Senator Bennet Releases ACA Grant Guide

Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet has released a comprehensive collection of information on the pilot projects, grants, and workforce development initiatives available to Coloradans through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Check out the Guide to Grants resource.

Job Listings: Medical Director & Practice Manager

The Marillac Clinic in Grand Junction has two open positions: Medical Director and Practice Manager

Practice Manager: Works under the supervision of the Executive Director in regard to clinical issues and supervises the Medical & Dental Front Desk Supervisors. Duties include: oversee the daily administrative front office operations while coordinating with back office clinic functional needs; analyze day-to-day processes & procedures to develop most efficient and effective work flow and workloads for highest level of patient care; oversee compliance with Medicaid procedures, processes, and practices; oversee financial data related to clinical administrative functions; maintain continuing relationship with clinical Directors to ensure effective policy & program development and implementation and initiate change where necessary; work with providers and staff to implement clinic goals and objectives; serve as an internal resource center for Medicaid and overall administrative clinical functions; serve as primary contact for inquires of staff and patients; address problematic situations; serve in a leadership capacity for department; implementing and analyzing strategic goals; troubleshoot billing errors and is a point of contact for patients with concerns in this area; work closely with Finance Manager around areas of billing and data reporting; exhibits understanding of financial goals and monitors daily flow of patients and patient schedules.

Medical Director: Provides clinical leadership to the integrated medical care team of Marillac Clinic. Responsible for the delivery of professional integrated primary medical care services, both acute and chronic, to patients. Manages administrative functions of the medical department, such as QA projects, team meetings and oversight of midlevel positions. Works in alignment with the clinic administration and clinical directors to achieve strategic planning goals. Oversees dept budget and fiscal management. Leads change management in the medical integrated care dept. Colorado licensed, more than five years experience in primary care or internal medicine, prior administrative experience preferred. Generous benefit package.

More information and application instructions are available at www.marillacclinic.org.

Save the date for The Forum 2012

April 11-13, 2012; Denver, CO

The Forum 2012: Essential Perspectives for Safety Net Providers will be co-hosted by ClinicNET and the Colorado Rural Health Center. The conference will be held at the Denver Sheraton West Hotel. Please save the date and watch for more details to come!

Free Download: EHRoutlook's Guide to EHR Adoption

EHRoutlook.com is offering a free white paper download of useful sites and articles offering tools for EHR success.  This document includes where to find general EHR background and information, how to build a medical home, security and privacy resources, and helpful sites for practice managers and physicians.  Resources are offered by stage of EHR adoption, including for the still-learning physician, for the ready-to-buy physician and for the EHR-using physician.

What do Coloradans Want from Colorado’s Health Benefit Exchange?

CCHI, the Colorado Center on Law and Policy (CCLP) and the Colorado Public Interest Research Group (COPIRG) conducted focus groups around the state in order to find out what consumers understood about, and wanted from Colorado’s exchange. They recently released the report of their findings.

Read the executive summary and/or full report from the focus groups

EHR Incentive Program Resources

Transcripts, presentations, and audio files on calls about the EHR Incentive Program are now available online.

CMS’ National Provider Call on July 14, 2011, “Medicare & Medicaid EHR Incentive Program Basics for Eligible Professionals,” provided basic information on the Incentive Programs for eligible professionals.

CMS’ National Provider Call on August 18, 2011, “Medicare & Medicaid EHR Incentive Program: Understanding Meaningful Use,” provided information about the meaningful use requirements of the EHR Incentive Programs.

Materials from both of these calls can be found under the Presentations for Providers section on the Educational Materials page of the CMS EHR Website. More information on the EHR Incentive Programs is available on the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs website.

CMS Webinar on Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records

The CMS Kansas City Regional Office, in collaboration with the CMS Denver Regional office, is offering Webinars / Teleconferences pertaining to the Electronic Health Records Incentive Program.

This session will begin with a brief presentation followed by time for participants to ask questions. Registration is not required. The session will accommodate 100 webinar participants and 200 teleconference participants on a first come, first served basis.

Understanding the Meaningful Use of Electronic Health Records
Friday, November 18, 2011 – 12:00-1:00 PM MT
Audio Conference Line: 877-267-1577
Meeting ID: 5452

Upcoming CICP Stakeholder Forum

Thursday, October 27, 2011; 9am-12pm

The CICP Stakeholder Forum will be held next Thursday morning at 225 E. 16th Ave., 9th Floor, Conference Room 9A/B.  If you would like to call in, instructions are below:

Access number: 1-877-820-7831 or 1-720-279-0026
Room number: 496143#

HRSA Webinar: Tips for Going Live with a Health IT System

Friday, October 21, 2011; 12:00-1:30 PM MDT

This webinar will explore the experiences of safety net providers who have gone live with a health information technology (IT) system in the last 18 months. Even with much preparation, it is difficult to prepare for all the unexpected bumps in the road. Speakers will present lessons learned and provide tips for successfully planning and triaging problems during the first weeks of going live. Topics include:

• The impact on a provider’s clinical and business workflow;
• Making critical changes with your health IT vendor;
• Meeting meaningful use stage 1 functionality; and
• Identifying useful resources and/or training.

