Resource Search Results

Informational Guide for Public Housing Residents — COVID-19: Know the Basics (2020). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This infographic provides general information on COVID-19. More Details...

Partnership Opportunities for Health Centers, EnVision Centers, and Public Housing Agencies (2020). Resource Type: Archived Webinar. Description: The recent COVID-19 crisis his highlighted the magnitude of health inequities faced by public housing residents and the need for a coordinated approach in providing health prevention and treatment, as well as the basic goods and services needed to survive, e.g., food, medicine and shelter. More Details...

Social Determinants of Health for Public Housing Residents: Access to Healthy Food (2020). Resource Type: Publication. Description: Using data and maps created by National Center for Health in Public Housing (NCHPH) and other national data sources, this publication is one in a series that identifies the prevalence of social factors and population health indicators that affect public housing residents. It is intended for non-clinical health center staff, decision makers, and public housing stakeholders. More Details...

Developing Cross-Sector Partnerships (2020). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This guide provides health center staff with tools and strategies to initiate, develop, and sustain community partnerships to better serve older adult residents of public housing. Content of this publication was developed through a 4-session learning collaborative launched by the SDOH academy with a small cohort of HRSA-funded health centers, HCCNs, and PCAs. More Details...

Operational considerations for case management of COVID-19 in health facility and community: Interim guidance19March 2020 (2020). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This document is intended for health ministers, health system administrators, and other decision-makers. It is meant to guide the care of COVID-19 patients as the response capacity of health systems is challenged; to ensure that COVID-19 patients can access life-saving treatment, without compromising public health objectives and safety of health workers. More Details...

The COVID-19 Pandemic Resources and Information: Spanish and English (2020). Resource Type: Other. Description: We at Migrant Clinicians Network have a priority to support both clinicians and the vulnerable patients they serve. MCN continually develops strategies and resources to support health centers, health departments, community groups, and clinicians as they reach out to communities that are often overlooked and give care to patients who might otherwise have nowhere to go. We remain highly concerned for the vulnerable populations that already encounter numerous barriers to health and to care. More Details...

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information for Homeless Shelters and Homeless Service Providers (2020). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This infographic is meant for clients experiencing homelessness and the people who serve them to learn more about COVID-19 and measures to prevent its spread. More Details...

A Guide for Rural Health Care Collaboration and Coordination (2019). Resource Type: Publication. Description: A Guide for Rural Health Care Collaboration and Coordination was developed in cooperation with local, state, and national level leaders representing various rural health care organizations. This document discusses key lessons learned from efforts these leaders have pursued in their own rural communities. More Details...

