North Carolina Office of Rural Health
Operations Team Newsletter
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This newsletter serves a repository of information relevant to North Carolina State-Designated Rural Health Centers and CMS Rural Health Clinics. Please share any content suggestions or feedback with Dorothea at Dorothea.Brock@dhhs.nc.gov.
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Register today to attend the 2022 NCCHCA Primary Care Conference. The conference will be held over three days, June 8th, 9th, and 10th with different training opportunities each day. Conference tracks will cover areas including finance, clinical, executive leadership development, dental, quality, and information technology.
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Alternative to HRSA Portal: NC Medicaid Continued Reimbursement for COVID-19-Related Services for the Uninsured
NC Medicaid continues to reimburse providers for COVID-19 related services for the NC Medicaid Optional Eligibility Group (which includes the uninsured (MCV) and MAFDN Family Planning Group). This program was initiated in 2020 for COVID-19 and expanded by the America Rescue Plan Act to include COVID-19 treatment and vaccination. NC Medicaid will continue to operate this program through the federal public health emergency. For more information, read the April 4, 2022 Medicaid Bulletin #242 and the related bulletins it references.
National Public Health Emergency Renewed Through Mid-July
On Tuesday, April 12, HHS Secretary Becerra renewed the PHE for another 90 days effective April 16. The PHE extension will remain in place until at least July 15 of this year. The Biden Administration maintains that it will provide 60 days’ notice before the ultimate expiration of the PHE, which has implications for the eventual unwinding of Medicaid continuous coverage as well as telehealth flexibilities that will remain in place for 151 days after the end of the PHE.
UNC School of Government Launches American Rescue Plan Act Resource Site
The UNC School of Government has launched a new resource for public officials navigating the complexities of distributing American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)-related funds. Visitors to the site can explore documents, recordings of trainings, FAQs, blog posts, upcoming trainings and office hours, and other related resources to help answer ARPA queries.
The launch of the website is part of a school-wide and statewide collaborative effort to provide ongoing education, support, and advising for officials navigating these legislative requirements. To date, more than 3,000 public officials representing all 100 North Carolina counties have received ongoing advising related to ARPA. Visit the new site here.
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We are launching the Spring into Summer initiative to keep North Carolinians safer, healthy, active, and social.
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New NOSORH Web Page Features Resources for Rural Health Clinic COVID-19 Response |
NOSORH's website has a new section of resources for Rural Health Clinics (RHCs)! Find resources, ideas, and information to help understand the technical assistance (TA) available to support rural communities and RHCs. Learn about the different grant programs, contact information for NOSORH TA champions, and ideas to grow vaccine confidence.
“The resources that RHCs from around the country have shared are beautiful and engaging. We’re so happy to share them for anyone to use to help their community be more well,” said Tammy Norville, NOSORH Technical Assistance Director. NOSORH is a proud partner with the National Association of Rural Health Clinics, the Georgia Health Policy Center, and the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy on this work in rural communities.
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You’re Invited to Participate in Medicaid Quality Improvement Work with NC AHEC
All nine Regional AHECs support Advanced Medical Home (AMH) practices across the state with 1:1 technical assistance for Medicaid managed care, workflow redesign, EHR optimization, telemedicine, and more – all at no cost to the practices. We welcome the opportunity to assist you in applying this collaborative approach to quality improvement in your practice. All three Medicaid topics may not apply to your patient population, so we invite you to work with us on those that are important to you! We are now enrolling Medicaid AMH practices across North Carolina to partner with an AHEC practice support coach who will work with your practice on one or more of the three priority topics highlighted below.
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- Patients with diabetes ages 18-75
- Patients aged newborn – 2 years of age
- Pregnant Medicaid beneficiaries and patients who are newly eligible for Medicaid due to pregnancy. Pregnancy through 12 months postpartum.
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Omnibus Extends Telehealth Beyond Public Health Emergency
Earlier this month, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022 which funded the government for the rest of fiscal year 2022. This bill, also known as the “omnibus” was widely viewed as the last major legislative vehicle for health policy changes until after the mid-term elections. While there were serious legislative efforts to pass significant, and much needed, telehealth reforms for rural health clinics, ultimately, the final bill simply extended telehealth policies for 151-days beyond the end of the public health emergency (PHE). READ MORE
CMS Clarifies Behavioral Health Telehealth Encounters
CMS Releases SE22001:"Mental Health Visits via Telecommunications for Rural Health Clinics & Federally Qualified Health Centers." SE22001 clarifies billing for Mental Health Visits conducted via Telehealth. This bulletin distinguishes between Behavioral Health Services rendered via Telehealth from those billed via G2025.
"These visits are different from telehealth services provided during the Public Health Emergency (PHE). Don’t bill HCPCS code G2025 for a mental health visit you provide via telecommunications. See MLN Matters Article SE20016 for information on billing G2025. See SE22001 for In-Person Visit Requirements and Exceptions.
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Effective March 25, 2022: Huge Changes to our North Carolina Loan Repayment Program (NC LRP) and High Needs Service Bonus (HNSB) Guidelines!