Speakers will also provide advice on change management and how to ensure that this period does not affect patient care. The webinar will cover both primary and inpatient care for rural and urban safety net providers.

Click here to register.

Consider attending the Accountable Care Collaborative Program Improvement Advisory Committee!

As the Accountable Care Collaborative (ACC) Program launches through the Regional Care Collaborative Organizations (RCCO) please consider attending the ACC Program Improvement Advisory Committee. These meetings are open to the public. The next ACC Program Improvement meeting will be held on October 31, 10AM to noon. Additionally 4 Subcommittees are being established: Quality Health and Improvement; Payment Reform, Delivery System Integration; and Provider Outreach. Intererested in serving on a subcommittee? Contact Kathryn Jantz with CO Dept. of Health Care Policy and Financing at 303-866-5972 or Kathryn.Jantz@state.co.us

Open Forums - Community Clinic Licensure

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment is hosting two open forums to hear comments regarding community clinic licensure.

Date and Location of Open Forums:
Friday 10/14, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
4300 Cherry Creek Drive, South 80246, Building C, Conference Room CIE

Friday 10/21, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
4300 Cherry Creek Drive, South 80246, Building A, Board Room, 5th Floor

Background: The Board of Health conducted a rulemaking hearing on the proposed community clinic regulations on September 21, 2011 and granted a continuance until November 16, 2011 to allow CDPHE to take additional stakeholder input. Click here for more information including the draft of the proposed regulations deliberated by the board.

Check out Updates from CDPHE and HCPF

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s: Healthy Communities Update (HCU)

Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing's: At a Glance

Archived Webinar: Leveraging the Social Determinants of Health

This course, sponsored by the Institute for Alternative Futures & Kresge Foundation, is now available for safety net clinics.  It has been reviewed and accredited for up to 1.50 Prescribed credit(s) by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).  Upon completing the webcast, please submit the evaluation for this course which will appear at the end of the session.

Click here to access the classroom.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Safety net clinics routinely go beyond providing only clinical care to individual patients, to “leverage the social determinants of health” (SDH) on behalf of their patients and communities. Yet little is known systematically about this. And much of the differences in health outcomes and health disparities are shaped, not by health care, but by other factors, particularly from the social determinants of health, such as education, jobs, housing, transportation, access to nutritional foods and neighborhood safety.

This Webcast will feature a panel of leaders and directors who are active in leveraging the SDH, describing their activity and preliminary lessons along with perspectives from The Institute for Alternative Futures (IAF), along with the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) and Clinical Directors Network (CDN).  It will present examples and insights on current developments and will engage participants to describe and enter their examples onto the IAF project’s webpage. For example, your clinic probably has a WIC program. Do you have job training or education efforts, build schools, enable septic tanks and wells in rural settings, work with police to enhance neighborhood safety, build bike trails and parks, low income housing, skilled nursing facilities, childhood development centers, provide parenting education, foster farmers markets and community gardens? What other activities could your clinic do? How are these supported, staffed, made effective, and measured? Please join us and share your experience and your plans!

Costco Wholesale Corporate Contributions Program

The Costco Wholesale Corporate Contributions Program supports nonprofit organizations in company operating communities throughout the U.S. and Canada as well as international locations. Grants and product donations are provided to nonprofit organizations and educational institutions that address the areas of children's issues, education, and health and human services. Local organizations should submit requests to the Warehouse Manager at the nearest Costco. Grant or donation requests which impact a broader region should go through the appropriate regional office. Requests may be submitted throughout the year. Visit the company’s website to review the donation and grant eligibility guidelines.

Class: Managing Ongoing Health Conditions

This FREE Healthier Living Colorado class is being offered to anyone 18 or older who would like to gain control over ongoing health conditions.  The class will be held Tuesdays for six weeks.

When: 6-8:30pm every Tuesday for six weeks, October 11 - November 15
Where: AdvocacyDenver office, 1905 Sherman St. #300, Denver, CO 80203
How Much: FREE
Other Info: Snacks and drinks will be provided; child care will not be provided; one workbook per group (if you bring a family member or a friend, you will share one workbook)

To enroll or to ask questions, contact Alex Andrews at 720.841.8326 or aandrews@advocacydenver.org.