August 27, 2021
UPCOMING TPCA
TRAININGS & EVENTS
Using Team-Based Care
in Community Health Centers
Led by Deb Peartree
Health Management Associates

TPCA office will be closed in observance of Labor Day
TPCA 2021 Annual Conference

Register before August 31 to take advantage of group discounts! 

Will you join us in support
of TN's CHCs?





to join us in support of TN's CHCs!

TPCA's members provide the best quality, comprehensive, and holistic health services to underserved patients every day.

Whether you are a patient or a provider, your story is the story of our state's community health centers, and you tell that story best.

Which CHC story will you share with us?
COVID-19 RESOURCES
Governor Lee Signs Executive Order 84

The Governor Lee most recently signed Executive Order 84, allowing parents to opt their children out of mask mandates in schools. Certain school systems, including Metro Nashville Public Schools and Shelby County have continued to require masks. 

TPCA COVID-19 Resources Page

TPCA created a COVID-19 Resources page that contains information and tools for health centers and the general public on a variety of COVID-19 related topics including TPCA’s COVID-19 vaccines, updates, human resources & operations, telehealth, and PPE.

TPCA Members may also access the COVID-19 Vaccine Toolkit for the latest in TN COVID-19 Vaccine distribution as well as timely and relevant resources.
FEDERAL POLICY UPDATES
Federal Comment Period for TennCare Block Grant

As the result of a lawsuit, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) re-opened a federal comment period through September 9 for TennCare III, the state’s Block Grant program. A federal judge put the lawsuit on hold while the comment period is open.


Infrastructure

Earlier this month, the Senate passed a $1.2 trillion bi-partisan infrastructure package that included funding for roads, railways, airports, public transit, electrical infrastructure, broadband, and water systems.

At the same time, the Senate passed a $3.5 trillion budget resolution, which serves as a blueprint for drafting the $3.5 trillion “social” infrastructure package. The “social” infrastructure package focuses on Medicare expansion, childcare, universal pre-K, climate change, paid family leave, and unemployment compensation.

The House of Representatives returned from recess this week and passed the $3.5 trillion budget resolution, bringing them closer to passing that package and the $1.2 trillion bi-partisan infrastructure bill. However, there is uncertainty over the strategy the House will use to pass both packages. 
340B

Representatives McKinley (R-WV) and Spanberger (D-VA) introduced the PROTECT 340B Act to combat discriminatory reimbursement policies that threaten health centers’ abilities to provide patients with 340B-eligible medications.

Please consider reaching out to your Members of Congress and asking them to support H.R. 4390 the PROTECT 340B Act of 2021.




Need a refresher on 340B? Check out the TPCA Policy Blog!
ADDITIONAL NEWS & RESOURCES
TennCare is Preparing for an EHR Adoption Environmental Scan Survey

TennCare, Tennessee’s Medicaid Agency, is releasing an Electronic Health Record (EHR) Adoption Environmental Scan Survey. As a Tennessee provider, you can help TennCare collect valuable information about the health information technology (HIT) landscape in the state. This brief survey will take 5-10 minutes to complete. You can prepare for the survey by considering these items about your EHR system: which EHR you have, how you use it, and how your organization uses it. Additionally, the survey will ask you a few questions about your organization, such as whether you’re from a hospital/facility/clinic or office/practice and how many providers you are affiliated with. 

We are looking for information not only from TennCare-participating providers, but all medical providers within Tennessee. TennCare intends to distribute the survey to all Tennessee providers with a current email address. Should you not receive an email from us, please go to either the TennCare or TDH websites and click the link to start the survey.

Please plan to take the EHR Adoption Environmental Scan Survey and have your insight heard. Be on the lookout for future announcements regarding the survey.

Thank you!
As patient care becomes more reliant on telehealth and remote patient monitoring, using a dependable mobile device has become essential for both patients and providers. Join CPG and Sano Health for a live webinar and Q&A on bridging the gap between virtual care and under connected populations. Learn more about the FCC’s Emergency Broadband Benefit subsidy, strategies for launching a mobile device program, and how one health center successfully reached at-risk patient populations with one subsidized, dedicated mobile device!


Commonwealth Purchasing Group is a TPCA Group Purchasing Partner.
Enhancing Healthcare for Adults on the Autism Spectrum

More than a half million autistic individuals will turn 18 years old in the next decade. To meet their healthcare needs, novel approaches to train and support community clinicians are needed. 
  
Vanderbilt University Medical Center is seeking clinicians – physicians, advanced practice nurses, and physician assistants who provide care for adults on the autism spectrum, or who want to serve this population – to participate in ECHO Autism through live videoconferencing sessions. 

ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) is a model is being used worldwide to provide training in more than 50 medical conditions. This ECHO Autism training program is being developed by clinicians experienced in autism at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee, the University of Virginia, and the University of Missouri-Columbia. The project is sponsored by the Department of Defense Autism Research Program.
 
ECHO Autism participants will commit to a series of trainings that meet for one hour every other week for six months. Topics up for discussion will include: 
• Identifying autism in adults;
• Managing co-occurring medical and behavioral health conditions, including sleep;
• Using psychotropic medications;
• Housing, education, employment and community supports; and
• Supporting families/caregivers.  

The next series will start in November 2021. Clinicians can join the live videoconferences from home or the office over lunch or a break. Participants receive compensation for completing several study measures as well as earn AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ for each session attended. Maintenance of certification Parts 2 and 4 are also offered.

For more information, watch this six-minute video presented by Vanderbilt principal investigator Beth Malow, M.D., M.S., and study coordinator Janet Shouse.
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This publication is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $1,830,669, with 15 percent financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.