Member Spotlight
Centering Pregnancy Program Aims to Build Community and Healthy Starts for Babies and New Moms
Mallory Community Health Center has launched a new program that helps support pregnant women and their partners during their 9-month journey to parenthood. The Centering Pregnancy program, developed by the Centering Health Institute in Boston, Mass., has the mission is to improve health, trans­form care, and dis­rupt inequitable sys­tems through the Cen­ter­ing group model. 

The Centering Healthcare Institute is a non-profit organization that works closely with healthcare providers from all sectors to change healthcare. With over two decades of experience as the go-to resource for group care, it has developed and helped practices sustain the Centering model in 582 sites and in some of the largest health systems in the world.

Cierra Drane works in outreach and enabling services at Mallory. She said in a recent interview that women in the first cohort of participants in Centering Pregnancy are all due to give birth in October 2021. The small group meets for 10, 90-minute sessions during their pregnancy. During the sessions, expectant moms get to know others expecting children from the surrounding community and learn about what a healthy pregnancy means, and how to identify any issues early. "When they gather, they get to know one another and provide a support system from one another," said Ms. Drane. They also get some face time outside of the exam room with their provider to answer questions. “The program goals are for the moms to deliver healthy, full-term (at least 38 weeks) babies and to help teach these women to advocate for themselves,” said Ms. Drane. This is especially important if they have questions or have an intuition that something isn’t quite right with how they are feeling or what the baby is doing, she said. Other topics discussed are the type of delivery for a baby, so there is an understanding going into the delivery room of what can happen.
 
Every pregnant woman needs lots of support and information, especially being a first pregnancy or one of someone very young. The Centering evidence-based models hold great promise in building community and serving families while addressing health issues to make sure all is being done to achieve positive outcomes for healthy moms and their children.
CEO Terrence Shirley recently was interviewed by a team with the American Cancer Society for a PSA promoting enhanced health insurance. Mr. Shirley (seated) is pictured with the crew and - with ACS's Kimberly Hughes (far left).
East Central Miss. Health Care Executive Director Appears on Kicks96news
Recently, Executive Director for East Central Mississippi Health Care Services Jill Bishop sat down with Brian “B-MO” Montgomery to discuss some of the services available, not only with health care but dental and mental as well. The month of September is Recovery and Self Awareness Month with regards to addiction and general mental health. Check out the story and audio clips here.
Regulatory Updates
On September 9, 2021, The Biden-Harris AdministraWon announced they will require COVID-19 vaccination of staff within all Medicare and Medicaid-certified facilities. Under CMS, FQHCs are considered a “facility” and will need to comply as a condition for participating in the program.
Celebrating 40 years of Services: CHCAMS Commemorates Milestone in Service
In 1981, the Community Health Center Association of Mississippi (then called the Miss. Primary Health Care Association) was formed to support Community Health Centers in the state. To commemorate this milestone of services, the PCA has developed logos for use this fiscal year to celebrate service to health centers that serve rural and underserved communities. Thank you for all you do.
Deadline Reminder: Service Area Competition Applications for May 1 Starts 
Service Area Competition (SAC) HRSA-22-006 applications are due in:
  • Grants.gov: Monday, October 4, by 11:59 p.m. ET.
  • HRSA’s Electronic Handbooks: Wednesday, November 3, by 5:00 p.m. ET.
Technical assistance (TA) materials are available on the SAC TA webpage.

Physician Fee Schedule Template Comment Letter
On July 13, 2021, CMS issued a proposed rule announcing and soliciting public comments on proposed policy changes for Medicare payments under the Physician Fee Schedule, and other Medicare Part B issues, on or after January 1, 2022. This proposed rule solicits public comments on Medicare vaccine administration services for preventive vaccines and the COVID-19 vaccine, revising the definition of "mental health visit" for FQHCs, and FQHC hospice services. The comment deadline is September 13, 2021. Please email regulatoryaffairs@nachc.org for NACHC's template comment letter.
HRSA HIV Grant Awarded to Four Mississippi CHCs
Congratulations to Central Mississippi Health Services($340,939), Mallory Community Health Center ($342,479), Jackson Hinds Comprehensive Health Services ($371,183), Jefferson Comprehensive Health Center ($342,008), and Outreach Community Health Center ($340,031) that received grant awards from the HRSA funding for HIV prevention.

