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JHCPU
ACU members receive online access to the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. Click the image to learn more about JHCPU.
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October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month
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Our Sponsors
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New ACU Intern
Jennifer Buck, a graduate of Spelman College and an MPH student at George Washington University, is ACU's new health policy intern. Jennifer can be reached at jbuck@clinicians.org. |
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ACU Honors Regina Benjamin
 ACU President Peter Sherman, MD, presented U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin an ACU Leadership award at the National Summit of Clinicians for Healthcare Justice held in September. Sherman praised Benjamin for her commitment to "Promoting Health Equity and Access for All." Watch the video online.
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Asthma Care for Underserved Populations
ACU announced the start of a new multi-year project to improve the quality of asthma healthcare for underserved populations that will train clinicians to provide asthma trigger education, management and mitigation strategies within the framework of culturally and linguistically competent care. The four-year project is funded by a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). With the new funding, the ACU will enhance an existing asthma training curriculum, utilize health information technology (IT) to improve asthma trigger management and education, and produce low literacy patient self management materials in English, Spanish and three Asian languages. Read more
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Welcome Allscripts  ACU is pleased to welcome Allscripts as a Platinum Sponsor. Allscripts is a leading provider of software, services, information and connectivity solutions to health care providers. The company's mission is to be the most trusted provider of innovative solutions that empower all stakeholders across the healthcare continuum to deliver world-class outcomes. ACU Executive Director Kathie Westpheling praised the partnership, saying "Health IT is going to play a major role in quality improvement; Allscripts shares our commitment to making sure that underserved populations benefit from this technology." Helen Figge, PharmD, MBA, Allscripts Client Office, said the two organizations have much in common. "Allscripts supports ACU's transdisciplinary approach to health care, emphasis on workforce development, and belief that everyone should have equal access to quality healthcare," she said.
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Members in the News
 Carl Toney, an ACU charter member and past president, was appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary, Community-Based Linkages. Toney is an assistant professor and director of the Center for Transcultural Health at the University of New England College of Health Professions. Toney said, "Hopefully this will provide another platform for me to promote both the interprofessional education & practice model, and the principles and perspectives of ACU."
Barbara Brandt, also an ACU charter member, was inducted into the Granite City High School Wall of Fame. Brandt is currently Assistant Vice President for Education, the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center and Professor, Pharmaceutical Care and Health Systems, University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. Her expertise is in the areas of interprofessional education in the health professions, curricular innovations in higher education, and access to care for medically underserved populations.
 Fitzhugh Mullan, MD, Professor of Public Health and Pediatrics, George Washington University and Katherine A. Flores, MD, Director of the University of California (UCSF) Fresno Latino Center for Medical Education and Research, were recently named to the new National Health Care Workforce Commission, created by Congress in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
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Public Comments Welcome The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) invites public comment on its draft recommendation statement on screening for testicular cancer. This draft recommendation is an update of the USPSTF's 2004 recommendation against screening for testicular cancer in asymptomatic adolescent and adult males. The comment period is open until Oct. 19, 2010. The Office of Minority Health requests public comments on existing National Standards for the Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health Care. The comment period is open until Dec. 31, 2010. Three regional meetings are also being held to solicit comments:
- Baltimore, MD - Oct. 22
- San Francisco - Nov 4
- Chicago, IL - Nov 15
Registration is requested for each meeting. Additional details are available online.
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Health Reform Explained
The Kaiser Family Foundation has launched the Health Reform Source, a comprehensive resource on the health reform law, featuring Health Reform Hits Main Street, a new animated short movie designed to explain the health reform law to an American public still confused by how it works. Other resources include an interactive state map with key state-specific information, answers to frequently asked questions, an updated health reform subsidy calculator, and weekly opinion poll updates.
Visit the Health Reform Source online. You can also subscribe to alerts via email and RSS feeds. Additionally, the Foundation has established a Facebook page for the Health Reform Source, which will feature additional related material. |
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Quality Improvement
HealthcareCommunities.org (HC) is a web-based knowledge management system that provides multiple means for the healthcare quality improvement (QI) community to share knowledge and contribute to each others' QI work. It includes a resource center of tools for quality improvement organized around different clinical interests. For more information, visit www.healthcarecommunities.org.
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Fellowships And Scholarships
The CDC Experience Applied Epidemiology Fellowship is a one-year fellowship tailored for rising 3rd- and 4th-year medical students, designed to increase the pool of physicians with a population health perspective. Eight competitively selected fellows spend 10-12 months at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offices in Atlanta, GA, where they carry out epidemiologic analyses in various areas of public health. Examples of previous and current areas of concentration include viral and bacterial diseases, cardiovascular health, obesity prevention, birth defects, STDs, injury prevention, and air pollution and respiratory health. More information is available online. Application deadline: Friday, Dec. 3, 2010.
