Weekly E-Blast:
Voicing the latest news on Communities in Need
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COUNTDOWN TO ENROLLMENT
46 Days
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Have news to share with us? Want to be featured on our next E-Digest? Want to read about something in particular? Please email us at aneeqa@machc.com.
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Community Health Center Spotlight
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NATIONAL HEALTH CENTER WEEK is NOW!
Thanks for hosting such successful NHCW events.
But wait, thereare still more events in the horizon....
Walnut Street will also host a roundtable with NACHC on August 28th starting at 11:30 am.
The day will include free health screenings, food distribution courtesy of the Maryland Food Bank, and representatives from 25 local and state social service agencies and organizations on site to answer questions and provide information. Children's activities, fitness demonstrations and free prize drawings will make the day a festive event. T-shirts decorated by children who attend the Health Fair will be displayed during National Health Center Week.
Federalsburg, MD - Open house at Choptank Community Health Sytem at the Federalsburg office. Come meet our providers and staff on August 13th from 5:30-7:30 pm.
Baltimore, MD - Baltimore Medical System is hosting a roundtable discussion with NACHC where Senator Cardin will be present. This event will take place on August 12th from 2 pm - 4 pm.
Baltimore, MD - Greater Baden Capital Heights will have a roundtable discussion with NACHC with the presence of Lt. Goveernor Brown. This event will take place on August 23rd from 1 pm - 3 pm.
IF YOUR HEALTH CENTER IS HOSTING AN EVENT DURING NHCW, PLEASE CONTACT US ASAP!
We will continue to highlight and support all the wonderful achievements of Health Centers!
Invite Your Legislators during NHCW!
NACHC strongly encourages Community Health Centers nationwide to celebrate National Health Center Week (NHCW) in August by holding events, inviting Members of Congress to visit health centers in the districts, and hosting events, such as health fairs, community celebrations, or media events to educate the public about the mission and value of health centers. The theme for this year's NHCW is: Celebrating America's Health Centers: Transforming Health Care in Our Local Communities.
You could be next! Please contact Aneeqa Chowdhury at aneeqa@machc.com to be placed on the SPOTLIGHT!
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Negotiate Managed Care Contracts
Did you know that many managed care contracts:
- Contain provisions which permit managed care organizations (MCOs) to pass any fines imposed on them by state and federal agencies to providers?
- Recoup payments through off-set so that they are rarely noticed?
- Bar health centers from waiving patient cost-sharing amounts?
For more on these and other managed care contract issues, register for one or more of NACHC's Managed Care Contracting series webinars. Click here.
WEBINAR II:
ACA Outreach and Enrollment Strategies and how your health center can brand itself in light of ACA.
The presentation will include an overview of the statewide outreach and communications campaign scheduled to launch in August 2013 that will raise awareness of the new health coverage options available through the Affrodable Care Act. Specific tools and resources available through Maryland Health Connection for community-based organizations and stakeholders will be shared.
Guest Speaker Danielle Davis and Leslie Lyles Smith from Maryland Exchange
Date: Wednesday, August 28th 12 pm -1 pm
Register HERE.
WEBINAR III:
ACA: The National Perspective
Guest Speaker: Shawn Frick, National Association of Community Health Centers
The Affordable Care Act continues to dominate the headlines as Community Health Centers near implementation. While some states such as Maryland have a better defined path to January 2014, most states are struggling with many unanswered questions. All states, however, should be aware of the strategic moves your health center should be considering at the local, regional or statewide level to protect the best interests of your business and your patients. This webinar will examine what CHCs can anticipate moving forward relative to federal funding and ACA implementation as well as strategies other states are using to place their health centers in the best strategic position as today's health care delivery systems continue to evolve.
Date: Thursday, September 5, 10 am - 11 am
*Registration information to come next week!
Has your Health Center been attending the Hospital Preparedness Program (HPP) monthly calls and Regional Meetings?!
Attending HPP Meetings will not only keep you and your health center on top of the latest Emergency Preparedness requirements and news, but there are other great incentives for those health centers who attend!
For a list of other EP events, please visit this url.
Registration is Now Open!!!
MACHC's 31st Annual Meeting & Conference "Strategic Perspectives on Reform, Innovation and Accountability" September 19th & 20th, 2013
Turf Valley Conference Center
Ellicott City, MD
Join us at MACHC's 31st Annual Meeting & Conference, where you will receive the latest information on all areas relevant to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. There will be much to learn for individuals of all positions, including but not limited to: CEOs, CFOs, COOs, Site Administrators, and Board Members of your health center!
