Quick Finds: Clinical Issues

Health Center Strategies for Addressing the Opioid Crisis: The Opioid Crisis and the Impact on Homeless Populations (2018). Resource Type: Archived Webinar. Description: Health Centers and supportive housing providers are confronting the opioid crisis head on in communities across the country with positive results. This webinar explores practical approaches and funding strategies to address the impact of the Opioid Crisis on homeless and vulnerable populations. More Details...

Calories, Cavities, and Kids: The Role of Dental Professionals in Addressing Childhood Obesity (2018). Resource Type: Archived Webinar. Description:  The webinar addresses the role of dental professionals in addressing childhood obesity More Details...

Health Centers Strategies for Diabetes Screening and Prevention for Children, Adults, and the Elderly webinar (2018). Resource Type: Archived Webinar. Description: This webinar explores diabetes prevention and care strategies across the lifespan. Presenters discuss standards of care in the screening and prevention for children, adults, and the elderly, sharing experiences from the field. Case examples of successful diabetes prevention programs, adult clinical treatment, and geriatrics care focused on vulnerable populations of children and adults of all ages are provided. More Details...

Health Center Strategies for Diabetes Screening and Prevention for Children, Adults and the Elderly (2018). Resource Type: Archived Webinar. Description: This webinar explores diabetes prevention and care strategies across the lifespan. More Details...

Health Center Strategies for Diabetes Screening and Prevention for Children, Adults and the Elderly (2018). Resource Type: Archived Webinar. Description: This webinar explores diabetes prevention and care strategies across the lifespan. More Details...

Collecting Data On Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, And Pacific Islanders For Community Health Center Needs Assessments: A Learning Series - Part 2: Data Resource Training: Using Community Commons to Map & Visualize the Needs of AA&NHPIs For Community Needs Assessments (2018). Resource Type: Archived Webinar. Description: This webinar introduces the Community Commons resource and how it can serve as a great tool to help health centers collect disaggregated data on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AA&NHPIs). It provides a live demonstration of Community Commons’ mapping technology features and their Needs Assessment Toolkit. Speakers demonstrate how these tools can be used to inform a health center’s community health needs assessment and increase knowledge of available data resources. This will help to improve health center capacity to monitor and track the needs of medically underserved areas and populations. More Details...

PrEP and Transgender Communities: Evidence Informed Practices (2018). Resource Type: Archived Webinar. Description: During this webinar participants will learn how to 1) describe curretn guidelines for PrEP use, 2) review data on PrEP among transgender people, and 3) identify gender-affirming practices for PrEP implementation. More Details...

Payment Innovation and Health Center Dental Programs: Case Studies from Three States (2018). Resource Type: Publication. Description: As dental care reimbursement follows the trends of healthcare overall towards value-based payment reimbursement, lessons from pioneers in dental payment innovation will inform effective health center strategies that will both strengthen the dental safety network and improve the oral health of the communities they serve. This document outlines interviews from organizations in three states on how health center dental programs are adapting clinical care systems under payment innovation incentives. More Details...

HIV and STI Prevention among LGBTQ People (2018). Resource Type: Archived Webinar. Description: During this webinar, participants will learn how to 1) describe risk factors for HIV and STIs among LGBTQ people, 2) summarize strategies to reduce HIV and STIs among LGBTQ people and 3) identify how to incorporate a package of prevention services into routine clinical care for LGBTQ people. More Details...

Effective Partnerships Guide: Improving Oral Health for Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Children and their Families (2018). Resource Type: Publication. Description: The purpose of this guide is to create an opportunity for Migrant and Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) programs and health centers to learn more about each other’s programs, share resources, foster new partnerships and strengthen ones already in place. Although the guide focuses primarily on oral health, information about medical health services is included. More Details...

Enabling Services Data Collection Implementation Packet: Enabling Services Accountability Project (2017). Resource Type: Toolkit. Description: This toolkit includes tools and recommendations for how health centers can better capture data on enabling services (ES). This will help health centers provide a better understanding of the role of ES in health care access, utilization and outcomes for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AA&NHPIs), and useful information to appropriately address these needs. More Details...