The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation is accepting applications for the 2011 Barbara Jordan Health Policy Scholars Program. This intensive summer program provides college students with an opportunity to work on policy issues in a congressional office and to engage in original health policy research and analysis under the guidance of Foundation research staff. The application deadline is 5 p.m. ET on Friday, Dec. 3, 2010. Application materials and more information are available online.
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Conferences and E-Learning
For a more complete list of upcoming conferences and webinars, visit the ACU website.Oct. 18 - 19, a workshop on Translating CKD Research into Improved Clinical Outcomes will be held on at the National Institutes of Health's Natcher Conference Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Sponsored by the National Institute for Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) this meeting will focus on type 2 translational research (T2) for chronic kidney disease (CKD). The goal of T2 research is to identify factors that lead to adoption, maintenance, and sustainability of science-based interventions at the practice level.
Oct. 19, 1 PM (EST) The 100 Day Cough: the 2010 Pertussis Epidemic, a webcast offered by the Migrant Clinicians Network and CDN. Register online.
Oct. 22, 2 - 3:30 PM (EST) Tips for Using EHRs to Improve Quality of Care and Health Outcomes, a webinar offered by HRSA and geared to HRSA grantees and the safety net community. Register online.
Oct. 20 - 22, Through an Interdisciplinary Looking Glass: Achieving Quality Outcomes through Research, Education, And Practice, the annual conference of the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions in Charlotte, NC. Conference details are available online.
Dec. 3, Personal Health Records - Understanding the Evolving Landscape, a free day-long public roundtable offered by the Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) at the FTC Conference Center in Washington, DC. The roundtable is designed to inform ONC's Congressionally mandated report on privacy and security requirements for non-Covered Entities (non-CEs) with a focus on personal health records (PHRs) and related service providers (Section 13424 of the HITECH Act). Registration and additional conference information will be available online.
The National Center for Farmworker Health (NCFH) has made available two new education training sessions with continuing education credits through the NCFH Resource Center. Topics include Family Emergency Preparedness Training and Human Trafficking and Public Safety. These sessions are free of charge and available as CD-ROMs. They include PowerPoint presentations that play alongside an educational session filmed at the 2009 Midwest Stream Farmworker Health Forum in South Padre Island, TX. To obtain copies, please contact Erika Garcia via email, garcia@ncfh.org, or by calling 512-312-5464.
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Child Nutrition Bill Stalled
The House of Representatives adjourned for the midterm elections without taking up consideration of S. 3307, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act. S. 3307 includes an additional $4.5 billion over 10 years for federal child nutrition programs and also includes a number of important policy changes aimed at providing the nation's children with healthier foods before, after and during school hours. Nutrition advocates, including ACU, will push for consideration if Congress returns after the elections for a lame duck session.
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Health IT
Two relaunched health information technology (IT) and quality technical assistance resources are available to grantees and the safety net community on the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) websites: - The Rural Health IT toolbox is a key resource for implementing and adopting health IT systems and focuses on rural providers such as Rural Health Clinics and Critical Access Hospitals.
- The HRSA Health IT and Quality website will be home to the HRSA Health IT and Quality webinars. The first webinar "Tips for Meaningful Use Gap Analysis within the Safety Net Community," is now available. In the coming weeks, more webinars providing technical assistance tips and strategies on health IT and quality will be added. The webinars can be found in the resources section on the homepage.
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CMS EHR Incentive Programs
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EHR'S Certified
The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®) announced that it has tested and certified 33 Electronic Health Record (EHR) products under the Commission's ONC-ATCB program, which certifies that the EHRs are capable of meeting the 2011/2012 criteria supporting Stage 1 meaningful use as approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). Certification is required to qualify eligible providers and hospitals for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). View the list of certified products here.
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Patient Education
HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality released The Patient Perspective, a three-part video PSA series. Each 30-second video addresses how patients and their loved ones can take action to ensure they receive the best health care guidance possible. Designed to complement education that patients receive in their doctor's office, clinic, pharmacy or hospital, the new video helps patients understand three key aspects of managing their own health:
- organizing medications by using a "pill card"
- knowing what questions to ask when being discharged from the hospital
- playing it safe by bringing a trusted friend or family member to a doctor's appointment to ensure detailed and accurate health information is collected and understood.
The video is available as a DVD and can be obtained from the AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse. Call 1-800-358-9295 or e-mail AHRQPubs@ahrq.hhs.gov.
Companion print brochures, Your Medicine: Play It Safe, Taking Care of Myself: A Guide for When I Leave the Hospital, and Be Prepared for Medical Appointments are also available free of charge. View or download the videos and brochures online.
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