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 Launches NAP Resource Center Many FQHCs, Look-Alikes and health care organizations around the state are working on New Access Point (NAP) applications to either establish new community health centers or to build new satellites for existing CHCs. In order to fulfill the promise of health care reform--which in New York State means serving 3 million patients by 2015—CHCANYS is coordinating resources to support New York’s FQHCs, Look-Alikes, and other qualified organizations in developing strong NAP Applications so we can seize this historic moment. To that end, CHCANYS has developed the NAP Resource Center which provides information on key components of the application as well as with resources provided by CHCANYS, HRSA and others. Click here to access the NAP Resource Center.
The NAP Resource Center is dynamic. We’ll be adding new materials and resources as they become available so please check back or sign up at the CHCANYS Facebook page to hear about new additions as they happen.
If you would like additional information about how CHCANYS may be able to assist you in the development of your NAP application, please contact Rebecca Gaige-Troxell at rgaige@chcanys.org.
CHCANYS Clinical Conference In The News On Sunday, October 3 through Tuesday, October 5, 325 community health center administrators, staff, clinicians and board members gathered in Albany for the 2010 CHCANYS Annual Clinical Forum and Conference in Albany. The conference was a great success and attendees heard from a wide variety of experts in their fields with a specific focus on the role that federally qualified health centers will play in the future of health care reform. Presentations from the various conference workshops will be available soon on the CHCANYS website. Click here to watch a news story about the conference that aired in eight upstate New York markets.
News from Health Center Support Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced awards of $727 million to 143 Community Health Centers These awards to CHCs nationwide address pressing construction and renovation needs and are the first in a series of awards that will be made available to CHCs under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. For more information and to visit the list of the awards by state, please click here.
Government Grants Information Service Funding Alert: School-Based Health Centers Capital (SBHCC) Program School based health centers may now apply for grants of up to $500,000 as part of a one hundred million dollar initiative available through HHS and HRSA. Eligible applicants must be school-based health centers or a sponsoring facility of a school-based health center as defined in section 4101(a)(6) of the Affordable Care act.
It is expected that the proposed projects will support the SBHC in providing more effective, efficient, and quality health care. Applicants must also demonstrate how their proposal will lead to improvements in access to health services for children at a SBHC.
A funding preference will be used for this announcement. In order to be eligible for the funding preference, applicants must certify that the SBHC site(s) serves a large population of children eligible for medical assistance under the State Medicaid plan under title XIX of the Social Security Act (the Act) or under a waiver of such plan or children eligible for child health assistance under the State child health plan under title XXI of the Act (42 U.S.C. 1397aa et seq.).
An eligible applicant may submit one application proposing a maximum of 10 projects including any combination of site-specific, stand-alone facility projects and one project to purchase moveable equipment and supplies for multiple SBHC sites. Applicants may not request SBHCC funds to support the provision of health services, personnel or other operational expenses.
All applicants requesting funding for a SBHCC grant must use the guidance provided in this funding opportunity announcement. It should be reviewed thoroughly prior to making a decision to apply.
To access this grant, please click here. CMS Provides Resources to Help You Prepare for ICD-10 The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has resources for providers, vendors, and payers to prepare for transition to Version 5010 and ICD-10. Fact sheets available for educating staff and others about the transition include:
News from Clinical Quality Initiatives NYS Diabetes Campaign The NYS Diabetes Campaign, sponsored by the NYS Health Foundation, is committed to reversing the diabetes epidemic in New York State. CHCANYS continues to meet with health centers statewide to promote the mission of the NYS Diabetes Campaign - to achieve high standards of care and improved patient outcomes. CHCANYS will work with providers at whatever level they are ready to participate and assist health centers in applying for national diabetes recognition programs (National Committee for Quality Assurance's (NCQA) Diabetes Recognition Program or Bridges To Excellence's Diabetes Care Link program). All application fees will be paid by NYS Health Foundation. To access information on how you can adopt seven standard practices that characterize high-quality clinical diabetes management at your health center, contact Kathy Alexis at kalexis@chcanys.org or 212-710-3817.
CHCANYS Regional Diabetes Symposiums CHCANYS will host four regional half-day symposiums concentrating on best practices surrounding providing excellent diabetes care. Click here for “Save the Date” information.
