February 2019
In this issue...
CEO Connection
Board Chair Message
NC HealthConnex
Deputy Director
Director of Quality & Clinical Support
Grant Opportunities
Calendar of Events
FYI
NAFC Update
Quick Links
|
We’re Sad Yet Happy
Many of you know and have worked with Allison Kelly, who has worked with Cindy on the outcomes survey and PCMH Transformation Initiative. Allison will be leaving us in mid-February to pursue her dream job as a health coach. We are sad to see her leave but happy she is following her passion. In just a brief time, Allison has made an enormous difference in our office. Her ability to quickly grasp the intricacies of the outcomes survey and the PCMH initiative has provided Cindy with much-needed assistance. Her cheerfulness and laughter have had a such an impact on staff and clinic staff members alike. Allison has always been willing to do whatever it takes to assist our members and has served as a wonderful resource and advocate for all of you. We will miss Allison and wish her the best of luck as she moves on in her career as a health coach.
|
|
NAFC National Health Care Symposium
Are you going to the Symposium? Let
Mark know
so your name can be added the list. With the symposium being in Atlanta, it's a great chance for many of you to go next year. We hope to have a large contingent at the meeting to showcase North Carolina and all our wonderful clinics.
So far these people have indicated they are going to the meeting. Join us!
April Cook
Tracy Salisbury
Bri Niggel
Sherri Fisher
Tony Price
Sandy Motley
Jerry Hermanson
Cindy Cole
Leona Doner
Randy Jordan
Mark Scheerer
A hearty welcome to new clinic leaders!
Campbell University Community
Care Clinic
Christi Szalanski
Community Care Clinic of Dare
Tami Montiel, RN, BC-HWC
Community Care Clinic of Franklin
Cathy Stiles
Pitt County Care Clinic
Anabel Medrano
Denise Elizondo
SHAC / UNC-Chapel Hill
Emma Bick
Caroline Kegerreis
|
|
CEO Connection
Randy Jordan, CEO
The Days of Our (Medicaid) Lives
The Days of Our Lives is one of the longest running scripted television shows (i.e, soap operas) in the world. Since 1965, viewers have been tuning in to find out what happens next to the
Horton, Brady, Kiriakis, Hernandez and DiMera families
in the fictional midwestern town of Salem. You learn that some “Days” are more revealing than others and the story line is ever-evolving.
Well, within a few days of you reading this newsletter article, the real life version of “The Days of Medicaid Managed Care in North Carolina” will be unfolding with the announcement of the Prepaid Health Plans that have been selected to be the Medicaid vendors in each of six Medicaid regions in our state. In some regions, six health insurers will be providing Medicaid coverage and in others there will be five. Future episodes will include the implementation of NCCARE360, the state’s new resource platform for health-related social services and the selection of up to four Healthy Opportunity Medicaid regional pilots. And the biggest surprise might be the unveiling of some form of Medicaid expansion by the 2019 General Assembly.
Why all of this matters to North Carolina’s free and charitable clinics and pharmacies is because we serve nearly the same patient demographic as the Medicaid population and many of our patients churn in and out of Medicaid. It’s probably true that Medicaid practices affect our work more than any other government health program. But, the biggest impact of all may be if Medicaid expansion is enacted in our state and the prospects for such action are growing. In the case of Virginia where Medicaid expanded last year, nearly 10% of their free and charitable clinics immediately chose to accept Medicaid patients. We are monitoring the Medicaid channel for you. Stay tuned!
|
|
A Message from Your Board Chair
April Cook
Lake Norman Community Health Clinic
Last week I attended a nonprofit summit which featured Kathleen Kelly Janus as their guest speaker. She has written a book, Social Startup Success. This book details how the best nonprofits can make a difference. Her book presents five key strategies responsible for the breakout growth of the most successful social startups.
1.
Testing Ideas
2.
Measuring Impact
3.
Funding Experimentation
4.
Leading Collaboratively
5.
