January 2026 Updates

Wishing you an energizing start to the new year!


We closed 2025 with our all-member session where presenters from the 2024 Closed Loop Referral Systems (CLRS) Learning Series returned to share approaches that worked for CLRS in 2025, goals for the new year, and how collaborative members can continue to support CLRS efforts across the state. You can view the slides from the session here. During this session we also asked collaborative members what their hopes are for CLRS across the state in 2026. Below are some of the responses shared.


Collaboration

  • Continued growth and collaboration.
  • Hope for increased collaboration and network development to better connect people to care in a timely fashion.
  • Continue to enhance the process to streamline process for all parties involved.
  • Still learning about closed loop referral and hoping to understand how it can help people diagnosed with cancer in NM.
  • Strong and sustained partnerships with local and statewide networks for connecting community members most in need to CLRS and partnering with SHARENM.
  • More resources for rural areas, better collaboration.


Integration & Interoperability

  • Focus on integration of CLRS amongst specialties.
  • I hope to impact 2026 CLRS by sharing more about the role of health information and healthcare interoperability to support providers and improve care coordination for patients. 
  • My hope is that they continue to expand and be utilized effectively throughout the state.
  • Hoping for successful launch with CBOs that really supports both them and us.


Measurable Impact

  • I want to hear stories from people who benefited from getting multiple resources.
  • Greater access to resources and timely care for those in need. 
  • To establish most comprehensive, streamlined, and supportive path forward for all.
  • For 2026 complete implementation, promote, and having some data to report out.
  • I hope to see a promising rollout with great evaluation metrics that facilitate continued improvement.
  • Increase in % needs met for our Medicaid members.


Our next all-member session will be a continuation of this conversation. Speakers will share their plans for CLRS efforts across the state. Join us on February 26th at 1 pm MT. Email dlucero45@phs.org for the calendar invite.


Two new resources available on https://www.nm-sdoh.org/



Member Events, Announcements, and Resources

Northern New Mexico Community Data Sprint | LANL

LANL's Data Sprint Event pairs nonprofits with Lab data scientists to solve data-related issues, sponsored by LANL's Information Science & Technology Institute.
Read More

New Mexico Social Drivers of Health (SDOH) Support Integration ECHO Program

Project ECHO is collaborating with the New Mexico Health Care Authority (NM HCA) and Findhelp to deliver and educate healthcare providers and health leadership in New Mexico on the use of a closed-loop referral system (CLRS) to screen and connect patients to resources to address social needs. The implementation of the statewide closed loop referral system depends on the integration of community health workers as key members of the healthcare team. The NM HCA has developed the curriculum for training health care leaders on SDOH, the closed-loop referral system, and highlighting the inclusion of CHWs and/or other Support Workers for providing social needs support across New Mexico. 

 

The overall goal of this ECHO program is to enhance the healthcare workforce's ability to address social determinants of health (SDOH) affecting health outcomes for priority Hispanic/Latino populations at risk and with diabetes. Using the ECHO Model, the multidisciplinary team will mentor participants through didactic sessions and case-based presentations and serves to guide healthcare organizations about the scope of practice for CHWs, the competencies and training for these roles with a focus on diabetes.

 

Join us and be part of a collaborative space to share ideas, explore best practices, gain knowledge on the CLRS, and strengthen the role of CHWs in improving patient care.

 

Let’s build healthier communities - together.

 

Session Details

Meets on the 3rd Thursday of each month from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m MT, and subject to holiday scheduling.

Sessions begin Thursday, September 18, 2025!

 

Target Audience

  • Clinic leadership and administration
  • Individuals that have decision-making capacity about if and how to incorporate CHWs as part of their healthcare organizations
  • Counties of Dona Ana, Lea, Eddy, Chaves, Grant, Luna, Otero and El Paso.

 

Continuing Education Credits

We offer no-cost Continuing Medical Education, Continuing Nurse, Continuing Pharmacy Education and American Academy of Physician Assistants credits. 
Sign up here

Policy Updates

Rural Health Transformation Program Announcement

New Mexico Medicaid receives $211.5 million to strengthen rural health care Information shared via HCA Primary Care Council


HCA received $211,484.741 in grant funding from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to support improvements in rural health care access and delivery across the state.


The funding is part of the Rural Health Transformation Program and will be used to expand rural health services, stabilize critical access facilities, bolster the health care workforce, and advance technology-enabled, community-based care models statewide. More information, including the full plan for use of the award funds, is available on the Rural Health Transformation Program webpage: https://www.hca.nm.gov/rural-health-transformation-program/ 

Protecting Coverage as a Matter of Trust and Justice

Information shared by National Council of Urban Indian Health via Rx Foundation Newsletter


In 2025, the National Council of Urban Indian Health (NCUIH) helped secure a major policy victory protecting access to care for American Indian and Alaska Native communities—successfully advancing exemptions for AI/AN people from Medicaid and SNAP work requirements and from more frequent Medicaid redeterminations under H.R. 1.

While the precise number of people affected is difficult to quantify, the implications are far-reaching: approximately 1.3 million adult American Indian/Alaska Native people are enrolled in Medicaid, meaning these protections safeguard coverage at a national scale. By preventing unnecessary administrative barriers and coverage disruptions, the exemptions reinforce the federal trust responsibility and protect access to care for urban AI/AN communities already navigating systemic inequities.

This victory was achieved in close collaboration with key partners, including the National Indian Health Board and the Coalition for Tribal Sovereignty, demonstrating the power of coordinated advocacy grounded in lived experience and shared leadership.


Policy victories matter most when they are paired with community-based care that meets people where they are.

We are honored to support and learn alongside NCUIH as they advance policy solutions that uphold trust responsibility, protect coverage, and center the health and dignity of American Indian and Alaska Native communities.

Luján Convenes Experts to Create Roadmap for Native Maternal Health Solutions

Press Release



Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, convened more than 55 American Indian, Alaska Native (AI/AN), and Native Hawaiian (NH) maternal health experts and organizations to create a landmark set of five reports outlining the current state of Native maternal health. The five reports synthesize national findings on maternal mortality, workforce equity, access to health care services, data sovereignty, and funding inequities.


Links to all five reports can be found below: 

8120 Constitution Pl. NE | Albuquerque, NM 87110 US

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