The full implementation of the Affordable Care Act by the Obama Administration is already underway. Health Care Reform is now the law of the land. The implementation of the Affordable Care Act is perhaps the most revolutionary health reform breakthrough to occur in the healthcare sector since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965.
Community Health Centers are being challenged to combine efficiency and innovation in order to deliver quality health care in an increasingly competitive environment. However, there remains much speculation and uncertainties about what the ACA will do this fall.
Join us at MACHC's 31st Annual Conference where we will discuss some of the hottest subjects surrounding the ACA:
- Best practices on how to market your Health Center and the FQHC brand
- How to conduct an Organizational Readiness Assessment
- Maryland and Delaware from each State's perspective in readiness for ACA implementation
- Preparing for the new complexities in billing in order to receive maximum compensation
- The importance of board member preparation and participation in the new healthcare paradigm
Click here to register!
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Policy, Advocacy and Legislation
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Like many organizations across the country, Ms. Daily's agency, Northern Virginia Family Service, is hoping to win a federal grant to help uninsured people in the state sign up for coverage under President Obama's health care law. With the money, she hopes to hire at least a handful of "navigators" - a new category of worker created under the law to educate consumers about new health insurance options and, starting in October, to walk them through the enrollment process.
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| Medicare Changes, Not FDA Warning, Seem To Have Curtailed Use Of Dialysis Drugs, Study Finds
In March 2007, the Food and Drug Administration issued a stern "black box" warning regarding the anemia drugs commonly prescribed to dialysis patients: The popular drugs, known as ESAs, could increase the risk of heart attacks, stroke, blood clots and death. But according to a new paper by researchers who studied the use of the drugs for months before and after the warning, the FDA's black box "did not appear to influence ESA prescribing among the overall dialysis population." Instead, the use of the drugs continued a slow, steady decline rather than taking a sharp drop, according to the paper
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A recent Kaiser Family Foundation study reports that approximately 48% of adults who purchase health insurance via new online marketplaces will be eligible for federal subsidies to help offset costs, with the average subsidy estimated at $5,548.
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| Republican Officials Push Rising Stars Amid Calls For Solutions On Major Issues
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House members shouldn't worry about losing their seats if they oppose spending bills that contain Obamacare funding, conservatives said Wednesday. The blame for a potential government shutdown when the current spending bill expires Sept. 30 over the issue of stripping out funding for the Affordable Care Act would be spread among congressional Republicans, Democrats and President Barack Obama, according to a poll by GOP-leaning Basswood Research commissioned by Heritage Action for America 
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While there is little sign of GOP unity on solutions for immigration, health care or a looming budget standoff, RNC officials are launching a program to highlight a new generation of Republican leaders - largely younger and more ethnically diverse - to help broaden the party's appeal among women and minorities, groups that overwhelmingly supported President Barack Obama in the last election. The program supplements an ongoing effort to expand Republican outreach among minority communities across the country
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The state's three federally qualified health centers - Henrietta Johnson Medical Center, Westside Family Healthcare and La Red Health Center - are expecting an influx of patients newly insured under the federal Affordable Care Act.
Open enrollment for the new insurance marketplace begins Oct. 1 and Medicaid expansion takes effect Jan. 1.
"We expect to see [4,000] to 5,000 more patients in our service area," said Rosa Rivera, CEO of Henrietta Johnson Medical Center, which operates clinics on Wilmington's Eastside and Southbridge neighborhoods.
Delaware Health Care Commission gets update on plans to implement health care reform
Delawareans will soon be bombarded with the new health insurance exchange information being set up under the federal health care reform law.
Delaware's Health Care Commission on Wednesday announced a mass media campaign to educate the public about the exchange. It will include advertisements on radio, on network and cable television and in newspapers.
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Congressional Republicans agree that the new federal health care program should be ended. But they are finding themselves bitterly divided over how. They have tried dozens of times to repeal it. Now, some GOP lawmakers want to block all money for Obamacare in a stopgap spending bill that must be approved next month to prevent the government from shutting down on Oct. 1. But other Republicans say that won't work and may well backfire.
The television industry is anticipating an advertising bonanza related to the rollout of the federal health overhaul, with as much as $1 billion expected to be spent on ads by insurers alone, according to TV executives and a broadcasters' trade group.
A new ad promoting Obamacare was released Thursday, promoting insurance rebates families receive under the new health care law, according to reports. The ad by Organizing for Action will run on national cable channels, specifically Bravo and Lifetime, and is the third spot in support of the health care law running this summer
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What's the LATEST
MARYLAND Resources
Navigator and Assistor Training
Schedule for Maryland has now been released!!!!