Telling Compelling Stories
Her book is filled with stories of inspiring leaders, along with examples of how to create impact that will maximize sustainable dollars. Of her 5 strategies, I believe the telling of compelling stories is the most critical. Without these stories, it is very difficult to convince others why our mission is so important. I challenge each of you to come up with 2 new stories to tell in 2019. Ask a volunteer or staff member to tell you a story that left a mark on their soul and use that story to continue to make a difference in the lives of the most vulnerable in our community. Thank you all for the great work that you do!
|
|
You're Getting Connected!
We're pleased to see the progress being made by our clinics to get connected to NC HealthConnex...keep up the outstanding work!
Click here
to get more information about connecting to the NC HealthConnex.
Do you have questions about getting connected to NC HealthConnex?
Email Mark
for information on how to get your questions answered.
|
|
Moving Ahead into 2019
Mark Scheerer
Deputy Director
This month I'm highlighting new benefits that are available to our members
.
Americares Preparedness Essentials Bootcamp
Those of you who attended the Leadership Retreat overwhelmingly indicated you would like to take part in Americares Preparedness Essentials Bootcamp to develop a disaster plan for your clinic. The Bootcamp is an intensive 6-hour facilitated workshop designed for free clinics. The training covers topics such as authority and decision making, notification and communication, staffing, essential services, resource management, and partnership development. The best part is you will leave the training with an emergency playbook for your clinic and an increased understanding of the decision making process involved in disaster response.
Mariel Fonteyn, a P
reparedness Specialist with Americares will facilitate the meeting.
When: Friday, April 5 / 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Where: Historic Brookstown Inn -- If you want to spend the night, a block of rooms has been reserved for Thursday night at a rate of $109.99 + taxes.
Who: If possible, bring another person with you to help develop the plan. If this isn't feasible, bring yourself or send a decision maker from your clinic.
Cost: FREE
Watch for more information coming soon.
|
|
A new member benefit is access to BoardSource which is wonderful resource for you and your board. If you're not already familiar with BoardSource, it is widely recognized as the leading organization promoting exceptional nonprofit governance and board service. BoardSource membership is a year-round educational resource that helps to connect, engage, inform, guide, counsel, and support a community of more than 115,000 nonprofit leaders from across the country.
There are many free resources available through the website that can increase the effectiveness of your board and leadership. Some of the benefits include:
- Downloadable and written resources
- A six-part, on-demand Certificate of Nonprofit Board Education,
- Diagnostic assessment tools and training programs, and
- Ways to connect with other BoardSource members to receive answers to board-related questions.
To register just follow these easy steps.
- Go to: https://boardsource.org/membership-registration?ref=2772&pid=58041
- Fill out the registration form. You’ll see the Virginia Association of Free and Charitable Clinics listed. While we have paid for this resource, you need to leave their name on the form as we are under their membership umbrella.
- Simply follow the remaining steps
The Pharmacy Connection: Software to Increase Access to Free Brand Name and Low Cost Generic Medications - Webinar
Has your clinic experienced an increase in pharmacy costs or difficulty providing all needed prescriptions for your patients? Do you complete Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs) applications by hand or need an automated tracking system to keep up to date with the status of patients’ medication orders? The Pharmacy Connection can help!
Join us for a
free webinar for North Carolina Association of Free & Charitable Clinics members on Friday, March 15, 2019 at 12:00 to view a demonstration of The Pharmacy Connection (TPC). TPC is a web-based software developed by Medication Assistance Caseworkers (MACs) for Medication Assistance Caseworkers that includes access to free brand name medications through the pharmaceutical companies PAPs, including NC MedAssist, and low cost generic medications through Rx Outreach and other free and discount generic programs. TPC also includes free or discounted equipment & supply programs for C-PAP machines, eyeglasses, pen needles, glucose test strips, medical ID bracelets and more. Twenty-seven North Carolina free clinics already utilize TPC.