Using Social Determinants of Health Data & New Technology Tools to Connect with Appropriate Community Resources: We asked the questions, now what? Updated in December 2018 (2018). Resource Type: Publication. Description: The collection of data related to patients' non-medical needs through use of Social Determinant of Health SDoH assessment tools, can accelerate systemic population health improvement, as well as engage patients in addressing their social non-medical needs such as transportation, shelter, or intimate partner violence services through coordinated access to appropriate services. This case study discusses the process a health center may use to identify and stratify need, and profiles a number of new technologies, including Aunt Bertha, Now Pow, and 211 Community Information Exchange, for connecting patients to appropriate community resources.   Download full case study at the bottom of the page. The collection of data related to patients' non-medical needs such as transportation, housing, food security, safety, etc. through use of Social Determinant of Health SDoH assessment tools e.g., NACHC’s PRAPARE, AAFP’s The EveryONE Project, can accelerate systemic population health improvement, as well as engage individual patients in addressing those needs through coordinated access to appropriate services.  According to a 2017 American Academy of Family Physicians AAFP survey, 83% of respondents agreed that family physicians should identify and help with social determinants of health. Research from Kaiser Permanente suggests that, of those patients screened for social determinants of health, approximately two-thirds needed some services. PRAPARE pilot data from participating health centers identified housing, utilities, and food as the most frequently identified needs. Unfortunately, 80% of the family physicians surveyed by AAFP responded that they don’t have time to discuss social determinants of health with patients and more than half feel unable to provide their patients with solutions.  So, tools are needed to help providers meet these newly identified needs, with existing resources. A number of these tools are profiled in the resource available for free download below. Much like other screenings that are embedded in the regular workflow and used to assess the risk or severity of the patient’s condition, such as the PHQ-9, Social Determinants of Health assessment tools like PRAPARE are designed to operate similarly.  Identifying level of risk or need among patients screened for social determinants of health in order to strategize responses is generally done with ‘risk scoring’. Here are two examples: SDoH only: A health center could assign 1 point per social determinant of health identified. Multiple sources: A health center could assign points based on number of chronic conditions, medications, ED visits in the last 12 months, and SDoH, as discussed in this HITEQ population health presentation. Whatever approach is taken, it is important to look at the distribution of risk scores or need levels across the patient population to ensure reasonable proportions identified as high, moderate, and low. Note that Care Management, Competency A in the PCMH 2017 standards is concerned with this. In this resource download below!, we focus on what technology tools exist to address social non-medical needs identified through screening. For those patients with high need, the standard response is likely to be health center-based and intensive. For example, patients with high need may be provided with 1 intensive case management, social workers, and referral coordinators; 2 direct assistance with connecting to resources; 3 follow up with external providers; and 4 regular in-person follow-up visits. This is likely to take up the majority of available staff capacity. However, gathering social determinants of health information may also point to other needs among patients with more moderate needs or in a broader array of areas such as paying utilities or legal services. Given staff capacity and resource limitations, as well as patient preferences, those patients may require another way to be connected with appropriate community resources. It is important that any approaches used allow for tracking and follow-up, as well as provide information about community service capacity. The tools in the case study below including Aunt Bertha, Now Pow, and 211 Community Information Exchange support this process by facilitating connection with community resources and needed follow-up, partially answering the question We collected social determinant of health data, now what do we do? Download the resource below for full case studies and lessons learned from using Aunt Bertha, 211 Community Information Exchange, and other new tools for connecting patients with community resources! More Details...