Collecting Data On Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, And Pacific Islanders For Community Health Center Needs Assessments: A Learning Series - Part 1: Social Determinants of Health of Emerging Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islander (AA&NHPI) Populations by States (2017). Resource Type: Archived Webinar. Description: This webinar provides a data portrait of the fastest growing AA&NHPI populations by state with profiles of their social determinants of health characteristics. The five states are Arizona, Arkansas, Nevada, North Carolina, and North Dakota. The seven SDOH characteristics mentioned are educational attainment, foreign born, language spoken at home and ability to speak English, employment status, health insurance coverage, poverty level, and household characteristics. Collecting and having disaggregated data is important to better understand the unique barriers faced by AA&NHPIs since they represent more than 50 ethnic groups and over 100 languages. Health centers can use this data to develop more culturally and linguistically appropriate programs to better serve these communities. More Details...

Improving Diabetes Outcomes: Curated Expert Guidance, Tools, and Resources (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: According to 2016 UDS data, an estimated 14.3% of Federally Qualified Health Center patients nationwide have diabetes. Of these 2 million plus patients living with diabetes, approximately 32% have uncontrolled diabetes, with HbA1c equal to or above 9% or have had no test in the prior year. These statistics bring forth the need for improvement in the care of diabetes; several resources and research outcomes are profiled here with specific takeaways for health centers. As of CDC's 2017 National Diabetes Statistics Report, 30.3 million people, or 9.4% of the total U.S. population, have diabetes. Of these 30.3 million, only 23.1 million are diagnosed - while the other estimated 7.2 million are undiagnosed. Additionally, more than 1 in 3 adults or 84.1 million people in the U.S. have prediabetes. Among adults age 65 and older, nearly half have prediabetes. More Details...

Diabetes Improvement Toolkit (2017). Resource Type: Toolkit. Description: A website that hosts toolkits, guides, and other resources to support data collection, quality, and performance improvement with the use of Health IT tools More Details...

Staff Orientation to the use of Health Information Technology (HIT) to achieve the Triple Aim - Part II: Part 2 of 3: Effectively Using Data to Impact Population Health (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: A custom, health-center focused eLearning module for onboarding and orienting clinical and administrative health center staff to the Triple Aim and their important role in collecting accurate and timely information to support informed decision-making.   The second aim – Population Health – is addressed in this module with a focus on the use of data to improve the health of a population or sub-group of patients.  ** Please note that viewing issues have been identified when using the Internet Explorer 11 browser. The series is best viewed in either Chrome, Firefox, or IE Edge browsers.The series is best viewed in either Chrome, Firefox, or IE Edge browsers. More Details...

Staff Orientation to the use of Health Information Technology (HIT) to achieve the Triple Aim - Part III: Part 3 of 3: Effectively Using Data to Increase Healthcare Value (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: A custom, health-center focused eLearning module for onboarding and orienting clinical and administrative health center staff to the Triple Aim and their important role in collecting accurate and timely information to support informed decision-making.  The third aim – Value – is addressed in this module with a focus on using data to achieve the best outcomes for patients while decreasing costs.  ** Please note that viewing issues have been identified when using the Internet Explorer 11 browser. The series is best viewed in either Chrome, Firefox, or IE Edge browsers.The series is best viewed in either Chrome, Firefox, or IE Edge browsers. 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 the Opioid Epidemic: How the Opioid Crisis Affects Homeless Populations (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This fact sheet provides data on how the opioid crisis disproportionately affects people experiencing homelessness and points to treatment recommendations. More Details...

Employing Dental Therapists in an FQHC: A NNOHA Promising Practice (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This promising practice tells the story of a community health center in Minnesota who hired dental therapists to increase access to their dental services. More Details...

In Your Hands: Preventing Skin Cancer (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This fact sheet is for agricultural workers with information about how to protect themselves from skin cancer. More Details...

In Your Hands: An Introduction to Skin Cancer for Outreach Workers (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This fact sheet is for outreach workers with information about skin cancer education and prevention. More Details...

En Tus Manos: Una Introduccion al Cancer de Piel para Promotores de Salud (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This fact sheet is for outreach workers with information about skin cancer education and prevention. More Details...

En Tus Manos: Previendo el Cancer de Piel (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This fact sheet is for agricultural workers with information about how to protect themselves from skin cancer. More Details...

Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islander (AA&NHPI)-Serving Health Centers and Medicaid (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This fact sheet outlines the impact of potential cuts to Medicaid on Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (AA&NHPIs) and health centers. More Details...