TPC is HIPAA compliant and retains all patient information & demographics once entered; automatically determines PAP eligibility for each patient; completes & tracks the status of the application(s) ready for signature; automatically calculates the date on which a person should reapply for medications; issues reminders, generates reports and medication bottle labels, and much more!
TPC also offers a mobile medication app for quick access to search for medications by brand name, generic, class and subclass available through PAPs in TPC.
Watch your email for more information about the webinar.
Clinic Directory
An updated clinic directory will be put in the Members Only section of our website. Please take a look at a rough draft of the directory; and let
Mark
know of any corrections.
Click here
to see the directory.
|
|
Cindy Jones
Director of Quality & Clinical Support
|
Allison Kelly
Program Services Manager
|
|
Quality and Clinical Support Updates
2018 NCAFCC Annual Survey
Survey Link – The online link and instructions for maneuvering the web-based survey was emailed to the NCAFCC membership on Tuesday, January 29. Be sure to read the instructions as there are some noted changes and additions. Please let us know if you did not receive this email correspondence.
Survey Due Date – Completion of the web-based survey is due on February 28 at the close of business.
Social Determinants of Health
In the past few years social determinants of health (SDOH) have become a realized focus for healthcare stakeholders, including federal and state government. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines SDOH as
“the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age. These circumstances are shaped by the distribution of money, power and resources at global, national and local levels”. SDOH also determine access and quality of medical care.
Free and charitable clinics (FCC) are all too familiar with the impact of SDOH for those they serve. Though some FCC have not had formalized screening tools in place, most all have recognized the need for addressing SDOH, such as food insecurity, housing instability, utility needs, transportation needs, and interpersonal violence.
Click here for SDOH resources and SDOH Screening Tool Kits.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation 2019 Outcomes Grant
On January 21
st an email notification went out to the NCAFCC membership regarding the Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina 2019 Outcomes Grant opportunity. The notification included grant eligibility criteria and funding structure.
|
|
Funding Opportunities
2019 Barclay-Giel Seed Grants
The PHS Commissioned Officers Foundation (COF) for the Advancement of Public Health is pleased to announce the 2019 funding cycle of Barclay-Giel Seed Grants is now open. Requests for funding will be accepted online until the deadline of February 22. Grant awards are expected to be announced in June 2019.
The maximum grant amount is $10,000. The typical grant amount will be about $5,000. Additional information and a link to apply are available at
https://www.phscof.org/seed-grants.html
The American Medical Association Foundation
The American Medical Association Foundation (AMAF) announces the availability of funds through our Community Health Program. AMAF seeks to financially support innovative programs targeting the prevention and reduction of type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Grant funding will support community-based organizations such as free health clinics that provide services to vulnerable and underserved populations. The deadline for all applications will be Friday, March 8, 2019 at 11:59pm CST.* More information is available by going to
PoCECE Lab Grant Initiative
–
Due February 8
The NAFC is happy to once again announce that we have partnered with Heart to Heart International and BD to bring you the Point of Care, Enhancing Clinical Effectiveness (PoCECE) Initiative in 2019.
PoCECE is a multi-year initiative that provides organizations caring for underserved and vulnerable populations throughout the US with the essential diagnostic point of care testing (POCT) they need to evaluate their patients on-site in a timely manner.
PoCECE, funded by BD and implemented by Heart to Heart International (HHI) in conjunction with the NAFC, provides awards to safety net clinics with a desire to use point of care testing to diagnose and set treatment protocols to improve patient outcomes.
PoCECE will highlight and provide awards to fund innovative programs that use POC technology to determine patient diagnosis, determine treatment and evaluate patient progress towards outcomes.
For the full Request for Proposals with detailed information on this application and program:
https://bit.ly/2zIFdK4
|
|
In March:
The Pharmacy Connection Informational Webinar - March 15 / 12:00 noon
Americares Preparedness Essentials Bootcamp
April 5 / 10:00 am - 4:00 p.m.