NCQA is Now Recognizing Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants NCQA’s Recognition Programs have recently been extended to include nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs). A practice that is submitting an application for NCQA Diabetes Recognition may list its NPs and PAs to be recognized based on their ability to meet the measures and standards. Click here for more information or contact Kathy Alexis at (212) 710-3817 or kalexis@chcanys.org.
FREE WEBINAR: Certified Diabetes Educators – Accessing an Untapped Resource Please click here to register for this online event.
Event description: The number of New Yorkers with diabetes has more than doubled in the last decade, to over 1.8 million, and diabetes is the only chronic disease that continues to grow in prevalence. Certified Diabetes Educators (CDEs) have been shown to play an important role in helping people prevent and manage diabetes and its complications.
At the same time, there is a dearth of CDEs in New York State. A March 2010 NYS Health Foundation/Center for Workforce Studies policy brief found that CDEs are not serving New Yorkers with the highest burden of disease, and that demand for their services is limited due to lack of physician and patient awareness of the competencies of CDEs.
Please join us for a webinar with Gerald Bernstein, M.D., and Marina Krymskya, R.N., M.S., A.N.P., CDE, of the Friedman Diabetes Institute. They will discuss the value of collaborative care between physicians and CDEs, and the value of reimbursement for this kind of care.
2010-2011 Hypertension Initiative Recruitment CHCANYS is currently in the initial recruitment phase for health centers to participate in the 2010-2011 Hypertension Initiative. The overarching goals of the initiative are to: expand the reach of the initiative to additional FQHCs throughout the state; provide resources to clinical staff and leadership on best practices in cardiovascular/hypertension health care and management in health centers; and provide technical assistance to participating health centers in improving their cardiovascular health outcomes. All year activities will be based on the Care Model and Model for Improvement.
While all health centers in New York State are eligible, each participating health center must meet the following criteria for participation:
Experience with learning collaboratives (selection of health centers will not be limited to only those with collaborative experience);
Implemented electronic medical/health record for at least one year; and
Ability to access at least one year’s worth of data populated in an electronic medical/health record.
FQHCs that express interest in the initiative will be offered an initiative Terms of Participation. Those health centers that successfully complete the year collaborative will be awarded a stipend based on completion of deliverables.
For more information, please contact Candy Magana, Clinical Quality Initiatives Coordinator, via phone or email at 212-710-3816 or cmagana@chcanys.org.
HEART HEALTH: Cardiovascular Guidelines for Community Health Centers, a training reference manual, is the bi-product of CHCANYS' collaboration with the Healthy Heart Program of the New York State Department of Health. The goal of this manual is to provide all New York State health centers and parties interested in improving cardiovascular care within their respective institutions with information on blood pressure measurement and in-house CLIA waived point-of-care diagnostic testing guidelines. CHCANYS is pleased to offer electronic versions of the manual and a corresponding training PowerPoint presentation online through CHCANYS' website free of charge. To access the manual, please click here. For more information about this resource, please contact CHCANYS Quality Initiatives via telephone at 212-279-9686.
Six Weeks Fitness Challenge Body Sculpt of New York, Inc is a not-for-profit health and fitness organization with a mission to educate adults and children about obesity and offer healthy alternatives in fitness and nutrition. The organization offers several programs that NYC health centers can use as a resource for their patients. If you are interested in jump starting your workout plan and/or providing a community resource to your patients, click here for more information or call (718) 346-5852.
FREE CONFERENCE: The Importance of Integrating Screening for Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia into Pre-Conception Health Care When: December 10th, 2010 (space is limited) Time: 8:15AM – 3:00PM Location: Jacob Javitz Federal Building, 26 Federal Plaza, 6th Floor Conference Room A Target Audience: Physicians, PAs, Nurses, CNMs, Health Educators, Genetic Counselors, Social Workers, Dietitians and Policy makers who work in family planning, primary care, minority health, women’s health, pediatrics, and related fields
Conference description: The goal of the conference is to raise awareness of Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia, for which public health issues remain critical challenges to survival for individuals and families affected by these disorders. The learning objectives are to (1) identify current challenges to the provision of adequate screening and pre-conception counseling services for a population with rapidly changing demographics; (2) review current standards for best practices in clinical care and (3) develop strategies for improving the quality and coordination of health service delivery to enhance disease management support for individuals battling either disease. The meeting will conclude with a call to action to improve recognition of the need to make these improvements for patients with Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia as a public health priority.