Results of Population Health Analytics/ Data Integration Survey: PCA/ HCCN Experiences Assessing and/ or Implementing Systems (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: HITEQ conducted an anonymous survey of population health analytic and data integration system needs and impressions among PCA/HCCNs in late 2016 and early 2017. The results of that survey, intended to help those looking to adopt similar systems, are laid out within. This includes ratings of key functionalities, discussion of most important features, and comments from those who have assessed and/ or implemented these tools. HITEQ conducted an anonymous survey of population health analytic and data integration system needs and impressions among Primary Care Associations and Health Center Controlled Networks in late 2016 and early 2017. The results of that survey, intended to help those looking to adopt similar systems, are laid out within. This includes ratings of key functionalities, discussion of most important features, and comments from those who have assessed and/ or implemented these tools. This piece reflects the aggregated responses of the 26 responding organizations that chose to participate through a call for responses to PCAs/ HCCNs. Responses are anonymous, are shared as they were provided with minimal editing, and reflect the views and experiences of the respondent(s) only. If you have experiences to add, please respond to the survey or email us! The survey results include: Number of respondents reviewing each system Ratings on selected functions Comments provided related to selected functions Data storage and management for each system Access to raw data downloads Features most important when assessing/ selecting a system Other priorities Reasons for making selection, vendor specific Reasons for making selection, general Three main lessons you’d like to pass on as a result of this experience General Comments Consider using this tool to help guide your thinking as to what questions you might ask vendors as well as what features you may want to see demonstrated if you are considering selecting a system of this type. The HITEQ Center does not endorse any systems or vendors, and has not validated any of the responses provided. More Details...

Demystifying Predictive Analytics: Factsheet on Predictive Analytics for Health Centers (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: Using predictive analytics in health care is an emerging field, especially for health centers. This tool will provide a brief explanation of the purpose of predictive analytics, the ingredients necessary to apply these methods, and ways that health centers are using this approach to improve results. The objective of this resource is to help health center leadership and staff understand how and when predictive analytics can help them, and to think about how predictive analytics might fit into their data-driven QI program. This one-page brief outlines the basics of this complex topic. We define predictive analytics and describe how health centers are adopting this innovation. Sources and uses of data for making predictions are discussed, and specific applications of predictive analytics are described.  Specific health center examples are offered to illustrate the potential of predictive analytics for health centers. More Details...

CHC Adoption Framework for Electronic Patient Engagement: Methods for deploying more personalized care to underserved populations (2017). Resource Type: Toolkit. Description: The introduction of electronic personal health records (PHR) systems, and the patient portals used to provide patients access to those records, into the fabric of the U.S. healthcare system provides a major opportunity to encourage positive health management practices, such as chronic disease management and increased care plan adherence, through greater engagement of the patient. More Details...

Diabetes Prevention:New Pathways for Reimbursement (2017). Resource Type: Archived Webinar. Description: In this webinar, participants will hear Dr. Ann Albright, the Director of the Division of Diabetes Translation at the CDC give an overview of the National DPP, Kelly McCracken of the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) provide details on a project in Maryland and Oregon to demonstrate how the National DPP’s lifestyle change program can be delivered to the Medicaid population as well as become a covered benefit for that population, and Laura Summers of Leavitt Partners provide an overview of an online National DPP Coverage Toolkit to assist private and public payers interested in covering the service More Details...

Why Collect Standardized Data on Social Determinants of Health?: A slide deck outlining the potential use of ICD10 coding for SDOH. (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This resource will equip health center stakeholders with the motivation, knowledge, and ability needed to collect and use standardized social determinants of health data. This resource describes the importance of collecting Standardized SDOH Data in the context of value based payment.  The resource reviews commonly used codes in ICD-10 that can help document SDOH.  Finally, the slide deck describes useful tools for collecting these data and what’s on the horizon for health centers to strengthen their efforts to move “upstream” in addressing health disparities. Download this slide deck below. More Details...

Health Outcomes & Data Measures: A Quick Guide for Health Center & Housing Partnerships: A Quick (Data) Guide for Health and Housing Partnerships (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: Both health and housing providers are tracking data elements and outcomes for a similar vulnerable populations. This resource guide highlights the common data elements currently being tracked, and opportunities to learn from multi-sector partners More Details...

