Kaiser Permanente Funding Opportunity

Kaiser Permanente Colorado has issued a Request for Letters of Intent to participate in Project A-L-L.

Project A-L-L is based on a medication regimen that has been implemented with Kaiser Permanente diabetes patients, and has been shown to significantly reduce risk of heart attack and stroke.  A-L-L stands for Aspirin, Lisinopril, and Lipid-Lowering Medication.  Kaiser Permanente Colorado has partnered with 3 safety nets thus far to implement this quality improvement initiative.  Kaiser Permanente recognizes that safety net clinics are essential community partners in our shared goals of improving the health of individuals and communities through population-based health care.  Kaiser Permanente Colorado has committed $500,000 in 2012-2013 to continue and expand Project A-L-L, and fund up to 3 new safety net partners.
  
One question and answer webinar/conference call for potential applicants will take place on Thursday, March 22 from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m (MST). This webinar/call is optional.  To ensure equitable and consistent communication to all applicants, no other questions about the request for LOI will be answered beyond this webinar/call.  Please see the Request for Letter of Intent for the link to the webinar and conference call information.

Updates from HCPF

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

Register now for the The Forum 2012: Essential Perspectives for Safety Net Providers

Our annual event brought to you by the Colorado Rural Health Center and ClinicNET is just around the corner!  Join us April 11th - 13th at the Sheraton Denver West in Lakewood and participate in the numerous education, training and networking opportunities available to you. For more information on this event or to register please visit the website. See you there!

AmeriCares U.S. Medical Assistance Program provides safety-net health clinics with donated medicine and medical supplies.

AmeriCares is a Connecticut-based humanitarian aid organization that delivers medicine and medical supplies to clinics and hospitals around the world in the United States. AmeriCares U.S. Medical Assistance Program provides safety-net health clinics with donated medicine and medical supplies. In the United States they distribute products to over 400 clinics, the majority of which are free and charitable clinics. Throughout the years they have cultivated relationships with over 200 pharmaceutical companies that donate medicines to AmeriCares on an ad hoc basis throughout the year. Their program is a good supplement to PAPs and samples. Through their online ordering tool, US Access, you have 24/7 access to their inventory, which is updated in real time. There are no fees to sign up and they cover the cost of shipping. Here is a link to sign-up with their donations program: http://usaccess.americares.org/clinics/

In addition to their donations program, this year they developed a website specifically geared toward free clinics with some applicability to charitable clinics. Because there are limited resources available to free and charitable clinics, their website hosts a number of guides and tools. Here is a link to that site: http://freeclinicstoday.org/. They will be updating the website with new topics over the next year.

For more information contact:
Stephanie Drozer, U.S. Medical Assistance
203.658.9504
sdrozer@americares.org

CCHN Ventures Launches Low-Interest Loan Program!

FINANCING THE GROWTH AND STRENGTH OF COLORADO’S
ESSENTIAL COMMUNITY PROVIDERS
CCHN Ventures is a new non-profit loan fund whose mission is to increase access to flexible, attractive and predictable capital financing to Colorado’s nonprofit, primary healthcare service providers. 

Click here for a fact sheet. Click here for the application.

CCHN Ventures will be holding an information session on Thursday March 15 from 11am-noon. The conference call will consist of a brief overview of the program and a chance for participants to ask any questions regarding the loan fund and application process.  

Call-in Information:
Ph. #: (866) 453-5550
Pin #: 5489071

Publications: Safety Net Medical Home Initiative

The Safety Net Medical Home Initiative announced three new supplements to the SNMHI implementation guides:

• Care Coordination: Strategies to Reduce Avoidable Emergency Department Use (February 2012)
  Provides strategies and interventions practices can use to reduce avoidable ED visits, including educating patients on appropriate use, enhancing access to the primary care practice, and improving care coordination and care transitions.

• Continuous and Team-Based Healing Relationships: Redefining Staff Roles: Where to Start (February 2012)
  Intended to be used by line, site, and organization-level leadership interested in redesigning staff roles for PCMH transformation. It includes recommendations on how to begin the process of redesigning roles and how to avoid pitfalls.

• Organized, Evidence-Based Care: Improving Care for Complex Patients: The Role of the RN Care Manager (January 2012)
  Defines care management and provides practical recommendations about how to provide care management services to high-risk patients. It encompasses both efforts to coordinate care and to deliver clinical services such as monitoring, self-management support and medication review and adjustment.

HHS Announces Intent to Delay ICD-10 Compliance Date

Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently announced that HHS will initiate a process to postpone the compliance date for ICD-10.

The final rule adopting ICD-10 as a standard was published in January 2009 and set a compliance date of October 1, 2013 – a delay of two years from the compliance date initially specified in the 2008 proposed rule. HHS will announce a new compliance date moving forward. Entities covered under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) will be required to use the ICD-10 diagnostic and procedure codes.

Please visit the ICD-10 website for the latest news and resources to help you prepare.