Behavioral Health Integration Compendium: Curated Guidance and Resources from Experienced Organizations, developed with Chiron Strategy Group (2018). Resource Type: Publication. Description: Many health centers collaborate with external behavioral health providers or provide co-located or integrated behavioral health services within their health center. Some of the most significant challenges are determining which data to share, how to store it within the Electronic Health Record, and how to use it within primary care. This compendium of literature and resources offers some guidance related to behavioral health data integration, complete with key health center considerations for each. Many health centers collaborate with external behavioral health providers or provide co-located or integrated behavioral health services within their health center. Some of the most significant challenges are determining which data to share, how to store it within the Electronic Health Record, and how to use it within primary care. This compendium of literature and resources offers some guidance related to behavioral health data integration, complete with key health center considerations for each. Click on each heading below to access the original pieces being profiled. Integrating Behavioral and Primary Care — Technology and Collaboration This article focuses on the challenges of integrating data between primary care and behavioral health. It discusses a number of concerns, and approaches that have been taken, including the benefits of developing structured data within the EHR. Health Center Takeaway: Patient consent for sharing sensitive health information can be integrated into the EHR, which will allow for greater information sharing while complying with Federal privacy expectations. Can technology shape the future of behavioral health? This article includes a number of different ways that technology plays a part in integrated behavioral health, highlighting: Adoption of telehealth as a means to augment care; Inclusion of behavioral health data in Health Information Exchanges, citing the experience of Arizona; and An example of an application being developed with NIH support that hopes to provide collaborative care tools to patients. Health Center Takeaway: Health centers are encouraged to investigate whether insurers will reimburse for telehealth and what is required to do so, to see if developing a telehealth program might augment the availability of behavioral health services for your patients. HITEQ has a number of resources related to telehealth. Integrated Behavioral Health Partners Three Case Studies on Behavioral Health Data Sharing Three California case studies where organizations shared behavioral health data.  The website includes details regarding mental health data, substance use data, consent, methods of sharing, and challenges. Health Center Takeaway: Use these examples of different approaches to consent and level of information sharing to foster conversation among your leadership on how to create greater data integration. Center for Health Care Strategies Integrating Physical and Behavioral Health Care in Medicaid Toolkit Section IV: Information Exchange CHCS has developed a rich resource for behavioral health integration.  This section focuses on information exchange, and has a number of helpful resources identified. Health Center Takeaway: The last two resources are integrated care plan templates; if you have an external behavioral health partner, consider how you might share data between the two organizations in a standardized format. Patient-Centered Primary Care Institute Behavioral Health Integration: Obstacles & Successes Lessons learned from this interview: Change the mindset from the bringing together of two services to truly integrating whole health Shift from historic care delivery methods to a focus on achieving better health outcomes Building trust with primary care providers is essential Health Center Takeaway: Determining what patients need will help guide the type of integration services your health center develops, which can include different approaches for different sites. SAMHSA’s Quick Start Guide to Behavioral Health Integration for Safety-Net Primary Care Providers This guide helps any health center think about where it is in the process of integrating behavioral health, with a number of embedded links for additional information. Key areas of Administration, Workforce, and Clinical Practice. Health Center Takeaway: Use this guide to identify barriers to a fully-developed program, and find resources to help overcome them. Zufall Health Center Integrated Behavioral Health and Primary Care Change Package Zufall Health Center partnered with a local behavioral health system to create an Integrated Behavioral Health system, using grant funding to help support the pilot. This collection of lessons learned focuses on: Leadership Commitment Clinical Information Systems and Measurable Improvement Integrated Care Delivery Clinical Decision Support Patient/Family Engagement Health Center Takeaway: Leadership must assess organizational capacity to collaborate, and then collect baseline data on health outcomes, including preventative screenings, ED visits, hospitalizations as some of the early steps. Implementing measurement and management of key clinical outcomes are critical next steps. NCQA Mainstreaming Behavioral Health Care NCQA has developed a Distinction in Behavioral Health Integration, which allows recognition of Patient Centered Medical Homes who have integrated care teams in place using evidence-based protocols and ongoing quality measurement and improvement. Health Center Takeaway: Many health centers have achieved recognition as a Patient Centered Medical Home PCMH or are along the way.  Aligning behavioral health integration work to earn this Distinction can help provide a roadmap for implementation of integration activities, and externally create validation for potential funders. How Intermountain Healthcare's Mental Health Integration is Improving Care Intermountain Healthcare is a large health system, with 22 hospitals and 180 clinics. It has been developing Mental Health Integration services for a number of years, with three key components: Their mental health assessment tool activates a team consultation workflow to determine which patients are referred. They designed an operational system in which mental health specialists and nurse care managers are included in the primary care staff, through full-time co-location or frequent rotation.They evaluate the program regularly to monitor patient outcomes, team effectiveness and the culture of healthcare delivery from the perspective of the patient and the care provider. Health Center Takeaway: Integrating behavioral health takes time. Intermountain Healthcare has created an efficient process to develop programs and they plan for two years to implement and become revenue-neutral. Health centers would benefit from a long-term approach with a commitment of upfront internal or external funding.   Deeper Reading If you are looking for more in-depth reading on the topic, visit the following links for longer articles. Electronic Health Record Challenges, Workarounds, and Solutions Observed in Practices Integrating Behavioral Health and Primary Care This Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine article describes the electronic health record EHR-related experiences of practices striving to integrate behavioral health and primary care using tailored, evidenced-based strategies from 2012 to 2014; and the challenges, workarounds and initial health information technology HIT solutions that emerged during implementation. Behavioral Health Information Network of Arizona: 2014 HIMSS HIE Community Roundtable This HIMSS presentation describes the design and implementation of a Health Information Exchange in Arizona that integrates behavioral health data and is 42 CFR Part 2 compliant.  Useful for any health center leadership involved in such a project with their affiliated Health Information Exchange. More Details...