Understanding And Combating Stigma: A Toolkit For Improving Care And Support For People Affected By HBV (2017). Resource Type: Toolkit. Description: This toolkit is written for health care providers and community health advocates who want to improve the care and support for people affected by HBV. The aim of this toolkit is to support you and anyone you are working with to confront and reduce the stigma associated with HBV, and to promote increased prevention, care and treatment of hepatitis B. Anyone can get HBV. We need to work together to promote understanding and action to combat HBV-related stigma and discrimination to combat this disease. More Details...

Dental Dashboard User's Guide (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This User's Guide is a companion to support the implementation and use of the NNOHA Health Center Dental Dashboard. This document will give details about how to collect data, instructions for the online dashboard, and specifics of the measures. More Details...

Contracting for Dental Services In Health Centers: Implementation Strategies (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: Health centers may contract for dental services as a way to increase access to care. NNOHA conducted interviews with health centers that are sustainably contracting for dental services. This publication shares those promising practices. More Details...

Contracting for Dental Services In Health Centers: A Checklist for Planning (2017). Resource Type: Publication. Description: Contracting for dental services is one service delivery method that may be used to provide and/or increase access to dental care for health center service area populations. This checklist will assist health centers in determining if contracting is an appropriate strategy for them. More Details...

Data for Population Health Management: Measuring Population Health & Emerging Directions in Population Health (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This is an 18-slide module describes the role and importance of data to population health management. This is an 18-slide module describes the role and importance of data to population health management. This includes the various sources for data that inform population health management, an introduction to population health analytics; and recommended frameworks for collecting data and measuring impacts and outcomes of population health. The module concludes with a brief discussion of areas of future research and development in population health management. More Details...

Connect for Health: Design of a Clinical-Community Childhood Obesity Intervention Testing Best Practices of Positive Outliers: Connect for Health (2016). Resource Type: Template. Description: HRSA has promoted this multidisciplinary care model as a best-practice for the implementation of childhood obesity multidisciplinary care teams. More Details...

Guide to Improving Care Processes and Outcomes in Health Centers: An approach to quality improvement (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: The quality improvement QI approach outlined in this Guide can be used to augment current QI approaches used in your health center, or can serve as a placeholder QI methodology when there isn’t already a robust QI process in place. It provides a framework and tools for documenting, analyzing, sharing and improving key workflows and information flows that drive performance on high-stakes care performance measures, and related improvement imperatives. This webpage provides strategies and tools that health centers and their partners can use to enhance care processes and outcomes targeted for improvement, such as hypertension and diabetes control, preventive care, and many others. More Details...

Integrated Care Teams to Improve Quality of Care: Health and Housing Integrated Care Models (2016). Resource Type: Archived Webinar. Description: A two-part webinar series to highlight models of integrated care for vulnerable populations includng models of integrated care for primary and behavioral health More Details...

Enabling Services: Gateways to Better Care (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This fact sheet was developed by AAPCHO and the National Association for Community Health Centers (NACHC). It provides an overview of the leading role health centers play in providing enabling services, or non-clinical services that improve access to care, and the important and positive impacts these services can have on health outcomes, costs, access and patient satisfaction. More Details...

NNOHA Oral Health Program Start-Up Resources Toolkit (2016). Resource Type: Toolkit. Description: This toolkit provides resources that may be beneficial for a Health Center or safety-net organization considering starting up an oral health program and/or applying for an Oral Health Expansion Grant. More Details...