The Office of Rural Health (ORH) offers qualifying providers, with educational (student) loan debt, NC LRP incentive payments to repay their loans tax-free and taxable incentive bonus payments through our HNSB program for qualifying providers without educational debt. All incentive payments are awarded to qualifying providers in exchange for providing comprehensive outpatient primary care services at eligible sites serving those with the highest need located within Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs). Both providers and sites must meet eligibility requirements.
NC LRP: Prior to March 25, 2022, NC LRP required that providers first access National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Loan Repayment Program (federal) and sites become NHSC certified to access federal funds. This requirement allowed ORH to be better stewards of very limited state funds. In State Budget Fiscal Year 2022, ORH received a temporary budget increase for incentives. This increase prompted revisions to the guidelines. One major revision: ORH is temporarily removing the requirement for providers and sites to access NHSC prior to NC LRP. Accessing NHSC LRP continues to be a better long-term option for both providers and sites, especially since ORH anticipates that these temporary revisions will be removed once the funds have been exhausted. Another major revision: Qualifying providers employed at Critical Access Hospitals (outpatient), Free and Charitable Clinics, Health Departments, Rural Health Centers, Rural Health Clinics, School Based Health Centers, Small Rural Hospital Owned Practices are not required to submit certain site documentation as they have done in the past (i.e., Sliding Fee Scale data, Site Data Table).
HNSB: Same information as above for NC LRP. In addition, two other major revisions include decreasing the required minimum HPSA score from 16 to 10 and increasing the award amounts to match those offered by NC LRP.
Recruiters are assigned by service area regions. Please refer to the Placement Team’s Technical Assistance link below to ask further questions about these guidelines or use the map to locate the recruiter assigned to your county (location of your site).
Shawanda Fields, Placement Services Program Manager
Healthy Opportunities Food, Housing & Transportation Services Now Available
Healthy Opportunities is a groundbreaking pilot program that will work in conjunction with the state’s transition to NC Medicaid Managed Care to test and evaluate the use of Medicaid to pay for a select set of evidence-based interventions designed to address non-medical factors that drive health outcomes and costs.
Effective March 15, 2022, qualifying Medicaid Standard Plan members in 33 North Carolina counties may receive food services. Examples of food services include:
Effective May 1, 2022, qualifying Medicaid Standard Plan members in 33 North Carolina counties may also receive housing and transportation services.
Examples of housing services include:
- Navigation support and sustaining services
- Inspection for housing safety and quality
- Move-in support
- Essential utility setup
- Home remediation services
- Accessibility and safety modifications
Examples of transportation services include:
- Reimbursement for health-related public or private transportation
- Transportation for case management services
To be eligible for and receive Pilot services, NC Medicaid Managed Care members must live in a Pilot region (in one of the counties listed below) and have at least one qualifying physical or behavioral health condition and one qualifying social risk factor, as defined by the Department. For more information, please see frequently asked questions.
Network leads are:
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Access East, Inc.: Beaufort, Bertie, Chowan, Edgecombe, Halifax, Hertford, Martin, Northampton, Pitt
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Community Care of the Lower Cape Fear: Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender
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Dogwood Health Trust: Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Yancey
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Healthcare & Funding Opportunities |
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This is a new multiyear program from HRSA's Bureau of Health Workforce focused on education and on-the-job training to build the pipeline of public health workers. This effort will support training and apprenticeship programs to help more people enter the health workforce and serve the critical role of trusted messengers to connect people to care and support, help ensure patients follow-up on their provider’s recommendations, and focus on preventive and protective factors that can improve health and well-being.
The Duke Endowment is pleased to announce a request for applications for Healthy People, Healthy Carolinas (HPHC), a program to improve community health outcomes and reduce health disparities in North Carolina and South Carolina. This expanding initiative is designed to advance up to six new or existing multi-sector community coalitions in North Carolina in their efforts to improve population health. Read the RFA, additional information about HPHC, and access the application here.
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State-Designated Rural Health Center
Program Reminders
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Save the Date! NCCHCA Primary Care Conference
SDRHCs are encouraged to attend the 2022 NC Primary Conference this June 8-10 at the Hotel Ballast in Wilmington, NC. Grantees are invited to participate in the ORH grantee kickoff during the June 8th preconference from 12 – 4. The preconference session only will be offered at no cost and will have a virtual option. Please reach out to your contract monitor if you have further questions.
SFY 21-22 Year End Grant Close Out
Due to the state fiscal year end on June 30, the DHHS Controller’s Office requires all requests for payments to be submitted by June 10th. Therefore, we will need your grant monthly expense report no later than June 6, 2022, in order to allow time for review and entry prior to June 10th.
This means that you will be submitting your actual expenses for May 2022 AND estimating your expenses for June 2022. There will be a follow-up email in July requesting your actual expenses for reconciliation purposes. The estimated expenses will be reconciled, and any overpayments will be requested back via an official letter, however we cannot not adjust for underestimates.
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The Rural Health Operations Team works to connect organizations and rural primary healthcare sites to resources to increase access to care, coordinate existing services, support quality clinical care and accomplish outcomes utilizing standard processes with the goal of building strong, coordinated networks in communities while avoiding duplication of efforts.
For technical assistance or general inquiries, please contact your regional Rural Health Operations Health Team member.
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