To ensure the marginalized communities of Knoxville are able to receive the COVID-19 and flu vaccines for free, the Knoxville Area Urban Leagues will be partnering with Cherokee Health Systems and the Fish Pantry to provide food, vaccines and free health care.

Read more here >>>

Each year, Knox.biz and Knox News honor 40 young professionals from across East Tennessee for their outstanding achievements. Congratulations to Dr. Eboni Winford, Cherokee Health Systems' Director of Research and Health Equity, who was named as part of the 40 Under 40 class of 2022!

Learn more about Dr. Eboni Winford here >>>

See how FORVIS was able to assist Dayspring Health with their long-term sustainability and more in this memorable client experience story.

Read more here >>>

Congratulations to the Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center staff honored with the Pink Christmas Champion Award!

Read more here >>>

Matthew Walker Comprehensive Health Center provided free dental screenings at their Smile with Santa event.

Read more here >>>

113th General Assembly Convenes in Nashville

The 113th General Assembly convened in Nashville on Tuesday, January 10th for the first year of a two-year session. There are many new members of the legislature this year along with changes as the result of redistricting. Find your members of the Tennessee General Assembly.

This week, Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) was re-elected as Speaker of the House and Lt. Governor Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) was re-elected as Senate Speaker. Committee assignments were released yesterday, January 12th. 

The bill filing deadlines in the House and Senate are January 31st.

TennCare Redetermination Process to Begin April 1, 2023

During the federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, Medicaid agencies paused the process of redetermining eligibility, which allowed additional folks to receive and maintain Medicaid coverage. There is a provision in the FY23 omnibus spending package that de-links the status of the Public Health Emergency with the continuous coverage requirement. This allows state Medicaid agencies, including TennCare, to begin processing redeterminations April 1, 2023. 

View the press release from TennCare >>> 

TennCare is currently in Phase II of its Phase IV unwinding plan. Phase II emphasizes increased communication with TennCare members to alert them that the redetermination process will be beginning soon. TennCare members are encouraged to ensure their contact information is updated so they can be reached during the unwinding period.

View TennCare’s Unwinding Plan >>> 

TennCare Adult Dental Benefits Effective January 1

Beginning January 1, 2023, TennCare will cover dental care for all adults, ensuring an estimated 600,000 TennCare members will have coverage.

TennCare members can learn more about the benefit by reviewing TennCare’s FAQs and can search for dentists using the Find a Dentist Tool.

340B Recertification Begins January 30

Community health centers will be able to conduct 340B recertifications beginning Monday January 30, ending Monday February 27. Community health centers should ensure that they have current names and contact information listed on OPAIS for their Authorizing Official and Point of Contact.  

Congress Passes Omnibus Spending Bill including CHC Funding

At the end of December, Congress passed an omnibus spending package to fund the government for the remainder of FY23, through September 30, 2023. The package included $1.86B for community health centers, an increase of $110M from FY22. Much of the funding is dedicated to specific priorities including:

• $157M Ending the HIV/AIDS Epidemic
• $55M School-Based Health Centers
• $30M Early Childhood Development
• $27M Native Hawaiian Health Care
• $10M Alcee Hastings Advanced Cancer Screening
• $2M Intimate Partner Violence
• $2.5M Technical Assistance for HCCNs

The bill also included funding for primary care workforce programs:

• $126.5M National Health Service Corps
• $92.6M Nurse Corps
• $44M Mental and Behavioral Health
• $153M Behavioral Health Workforce Development and Training Programs
• $49.9M Primary Care Training and Enhancement
• $42.7M Oral Health Training in Rural and Underserved Communities
• $6M Nurse Practitioner Optical Fellowship

Congress Returns to Washington

The 118th Congress began last week, ushering in changes within leadership. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced she was stepping down in November. Democrats elected Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) to serve as Minority Leader in the House. After a historic number of votes last week to determine House Speaker, Republicans elected Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). In the Senate, Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was re-elected to serve as Senate Minority Leader. Democrats elected Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) to serve as Speaker Pro Tempore, the second-highest ranking member of the Senate, following Vice President Kamala Harris.

Registration is Open!

NACHC Policy & Issues Forum in Washington, D.C. 

Register now for NACHC’s annual Policy & Issues Forum in Washington, D.C. from March 8-11. This dynamic gathering draws thousands of Community Health Center professionals and leaders from around the country to focus on critical health care issues and hear from thought leaders and top health care officials in Washington. Health center advocates will also visit the halls of Congress to fight for long-term and stable funding. 

Register for P&I >>>

View the conference schedule >>>

Reserve your hotel room for P&I >>>

HRSA Funded Tennessee Community Health Worker Training and Certification 

You are invited to come hear about a new opportunity for community health workers (CHWs) and organizations in Tennessee. Join a virtual informational session on Thursday, January 19th from 10AM - 12PM Central to explain the program and answer questions.

Vanderbilt School of Nursing and Tennessee Community Health Worker Association are partnering to create training for CHWs across the state. Trainees will complete online training and self-led activities and then transition into a field placement or apprenticeship program for on-the-job learning. Each trainee will receive a stipend while completing the training. The Vanderbilt team will be working with agencies interested in hiring/currently employing CHWs to help them effectively integrate CHWs into their services.

Virtual Information Session: January 19th | 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM Central

Register at https://redcap.link/CHWTPT.

For more information, visit https://nursing.vanderbilt.edu/projects/chwtpt/index.php. 

Please feel free to forward it to any individuals or organizations interested.

2023 NACHC Learning Collaborative: EHR Optimization

NACHC will offer a Learning Collaborative for Community Health Centers and FQHC Look-Alikes operating on any Electronic Health Record starting February 2023. This Learning Collaborative is designed to help health centers adopt best practices to create continuous improvement and optimization within their Electronic Health Record. Using a data driven Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) model of improvement, the participating health centers will test, implement and spread system change interventions, monitor the impact of the system changes and share best practices. These best practice recommendations and workflows will be shared with other members of the learning collaborative.

Session Dates and Times: Feb 7, March 14, April 4, May 16 from 2 – 3:30 PM ET

Learning Objectives: Through the use of four (4) Learning Sessions the health center will: 

• Identify EHR champions and engage in human centered design activities to support users 
• Assess their current EHR system content, workflow, functionality and configuration 
• Create a workplan and standard operating procedure for EHR optimization 
• Make EHR Configuration changes to support best practices, clinical quality improvement, improve efficiency and coding compliance, improve the patient and provider experience.

Completed applications are due COB Friday, January 20th. 

Learn more and apply here >>>

2023 Medicare Updates for FQHCs

Start off the new year by joining FORVIS and Achieve Revenue Management as they share changes and updates to the Medicare program which may impact Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in upcoming months. This complimentary webinar will overview reimbursement changes, billing updates, and cost report considerations to assist your organization in implementation and planning.

Presenters: Jeff Allen and  Rebekah Wallace Pardeck, CMPE, CPC®, CPCO™, Achieve Revenue Management, LLC

Wednesday, January 25, 2023 | 2–3:00 PM CT 

Learn more and register here >>>

FORVIS is a TPCA Annual Partner.