SCOPE of Pain: An Evaluation of an Opioid Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy Continuing Education Program (2016). Resource Type: Publication. Description: Objective. Due to the high prevalence of prescription opioid misuse, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandated a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) requiring manufacturers of extended-release/long-acting (ER/LA) opioid analgesics to fund continuing education based on a FDA Blueprint. This article describes the Safe and Competent Opioid Prescribing Education (SCOPE of Pain) program, an ER/LA opioid analgesic REMS program, and its impact on clinician knowledge, confidence, attitudes, and self-reported clinical practice. Method. Participants of the 3-h SCOPE of Pain training completed pre-, immediate post- and 2-month post-assessments. Subjects. The primary target group (n 5 2,850), and a subset (n 5 476) who completed a 2-month postassessment, consisted of clinicians licensed to prescribe ER/LA opioid analgesics, who care for patients with chronic pain and who completed the 3-h training between February 28, 2013 and June 13, 2014. Results. Immediately post-program, there was a significant increase in correct responses to knowledge questions (60% to 84%, P ꢀ 0.02) and 87% of participants planned to make practice changes. At 2-months post-program, there continued to be a significant increase in correct responses to knowledge questions (60% to 69%, P ꢀ 0.03) and 67% reported increased confidence in applying safe opioid prescribing care and 86% reported implementing practice changes. There was also an improvement in alignment of desired attitudes toward safe opioid prescribing. Conclusions. The SCOPE of Pain program improved knowledge, attitudes, confidence, and self-reported clinical practice in safe opioid prescribing. This national REMS program holds potential to improve the safe use of opioids for the treatment of chronic pain. More Details...

Apoyando a Mi Mama Con Su Diabetes - Supporting My Mother with Her Diabetes: A Digital Story about Diabetes (2016). Resource Type: Video. Description: A young woman shares her story and educates us on how she helps her mother manage diabetes. This digital story is narrated in Spanish with English subtitles. More Details...

A User’s Guide for Implementation of Interprofessional Oral Health Core Clinical Competencies: Results of a Pilot Project: Integration of Oral Health and Primary Care Practice (2015). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This user's guide provides strategies for health centers to implement the oral health core clinical competencies for integration of oral health and primary care practice. The guide includes promising practices from health centers that piloted the implementation fo the core clinical competencies. More Details...

A Guide to Workers' Compensation for Clinicians Serving Agricultural Workers (2015). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This publication provides information to clinicians about workers' compensation and agricultural workers, including steps to address a work-related injury. More Details...

Self-Measured Blood Pressure Monitoring: Action Steps for Clinicians: Action Steps for Clinicians (2014). Resource Type: n.a.. Description: The purpose of this guide is to facilitate the implementation of SMBP plus clinical support in four key areas: Preparing care teams to support SMBP, selecting and incorporating clinical support systems, empowering patients, and encouraging health insurance coverage for SMBP plus additional clinical support. For each area, the guide lists actions that can facilitate the implementation of SMBP plus additional support. Beside each action step, it provides corresponding electronic resources to assist with these actions. It also includes appendices that describe proper SMBP preparation and technique, clinical support interventions that are effective when used with SMBP, the proper way to check a home blood pressure monitor for accuracy, and the burden and cost of hypertension. More Details...

Environmental and Occupational Screening Questions for the Primary Care Setting: Preguntas para sondear en los lugares de atencion a la salud (2014). Resource Type: Publication. Description: Three concise and effective environmental/occupational health screening questions for the primary care provider. English and Spanish. More Details...

Adapting Your Practice: Recommendations for the Care of Homeless Patients with Opioid Use Disorders (2014). Resource Type: Publication. Description: Clinicians experienced in homeless health care routinely adapt their practice to foster better outcomes for their patients. This document was written for health care professionals, program administrators, other staff, and students serving individuals with opioid use disorders who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Its purpose is to improve patient care by enhancing understanding of recommended strategies for the successful treatment and management of opioid use disorders in marginalized populations. More Details...

Transgender Women and Pre-exposure Prophylaxis for HIV Prevention: What We Know and What We Still Need to Know (2014). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This publication focuses on PrEP as a prevention option that transgender women should consider but also stresses the need for more research to demonstrate that PrEP is effective for preventing HIV infection among transgender women and a gap in the literature regarding the understanding about the interaction of PrEP and feminizing hormones. More Details...

Survey of School-Based Oral Health Programs Operated by Health Centers (2014). Resource Type: Publication. Description: This paper presents the results of a national online surveys of Health Centers that NNOHA conducted in June 2013 to obtain information about school-based oral health programs located in school-based health centers. More Details...

Oral Health and Disease in People Living with HIV Disease (2013). Resource Type: Archived Webinar. Description: This Powerpoint presentation describes the latest trends in oral manifestations seen in association with medically complex patients, discusses how to recognize and manage the most common oral manifestations seen in association with medically complex patients, explains Dental Treatment Considerations for HIV+ patients, and describes post exposure protocols after an incident in the dental setting. More Details...