Please find the PDF version of the Assistor schedule HERE and the Navigator schedule HERE. Make sure to save the date for the trainings. The registration information has not been released; however, as soon as it's public, we will send you an email and have it on the weekly E-Blast.
1) The ACA Toolkit (Click on ACA Toolkit for full pdf file of toolkit) prepared by MACHC. We hosted our first ACA Webinar (1 of 3) where we unveiled our Toolkit.
*The Second Webinar around Outreach and Enrollment Strategies-August 28th from 12 pm- 1pm
and Third Webinar A National Perspective of the ACA will be held on September 5th from 10 am- 11am.
* See under MACHC Happenings (above).
2) Brochures about the Health Insurance Marketplace to use during National Health Center Week and beyond. In case you too would be interested in printing these brochures to use as handouts, the links you need to find the most current CMS materials are listed below:
· For brochures and fact sheets in English: http://marketplace.cms.gov/getofficialresources/publications-and-articles/publications-and-articles.html
· For Spanish: http://marketplace.cms.gov/getofficialresources/spanish-materials/spanish-materials.html
· For other languages: http://marketplace.cms.gov/getofficialresources/other-languages/other-languages-materials.html
MARYLAND & DELAWARE RESOURCES
3) Here is a link to Social Media resources from the Health Federation of Philadelphia. You can use these resources to cater towards your center's goals and objectives: http://hivphilly.blogspot.com/2013/06/socialnetworkingproblems.html
4) CDCynergy Online Application
I. Social Marketing Edition: http://www.orau.gov/cdcynergy/soc2web/default.htm
II. Guide to Effective Health Communication: http://www.orau.gov/cdcynergy/web/default.htm
Revised Social Marketing Toolkit: http://www.cdc.gov/socialmedia/tools/guidelines/pdf/socialmediatoolkit_bm.pdf
CDC Campaigns: http://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/Campaigns/index.html
CDC Campaign Buttons:
http://www.cdc.gov/SocialMedia/Tools/ButtonsGallery.html
I encourage you to use these resources and share them with your staff. Moreover, I would love to hear from you if/when you put any of the information and resources to use. Knowing your stories and accomplishments will very much help us in our ongoing partnership efforts and we would love to highlight your health center accomplishments and use them as best practice.
DELAWARE Resources
Good news for Delaware! DE awarded approximately 510,000 dollars to Chatman, LLC to serve as the navigator for the state! Check out the announcement HERE.
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Grants & Funding Opportunities
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HHS/HRSA Care Counts Challenge
Application Deadline: August 30, 2013
$7500 for First Place Winners, $5000 for Second Place Winners in English and Spanish categories. This Challenge calls for the creation of an innovative, educational Tool that informs women about enrollment in their State's Marketplace as well as key provisions of the Affordable Care Act designed specifically to improve their health and that of their families. Sponsored by the Office of Women's Health at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office on Women's Health, in collaboration with the Coordinating Committee on Women's Health, the Challenge aims to reach all women, but particularly those in medically underserved communities.
Debunk the Myths: Grant Application Video Series
Federal grants can be excellent funding opportunities for your project, but not understanding the process can lead to a great deal of frustration. This video series will debunk common myths and assist you with your grant applications.
FY 2014 Service Area Competition (SAC) Technical Assistance Service Area Competition - New, Competing Continuation, and Supplemental (HRSA-14-021, HRSA-14-022, HRSA14-023, HRSA-14-024, HRSA-14-025, HRSA-14-026, HRSA-14-027, HRSA-14-028) Through the Service Area Competition (SAC), HRSA will award approximately $468 million in funding to an estimated 310 SAC applicants. A SAC application is a request for Federal financial assistance to support comprehensive primary health care services for a competitively announced underserved area or population. All available service areas (see below) are currently served by Health Center Program grantees whose project periods are ending in FY 2014. Application Deadlines | Project Period Start Date | HRSA Announcement Number | Grants.gov Deadline (11:59 PM ET) | HRSA EHB Deadline (5:00 PM ET) | | November 1, 2013 | HRSA-14-021 | July 24, 2013 | August 7, 2013 | | December 1, 2013 | HRSA-14-022 | July 31, 2013 | August 14, 2013 | | January 1, 2014 | HRSA-14-023 | August 14, 2013 | August 28, 2013 | | February 1, 2014 | HRSA-14-024 | September 11, 2013 | September 25, 2013 | | March 1, 2014 | HRSA-14-025 | October 9, 2013 | October 23, 2013 | | April 1, 2014 | HRSA-14-026 | October 30, 2013 | November 13, 2013 | | May 1, 2014 | HRSA-14-027 | December 4, 2013 | December 18, 2013 | | June 1, 2014 | HRSA-14-028 | January 8, 2014 | January 22, 2014
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*Please click on the title for more information regarding the various grants.
