Health Center Week. National Health Center Week (NHCW) has become one of the most powerful and effective tools in health center advocacy, public relations, and capital campaigns. This webinar will provide effective tools and highlight lessons learned for maximizing NHCW as an annual linchpin of your health center grassroots advocacy and public awareness strategies. This will include event planning, securing state and local sponsors, media outreach ideas and tools used successfully by health centers and Primary Care Associations. Email Darryl Ng at dng@chcanys.org for information on our joint NACHC/CHCANYS NHCW seminar to be held July 6th.
HRSA PINS AND PALS
2010 UDS Reporting Changes Published Changes in UDS reporting for CY 2010 can be found in the Program Assistance Letter 2010-04, which can be accessed by clicking here.
The changes are:
Revised definition for agricultural workers (Table 4);
Inclusion of Vision Service Providers - Ophthalmologists, Optometrists, and Optometric Assistants (Table 5) and visits/patients to these professionals (Tables 5 and 6A)
Combination of Asymptomatic and Symptomatic HIV Patients (Table 6A)
Addition of elements for Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C patients as well as tests for each diagnosis (Table 6A)
The relevant ICD-9 codes apply to the above. Note that your Practice Management/Electronic Health Records system should meet Version 5010 electronic claims transactions standards effective January 2012, permitting ICD-10 reporting in 2013, as mandated. HRSA Moving Look-Alikes to EHB The Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) has released Program Assistance Letter (PAL) 2010-07, “Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) Look-Alike Program Registration for Implementation of Electronic Information Systems.” To access the letter, please click here.
HRSA is streamlining FQHC Look-Alike program activities and moving them to HRSA's web-based Electronic Handbooks (EHB). Starting June 16, 2010, all FQHC Look-Alike Programs will be required to register their organization with HRSA's EHB in order to continue to do business with HRSA. HRSA is aware that the transition will require changes in the way that FQHC Look-Alikes collect and report data. Please access this PAL for technical assistance options.