HRSA awarded over $48 million to 271 HRSA-supported health centers across 26 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia to expand HIV prevention and treatment, including pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) related services, outreach, and care coordination. The $48 million in awards include nearly $38 million in FY 2021 initial Ending the HIV Epidemic: Primary Care HIV Prevention (PCHP) funding to 108 HRSA-supported health centers not funded in FY 2020, and over $10 million in additional resources to expand the efforts of the 163 HRSA-supported health centers who received FY 2020 PCHP funding.




State Plan Amendments
 
21-0022 Transportation Services 
21-0028 Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) Extended Services 
21-0042 Targeted Case Management (TCM) for Infants Under the Age of One
 
You can view the approved SPAs and State Plan via this link here.
Written Notice
This Administrative Code is being filed to require providers to provide a thirty (30) day written notice to beneficiaries and the Division of Medicaid prior to the discontinuation of services. If a provider fails to provide the notice, the provider will not be reimbursed for the thirty (30) day period the beneficiary and Division of Medicaid should have been notified. This rule will not apply if the failure to provide notice was due to circumstances outside of the provider’s control. This is an emergency filing due to the risk to public health due to a sudden stoppage of services to beneficiaries that require high levels of care.
Therapy Eval/Therapy Session
This Administrative Code is being filed to allow the Division of Medicaid to cover the initial therapy evaluation on the same day as the first therapy session.
Quality Strategy Report
The public notice and draft Quality Strategy Report can be viewed via this link here.
 
COVID Vaccine Administration Reimbursement Emergency Submission approved by CMS
CMS approved MS SPA 21-0001 on September 20, 2021. State Plan Amendment (SPA) 21-0001 was submitted to allow the Division of Medicaid (DOM) to reimburse all Mississippi Medicaid pharmacies, physicians, and non-physician practitioners 100% of the Medicare rate for the administration of an FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine. Notice is here.
Community Health Worker in HIV Care No Cost Training
The Community Health Worker in HIV Care curriculum is a free, accessible training resource to support the integration of the Community Health Worker (CHW) workforce into HIV and other primary care teams. The self-paced courses on this site address topics related to HIV and the supervision of CHWs. The course modules on this site comprise approximately 16 hours of training for CHWs and 20 hours of training for supervisors. The training curriculum is comprised of self-paced modules. Access to the full training curriculum is here.
HRSA Announces $25.5b in Provider Relief Funding
On Sept. 10, HRSA announced $25.5 billion in new funding available for
health care providers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding will include $8.5 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding for providers who serve rural Medicaid, CHIP, or Medicare patients, and an additional $17 billion for Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Phase 4. To expedite the funding process, providers will apply for both programs in a single application and HRSA will use existing Medicaid, CHIP and Medicare claims data in calculating payments; applications will open on Sept 29. There will also be a final 60-day grace period for providers who fail to meet the Sept. 30 deadline for the first PRF
the news release can be viewed here for more information.

Provider Relief Fund Reporting Grace Period
To support those facing natural disasters and the Delta variant surge, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a 60-day grace period to help providers come into compliance with their Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Reporting requirements for the first PRF reporting time period. The deadlines to use funds and the reporting time will not change.

DHS Billing Guidance on Behavioral Health Group Therapy
Medical Assistance (MA) Bulletin 08-20-03 notifies federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and rural health clinics (RHCs) about the addition by the Department of Human Services of the HQ (Group Setting) modifier to procedure code T1015 (Clinic visit/encounter, all-inclusive) for behavioral health group therapy
Check out the Vaccines Plus Program page for information promoting CHC clinics. See videos of health center providers. Updated weekly.
CHCAMS COVID-19 Clearinghouse
Click here to request access.

For those who missed the live discussions, recordings of the meetings are now available at the CHCAMS COVID-19 Clearinghouse.
Phase 3 of the Vaccines Plus Media Campaign Launched
Media messages to address vaccine hesitancy and promote CHC providers and physicians were launched in early September. This phase of the campaign will run thru mid - October. CEOs are invited to have physicians and providers record audio or videos promoting vaccinations or to address questions they get in clinic in an effort to strengthen patient confidence with the uptake of the COVID-19 vax. Please text clips to Kathryn Rodenmeyer. They will be featured on vaccineplus.me and on CHCAMS social media.
CHCAMS Vaccines Plus Program, CHC Workforce Recruitment Tools Available
CHCs are invited to upload open position announcements to CHCAMS' recruitment partner website ReEmployedllc.com . This recruiter will send qualified applicants back to your health center for review and assist in follow-up with potential candidates.
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