Scholarships
As part of our commitment to build a stronger, more empowered workforce, the National Council has partnered with USC to offer a $2,500 scholarship ($1,250 for advanced standing) for your employees when they enroll in the MSW@USC program in 2013.
Program Start Date Application Deadline
August 7, 2013 June 25, 2013
September 3, 2013 July 22, 2013
September 3, 2013 - Advanced Standing July 1, 2013
Your employees can request more information by clicking here. They should mention their National Council membership to admissions counselors to qualify for the scholarship.
You can also sign up here to request a special onsite or virtual information session just for your staff.
AHRQ Disseminating Patient Centered Outcomes Research to Improve Health Care Delivery
Application Deadline: September 27, 2013
Grants to leverage the capacities of existing broad-based networks of providers and other key stakeholders to disseminate and implement existing evidence for improving the quality of care delivery. Spread of evidence to support change in care delivery requires coordination, buy-in and active participation by diverse providers across multiple settings of care, collaboration with other key stakeholders (including payers and consumers) who are instrumental in shaping care delivery, and adaptation of interventions to local conditions. In recognition of these well-documented challenges and needs, this funding opportunity requires that applicants represent existing networks of providers and other stakeholders that have the knowledge, on-going relationships, expertise, infrastructures, past experience and understanding of local needs and constraints to maximize buy-in, collaboration, and appropriate adaptation to local conditions.
Bureau of Primary Health Care Loan Guarantee Program
Application Deadline: Applications accepted on an ongoing basis
Loan program to Section 330 health centers to obtain a loan guarantee for the financing of a medical facility construction, renovation and modernization.
Application Deadline: Letter of Intent: June 28, 2013
Applications: August 15, 2013
Under this announcement, CMS will spend up to $1 billion for awards and evaluation of projects from across the country that test new payment and service delivery models that will deliver better care and lower costs for Medicare, Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollees. This round of funding will support public and private organizations in four defined areas that have a high likelihood of driving health care system transformation and delivering better outcomes:
- Models that are designed to rapidly reduce Medicare, Medicaid, and/or CHIP costs in outpatient and/or post-acute settings.
- Models that improve care for populations with specialized needs.
- Models that test approaches for specific types of providers to transform their financial and clinical models.
- Models that improve the health of populations - defined geographically (health of a community), clinically (health of those with specific diseases), or by socioeconomic class - through activities focused on engaging beneficiaries, prevention (for example, a diabetes prevention program or a hypertension prevention program), wellness, and comprehensive care that extends beyond the clinical service delivery setting.
All applicants must submit, as part of their application, the design of a payment model that is consistent with the new service delivery model that they propose.
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Has your FQHC joined the
National Branding Campaign?
With more than 43 billion people eligible to enroll in private insurance starting this October 1, FQHCs strive to create an identifiable unifying identity for themselves. This is where the National Branding Campaign for Our Health Centers comes into place.
The campaign is a national branding effort to strengthen recognition of our Health Centers as a unified and nationwide network of quality community-based primary care providers. Initially created at the state level by the Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers (PACHC) and its membership, the National Association of Community Health Centers has expanded the campaign nationwide.
The FQHC Brand Components
MACHC recently hosted a Branding Webinar for MD and DE Health Centers with CEO of PACHC, Cheri Reinhart and Event and Communications Coordinator, Kirsten Keyes, as guest speakers. If you missed the webinar and would like access, please click here.
*MACHC will bring back Cheri Reinhart, CEO of Pennsylvania PCA present and lead a workgroup during MACHC's Annual Conference on Thursday - September 19, 2013! Look out for this session.
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Health Observances This Week
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 August 1-7th IS.............................National Immunization Awareness Month
Vaccines (shots) help prevent dangerous and sometimes deadly diseases. National Immunization Awareness Month is the perfect time to promote vaccines and remind family, friends, and co-workers to get caught up on their shots.
How can National Immunization Awareness Month make a difference?
We can all use this month to raise awareness about vaccines and share what we know with our community.
Here are just a few ideas:
- Talk to friends and family members about how vaccines aren't just for kids. People of all ages can get shots to protect them from serious diseases.
- Encourage people in your community to get the flu shot every year.
- Invite a doctor or nurse to speak to parents about why it's important for all kids to get their shots.
How can I help spread the word?
We've made it easier for you to make a difference! This toolkit is full of ideas to help you take action today. For example:
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