Historic Brookstown Inn - Winston-Salem
NCAFCC Annual Members' Meeting
June 26 / Renaissance Asheville Hotel
Primary Care Conference
June 26-28 /
Renaissance Asheville
Hotel
National Health Care Symposium
October 27-29, 2019 / Atlanta
|
|
FYI
North Carolina's ACA Enrollment a Success!
Once again, North Carolina was able to enroll over 500,000 individuals to receive coverage through the Affordable Care Act.
Click here
to see an enrollment summary.
The NC Office of Rural Health Stakeholder Meetings NC J-1 Visa Waiver and Provider Loan Repayment & Incentive Programs
The NC Office of Rural Health (ORH) is hosting several stakeholder meetings across NC to gather Stakeholder input regarding our J-1 Visa Waiver program and NC’s Loan Repayment and Incentive Programs. We need your help in shaping ORH programs to recruit and retain medical providers for rural and underserved areas in NC. For more information about the meetings,
click here
.
North Carolina Office of Rural Health Position Announcement
|
|
Symposium Discount
As a result of the collaboration between the NC Association of Free and Charitable Clinics and the National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics (NAFC), you are now eligible to receive a $25 discount on your registration to the NAFC’s 2019 Charitable Health Care Symposium on October 27-29, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. The discount code is available until
April 30, 2019.
This $25 discount is available only to full-priced registrations for any member of NCAFCC. The following types of registrations already have a reduced registration fee and are not eligible for this $25 discount:
o
Speaker
o
Student
o
Day Rate
o
Spouse/Guest
o
Sponsor/Exhibitor
In order to receive this $25 discount, you must enter the following “promo code” when asked toward the end of the Symposium’s registration process:
statemember2019
*Please remember to click on the “apply” button next to where you type in the promo code. Your page should refresh and reflect the discount taken off of your total.
IMPORTANT: If you are registering more than one person from your organization, please register each person separately using their email address and utilize the code mentioned above each time. This code will NOT work correctly if you apply it to a group registration.
To register, please visit the Symposium’s site by visiting
HERE.
Annual NAFC Data Collection Survey Open
Until February 15, 2019
Annually, as a membership requirement of the NAFC, organizations must provide previous-year data in order to remain a member in good standing with the NAFC.
This data is used in the following ways:
- It empowers the NAFC to secure more funding and partnership opportunities for member organizations.
- It assists the NAFC in telling the story of the amazing work that you are doing in your communities across the country through talking points, one-pagers, infographics and story pitches to the press.
- It allows the NAFC to keep up-to-date contact information in our database, so your organization can be informed about opportunities regarding funding, product donations, discounts on products, networking and education.
- It supports the demonstration phase of the NAFC standards program. To view a copy of the NAFC Standards document, please visit: https://bit.ly/2Vq6p9N
It provides the necessary information to the NAFC team to have a seat at the public policy table so that decisions made at the national level do not negatively impact the work you do on a daily basis.
To submit your data to the NAFC, as is required by membership, please visit
HERE
|
|
Board of Directors
Board Chair
April Cook
Lake Norman Community Health Clinic
Vice Chair
Tony Price
Moore Free and Charitable Clinic
Treasurer
John Price, ORH - Retired
Secretary
Tracy Salisbury
Open Door Clinic of Alamance County
Sissy Lee-Elmore
WATCH Healthcare Program
Jerry Hermanson
Community Care Clinic of Highlands-Cashiers
|
P
atient-Centered Medical Home Transformation Initiative Video
|
|
Andy Kurtzman
Scotland Community Health Clinic
Michael Lischke, Ed.D., MPH
Northwest AHEC
WFU School of Medicine
Theo McClammy
Caring Community Clinic
John Mills
ECHO
Jacquie Rose
The Free Clinics
Krista Woolly
Community Care Clinic of Rowan County
|
Staff
CEO
ext. 104
Deputy Director
ext. 101
Director of Quality & Clinical Support
ext. 103
Program Services Manager
ext. 105
Office Manager
ext. 102
336-251-1111
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
