This session will provide an overview of state and federal telehealth policy developments and feature rural health centers utilizing telehealth to provide increased access to care for their patients.

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 session presents effective tools and highlights lessons learned for maximizing NHCW as an annual linchpin of your health center advocacy and public awareness strategies. Learn to maximize success in event planning, securing state and local sponsors, media outreach, working with elected officials, and raising awareness about the value and role of health centers in the community. Attendees will also learn how to plan and hold a successful NHCW event, or take existing events to the next level. 

According to the National Rural Health Association, a third of rural hospitals could shut down over the next decade. That has damaging implications for communities and patients of community health centers. Since iVantage Analytics released its report in February 2016 on the vulnerability of rural hospitals, another 16 rural hospitals have closed. This brings the total closed since 2010 to 82, and 122 since 2005 according to recent research conducted by the North Carolina Rural Health Research Program and funded by HHS’ Federal Office of Rural Health Policy. What are the implications of such closings on the patients served by community health centers? How have recent health care policies fueled or limited these closures? What policy approaches might reduce the impacts of rural hospital closings on vulnerable communities? This session will highlight lessons learned by a health center whose patients were impacted by the closure of a rural hospital and recommendations for minimizing impacts of such closings.

Emergencies may take many shapes and sizes, from smaller localized situations that may impact one health center to larger multi-region disasters. Additionally, the scope of an emergency or disaster could greatly limit a health center's ability to respond at that moment in time through recovery and rebuilding efforts months later. This session will look at potential roles that community health centers may play in responding and recovering from emergencies and disasters affecting their communities. The discussion will focus on current policy issues and challenges relevant to this issue, as well as opportunities for facilitating response and lessons learned after recent disasters.

Health centers, providing services to people experiencing homelessness, have tremendous potential to directly affect the health status and influence numerous underlying societal inequities that contribute to health disparities and poor health in this population. Over the next three years, the National Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) Council will focus on developing learning collaboratives targeting health centers to improve their performance and practice in some of the areas of trauma, behavioral health, and addressing the social determinants of health. One such initiative is the PhotoVoice Learning Collaborative to address the issue of stigma. PhotoVoice is a community research initiative in which participants recruited by health site coordinators document their lived experiences through photographs and journal entries that will be displayed in community and national exhibits. The goal of these exhibits is to not only increase knowledge and awareness, but also to empower participants to share their individual stories and to allow them to engage attendees in collaborative dialogue around issues and policies affecting community members.

BPHC’s Office of Policy and Program Development will give an update on policy and programmatic developments related health center funding, program requirements, OSVs, SACs, and related issues. An update on legal issues involving HRSA policy will also be provided.

Effective population health management is essential for health centers to flourish in a value based environment by applying a comprehensive, community-centered approach to improving the health of populations and patients they serve. The aims are to: (1) support CHCs in identifying and engaging an at-risk target population and applying interventions that upgrade processes of care, strengthen local partnerships, and address social determinants; (2) expand population health management capacity to additional patient or community target populations and additional social determinants of health; (3) enhance the potential for sustainability of the interventions, partnerships and population health capacity; and (4) develop and implement a learning community to share information among grantees and to  promote and expand collaboration through information sharing with partners and other audiences. This session will address the strategies, data needs, early process, and outcome improvements in developing and tracking effective population health management in health centers. 

Health centers rely on the professional liability coverage offered pursuant to the Health Center Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) program. From submitting the initial application for “deeming” status to handling malpractice claims and preparing for a site visit, FTCA program compliance is essential. Failing to comply with the FTCA program requirements can be very costly for health centers and providers who can be left without any professional liability insurance. In this session, trusted and experienced health center attorneys will discuss the impact of FTCA on health center operations, as well as the benefits and risks associated with participation in the FTCA program. Important lessons learned from health centers implementing the specific guidance of the new Health Center Program Compliance Manual pertaining to the changes of the deeming and redeeming applications, as well as adding licensed medical practitioner volunteers to FTCA coverage pursuant to the 21st Century Cures Act will be highlighted. The speakers will share successful strategies for 2018 and beyond with a focus on deeming applications and emergency-preparedness. There will be a call-in office hour in May to answer any questions that could not be addressed  during the live event, as well as any additional concerns that have emerged.

The numbers are in from the first year of UDS sexual orientation and gender identity (SO/GI) data reporting. This session will focus on lessons learned from national SO/GI data analysis and health center experiences implementing SO/GI data collection; the “why” and “how” of SO/GI data collection; and details of free trainings and resources available to health centers to improve SO/GI data collection and use of SO/GI data for improved care for LGBT populations.

In August 2017, HRSA issued the Health Center Program Compliance Manual which provides a streamlined and consolidated resource to assist health centers in understanding and demonstrating compliance with their programmatic requirements. The Manual replaces prior HRSA guidance, merging into one document an explanation of each requirement, the elements and documentation necessary to demonstrate compliance, and specific areas of health center flexibility. It also provides an avenue to achieve operational excellence. Recently, HRSA also issued a new Site Visit Protocol, which aligns with the Manual and reflects a more objective assessment tool for use during Operational Site Visits (OSVs). Is your health center prepared for the updated OSV process resulting from the Manual and Protocol? This session will address the key distinctions between the Manual and prior guidance with respect to interpretation and implementation of health center requirements. Participants will learn to use these companion documents and explore updates to the OSV process based on the Protocol and should leave this session with "tips" on developing their own work plans to prepare for their on-site assessments.