HITEQ Health App Decision Tree: A tool developed In collaboration with the Children's Health Fund to help choose appropriate Health Apps (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: There are thousands of consumer health applications health apps, which run on smartphones, watches, tablets, and other mobile devices. These Health Apps are available for download for general consumers, patients, and healthcare professionals. Currently, there is no governmental agency that provides certification or guidance on health apps, although there are several projects from organizations such as HL7, the FDA, ONC, and OCR that are working to provide guidance. User discrepancy in terms of the validity and safety of the health apps they choose to use are primarily based on ratings or recommendations. This guide seeks to provide a health app decision tree that can assist medical professionals and consumers in making wise choices when using health apps. There are thousands of consumer health applications health apps, which run on smartphones, watches, tablets, and other mobile devices. These health apps are available for download for general consumers, patients, and healthcare professionals. Currently, there is no governmental agency that provides certification or guidance on health apps, although there are several projects from organizations such as HL7, the FDA, ONC, and OCR that are working to provide guidance. User discrepancy in terms of the validity and safety of the health apps they choose to use are primarily based on ratings or recommendations. This guide seeks to provide a health app decision tree that can assist medical professionals and consumers in making wise choices when using health apps. The Children's Health Fund was made aware of a use case in which a health app that was targeted for use by adults was used for a child and consequently caused a detrimental health issue. Currently there are no certifying bodies for consumer-oriented health apps and consequently many doctors must navigate this domain themselves. This guide seeks to provide a health app decision tree that can assist medical professionals and consumers in making wise choices when using health apps. Download the decision tree below. More Details...

Growing Our Own: Cultivating the Next Generation of Primary Care Physicians in Community Health Centers (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: It is critical to advance policies and programs that help community health centers (CHCs) become Educational Health Centers (EHCs)2 and “grow their own” primary care training opportunities. This paper explores several pathways for promoting CHCs as teaching environments - enhanced partnerships between Academic Medical Centers (AMCs) and CHCs (with either the AMC or the CHC as the sponsoring institution3), and CHCs participating in HRSA Teaching Health Center (THC) funding opportunities (with sponsorship either by the CHC alone or by a consortium body) - and posits a spectrum of options and costs associated with each of these pathways to train medical residents. More Details...

Addressing Nail Salon Worker Patient Health: A Health Center Toolkit (2016). Resource Type: Toolkit. Description: This toolkit focuses on providing information and tools that health centers can utilize to support engagement with patients who work in the nail salon industry. The report provides an overview of innovative approaches to nail salon patient engagement and provides information on how a health center can establish and implement programs to address the health disparities faced by nail salon workers while improving care for this population. More Details...

The Role of Enabling Services in Patient-Centered Medical Homes (2010). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This fact sheet highlights enabling services (ES) as a critical factor that should be included in the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model. It describes the important role health centers play in the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AA&NHPI) community and the challenges they face in providing care for populations with many nationalities and languages. It also includes recommendation for how health centers serving the PCMH model can incorporate these services and improve care. More Details...

Safety of Community Workers When Transporting Patients Procedure (2012). Resource Type: Publication . Description: This procedure provides a list of safety protocols for Community Workers when transporting patients. More Details...

Safety of Community Workers During Home Visits Procedure (2012). Resource Type: Publication . Description: This procedure provides safety protocols for Community Workers to follow when making home visits to a new or existing client. More Details...

Safety of Community Workers During Emergencies and Road Blocks Procedure (2018). Resource Type: Publication . Description: This procedure provides a list of safety protocols for Community Workers during emergencies and road blocks. More Details...

Risk Management-Emergency Preparedness (2018). Resource Type: Publication . Description: This publication provides an overview of the need for Community Health Centers (CHC) to develop risk management plans and establish policies and procedures for promoting the safe and effective delivery of healthcare services to their patients. It also includes information on providing and maintaining safe working environments for staff and minimizing business disruptions threatening financial stability. More Details...

Maternal and Child Health (2017). Resource Type: Publication . Description: Due to mobility and low median family incomes, pregnant agricultural worker women and infant children face obstacles in obtaining adequate and timely prenatal and postnatal care. This factsheet provides information on maternal and child health, prenatal and pediatric care, nutrition for mothers and children, and occupational health and safety. More Details...

Hepatitis Awareness Month: Providing Care for Patients During COVID-19 (43970). Resource Type: Archived Webinar. Description: This webinar explored resources available to providers that treat patients seeking viral hepatitis services during the COVID-19 pandemic. More Details...