Clinical Committee Monthly Calls The Clinical Quality Initiatives Team at CHCANYS continues to host monthly Clinical Committee calls to discuss issues that matter to the health centers statewide. We welcome clinicians of all disciplines (e.g., Physicians, PAs, NPs, Nurses, Social Workers, Health Educators, etc.) to join in on the discussions that have a dynamic impact on all health centers statewide.
When: 3rd Friday of every month (unless otherwise announced) Time: 9:00 – 10:00AM EST Dial-in number: 1-866-504-8504 Conference Code: 2127103817
Webinar on the Impact of Trauma on Women and Girls: November 2, 2010 The impact of violence, abuse, neglect, disaster, war, and other harmful experiences continues long after the traumatic event has ended. Exposure to trauma is a pervasive issue that has significantly impacted the health and well-being of millions of Americans and nearly everyone seeking services in the public health and social services systems. Understanding how trauma affects the emotional, behavioral, cognitive, social, and physical functioning of the people we care for can improve our services. For information on this upcoming webinar, please click here.
News from Emergency Preparedness Adult Care EP Central Conference Call: Emergency Response Plan for Adult Care and Health Care Practices On Tuesday October 19, Dr. Kristine Gebbie, author of What to Do Before, During and After an Emergency or Disaster – A Preparedness Toolkit for Office-based Health Care Practices will discuss steps that you can take to minimize the impacts of an emergency, improving not only your ability to continue delivery of services during an emergency but also to restore your facility to normalcy more quickly and efficiently. Please join us for the October edition of the Adult Care EP Central Conference Call. The call is free. Click here for dial-in information and agenda.
NYC 2010 PODs Training Program Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC) in cooperation with New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH) is accepting applications from NYC primary care facilities to participate in a program that will provide training and resources (including a stipend) to design, train, staff, execute and evaluate a point of dispensing (POD) program for the delivery of mass prophylaxis – specifically seasonal influenza vaccine. For complete details and to download the application (due October 28), click here.
Healthcare Personnel Influenza Vaccination Study
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) is enrolling facilities to field test a new CDC-sponsored standardized measure to determine influenza vaccination coverage rates among healthcare personnel. Help to protect and promote the health of your staff and their patients; access more information about the program here.
Current Projects CHCANYS Emergency Preparedness Program has begun recruiting for initiatives aimed at assisting our member health centers with their emergency management and planning needs. These initiatives will ensure that our membership can achieve the level of preparedness required by HRSA and Joint Commission operational standards for FQHCs.
NEW YORK CITY
EMP Assistance* – participating sites will undergo an on-site evaluation by the CHCANYS EP staff to review their existing EMPs, to assess their quality and identify areas of improvement to ensure they meet acceptable standards. BCP Assistance* – CHCANYS EP staff will provide on-site assistance to health centers in creating or updating their Business Impact Analysis, reviewing their Business Continuity Plans, and developing an After-Action Report/Improvement Plan to ensure they meet all standards. Exercise Plan Templates – CHCANYS EP staff will draft 5 Emergency Preparedness Exercise Plans, the completion of which will help health centers satisfy drill requirements for Joint Commission and HRSA. We’re still looking for your input on what kinds of exercise plan scenarios would be best for your centers. Click here for a form you can use to let us know your preferences.
UPSTATE
EMP Assistance* – participating sites will undergo an on-site evaluation by the CHCANYS EP staff to review their existing EMPs, to assess their quality and identify areas of improvement to ensure acceptable standards are met. EMP Template – CHCANYS will solicit feedback from centers to determine areas of improvement needed to update the Community Health Center Emergency Preparedness Manual Template. NYSDOH Communications Drill –In the coming year, NYSDOH is preparing two communication drills planned to improve emergency communications between health centers and the NYSDOH. CHCANYS will provide coordination between NYSDOH and our member health centers and we will send more information out as soon as it is available.
*Limited spaces available
Please e-mail us at EPTeam@chcanys.org to let us know about your interest in any of the above projects.
Management & FinanceNews from HIT, Policy News Check the next Your CHCANYS for updates __________________________________________________________________________________________
