In late September, 31 Care Managers, Care Coordinators, Quality Improvement staff and health center care team members representing 13 West Virginia Community Health Centers convened in Charleston to participate in a 1.5 day workshop. Care Management/Care Coordination: A Deep Dive presented by Jennifer Calohan, RN with CURIS Consulting, led participants through such important topics as Risk Based Care Management, Aligning Care Management with Population Health, Care Management in the Patient Centered Medical Home, the Quadruple Aim and the Financial Impact of the CMS Chronic Care Management Program.

 

According to one participant, "Jennifer (Calohan) has a wealth of knowledge [and] she presents it in a way that you can understand and is enthusiastic! I learned so much!"

 

Along with informative materials and presentations, health center staff had the opportunity for peer-to-peer interaction with their colleagues.

 

For more information contact Emma White, RN Clinical Quality Coordinator at [email protected].

Please join the West Virginia Primary Care Association (WVPCA) as we host a one-hour webinar on October 11, 2018 at noon with UniCare Health Plan of West Virginia, Inc. (UniCare) to review and increase accessibility to well-child and well-adolescent exams and improve the quality of outcomes. Barbara Wessels, with UniCare Health Plan of WV, will provide an overview of the contest along with anticipated changes including the reduction of paperwork for the 2018 cycle. There will be a question and answer period following her presentation.

 

For further information and registration, please click here.

 

Please note - our registration process has changed and is now exclusively online. If you experience any difficulty with the registration process, please contact the WVPCA at 304.346.0032.

The question being: "Have you or a loved one ever served in the U.S. military?"

With approximately half of all of our nation's Veterans seeking care outside of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and around one-third of visits covered by VA being completed by community providers, there is no better time to adopt screening procedures for this population in community healthcare settings. The recently released National Suicide Data Report cited Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data reflecting that our nation's Veterans are at higher risk for suicide than their civilian peers, making screening for military status an important tool in helping to identify individuals at risk, and allowing providers to properly link them to appropriate levels of care.

- by Elinore F. McCance-Katz, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, SAMHSA

This Veteran's Day make a commitment to change how you and others talk to Veterans and military families. Community providers and peers can play a critical role in identifying service members, Veterans, and their families (SMVF) of all generations who are accessing care in our communities and healthcare systems. When SMVF are not properly screened within our systems, we are missing an opportunity to connect with those individuals, inform treatment-planning decisions, and help SMVF access care and benefits.

The American Nurses Association launched one of the first efforts of this kind over 5 years ago when they began their "Have you ever served in the military?" campaign. Leaders in the state of New Hampshire developed the Ask the Question campaign and are launching a toolkit designed to assist healthcare providers in the implementation of a consistent approach to pose the question and to then refer SMVF to appropriate care and resources. Throughout the country, the states of Illinois, Kansas, Nevada, New Hampshire, and the city of Los Angeles have all implemented initiatives to integrate this question in screening practices.

 

SAMHSA's SMVF TA Center will conduct a webinar that will provide guidance on how to implement this behavioral health priority. Presenters will outline concrete strategies that will enable stakeholders to develop a more coordinated system of care by connecting SMVF to available, military culture informed resources. The American Academy of Nursing "Have You Ever Served in the Military" campaign and New Hampshire's "Ask the Question" campaign and toolkit will be featured.

Presenters

Susan Budassi Sheehy, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.E.N., F.A.A.N. | Professor, University of Delaware, College of Health Sciences The American Academy of Nursing

Jo Moncher | Former Bureau Chief, Community-Based Military Programs, New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services

Registration is available here. 

Trends in WV Employment, Labor and Benefits Law Seminar When:  October 16 | 8:30 AM - 1:30 PM Where: Jackson Kelly PLLC's Charleston Office and via webinar What: For more information, click  here.     26th Annual WV Rural Health Conference When:  October 17-19 Where:  Pipestem State Resort What :  Registration is available   here .

Appalachian Addiction & Prescription Drug Conference When:  October 18-20 Where:  Embassy Suites, Charleston, WV What:  Registration is available  here .

The Quarterly 340B Program site registration is open from Oct. 1 to 15 for the standard two-week registration period. Health centers are still able to register a site that has been verified as implemented and with a site status reflected as "active" in EHB Form 5B through Nov. 23, after which the system will close to prepare for the Jan. 1, 2019, start. You will need to provide the following information when calling:

The authorizing official will receive an email message that the account is unlocked and a registration may be submitted. Email the 340B call center or call 888-340-2787, Monday-Friday, 9:00 am - 6:00 pm ET.