This overview of federal policy issues will include updates related to mandatory and discretionary funding, COVID-19 funding, President's FY22 Budget proposal, congressional funding priorities, 340B, workforce, telehealth, infrastructure/capital, teaching health centers, and Look-A-Like funding.

COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the health care delivery landscape, but one constant for health centers is HRSA’s Operational Site Visit (OSV). Health centers continue to be assessed for compliance with the Health Center Program requirements, the Compliance Manual continues to serve as the definitive resource for those program requirements, and the Site Visit Protocol continues to be the tool reviewers use to assess compliance and identify operational performance best practices during OSVs. But how OSVs are delivered has changed, and how health centers prepare and participate in OSVs has changed. Attend this session to learn insights and key strategies for all phases of the OSV process – preparation, execution, and follow-up – from federal representatives, an OSV reviewer, and a health center executive. Speakers will highlight how OSVs look differently during and beyond COVID, and how health centers can create a process of continuous compliance that leads to performance improvement and operational excellence.

The health center board has a fiduciary responsibility for the health center and it plays a key role in financial oversight. Given the pandemic, centers have navigated the infusion of new grant funding, new or expanded services, and other financial opportunities and challenges. This session will outline the latest considerations related to health center board financial oversight.

One unintended outcome of COVID-19 has been the rise in telehealth and remote patient monitoring (RPM) as well as the promise of hope they deliver to many patients. We witnessed nearly every medical center in the US transition to “virtual” clinic visits. While telehealth proved itself as a necessity during the pandemic, it has also become a desirable option for future patient care. For many patients, including those with chronic conditions, sharing remote access to information such as blood pressure, blood sugar, weight, heart rate, oxygen level, and lung function can be crucial for prescribing the right treatments and avoiding acute events. Access to this data during a telehealth visit can provide a much more complete picture and help to yield better health outcomes. We know that we help patients when we work with healthcare providers and organizations to improve quality of care and access to care. This session will review the clinical impact of RPM, benefits to CHCs, factors to consider when targeting appropriate patient populations and explain how some innovative solutions can help monitor patient health with ease.

Recently, accessing gender affirming care for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) youth has become increasingly challenging across the country. There is more knowledge, information, and research now than ever before on best practices and strategies for promoting access to care for TGD youth. This session will review key findings from research, address the unique and intersectional needs of TGD youth, and share best practices for promoting equitable policies and advocating for your patients and clients.

Community health workers (CHWs) are an essential component of the health center workforce. Their roles can vary, taking on tasks such as connecting patients to community resources, enrolling patients in insurance programs, assisting with care plans for patients with chronic conditions, or performing home visits or community outreach. However varied their roles, CHWs nearly always represent and reflect the patients and communities that the health center serves. For such an important staffing role, CHWs often face unique challenges with becoming integrated into health center care teams. This session will identify why these challenges exist and highlight actionable strategies for effectively integrating CHWs into care teams, care management plans, and COVID-19/emergency response teams.

Health care will not be true whole-person care until oral health is recognized as an equal component of wellness, along with medical and behavioral health, in the eyes of payers and systems. This session will highlight the topics of whole-person care, data, policy, and workforce that the National Network of Oral Health Access (NNOHA), primary care associations, health center controlled networks, and NACHC are addressing to support community health centers as they adapt, emerge, and advance from the pandemic.  

Community health center leaders and advocates are tired. And, community health centers’ unique commitment to strengthen communities and provide innovative care means that we must consistently engage elected officials and other stakeholders in supporting funding and policy requests. Cultivating and nurturing reciprocal relationships are essential. In this session, we will explore ways to assess the advocacy infrastructure that already exists and identify ways to build capacity and endurance internally and externally.