2018 has been an outstanding year at the Ohio Association of Community Health Centers! Let's take a look back at all the things we accomplished as a team!
- Welcomed two new staff members: Carrie Farquhar, Director of Workforce Development and Jessica Schaner, Health IT Specialist
- Promoted Tiffany White to Behavioral Health Program Manager
- PCA Advocacy Center of Excellence
Advocacy Team provides a voice for the 750,000+ patients served in 2018:
- Grasstops: meetings with members of the Ohio General Assembly, Kasich Administration and Ohio’s federal delegation, supplying testimony, written comments, etc. to enact KEY Health Center legislation/policies, including but not limited to:
- SB 229 (Health Center OBOT Classification exemption)
- SB 265 (includes authorization of Medicaid reimbursement of select pharmacist services)
- Stymied coordinated efforts to override Governor’s veto on the Medicaid expansion enrollment freeze
- 340B Negotiations
- Medicaid reimbursement for Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC) Furnished at FQHCs/FQHCLAs (including FFS)
- Grassroots: 3,764 super advocates active in digital communications/strategy
- 2018 Annual Conference: record-setting attendance with 46/52 Health Centers attending
- HRSA Operational Site Visit Protocol Training
- PCMH 2017 Standard Bootcamp Training
- Critical Skills for CHC Managers & Supervisors Training
- 2018 Fall Operations Conference: record-setting attendance with 47/53 Health Centers attending
- UDS Training
- 20 in-house webinars
- Lean Training provided to 7 Health Centers
- PCMH training and office hours provided
- Meaningful Use connection with ODM; training provided
- On-Site Visits with all 16 Members
Oral Health integrated through comprehensive care:
- Blood Pressure Screening Program: 227,478 patients screened in our Dental Centers with 20% of the patients found to have high blood pressure and referred to appropriate care (29 Centers reported)
- Brush, Book, Bed Program with support from HealthPath Foundation of Ohio
- Three new dental centers (up to 40 centers in 45 counties)
Quality Improvement Team leads the following funded projects:
- Medication Therapy Management
- FluFIT
- CenteringPregnancy
- Undiagnosed Hypertension and Pre-Diabetes
- Wholesome Wave Initiative with ODH
- Community E-Connect Initiative with National Association of Chronic Disease Directors
- Case Management for Opioid Use Disorder Initiative
- Hepatitis C Initiative
Workforce Development Team fosters the next generation of primary care:
In year three of the Ohio Primary Care Workforce Initiative (OPCWI):
- 38 FQHCs and 70 health professional training programs participated
- Nearly 1,100 health professional students participated
- About 132,000 student clinical hours were experienced
OACHC Noteworthy Ventures:
- Clinical Learning Collaborative: monthly opportunity featuring content experts and Health Center best practices (CME provided)
- Comprehensive Primary Care Program: 26 FQHCs/80 Sites in second round
- Created online peer-to-peer networking sites (online collaboration hubs for preceptors, OPCWI, HR, QPN, O&E and OMON)
- Data Dashboard developed for all measures (medical, non-medical, dental): 35 FQHCs are sharing data with OACHC
- Implemented session scanning feature for major conferences to better streamline attendance data for Continuing Education Credits
- Infant Mortality Taskforce
- OHIO DATA INTEGRATION PLATFORM (ODIP): Contracted with Azara Healthcare DRVS to provide a common population health/data analytic reporting tool. Three Health Centers LIVE, seven in Implementation
- Pathways for Workforce Development: HealthPath Foundation grant to encourage young patients in FQHCs to consider careers as health professionals working in FQHCs
- Ohio State Division of Cancer Prevention and Control for a Rural Cancer Grant: Partnering with FQHCs and community partners (health departments) in Defiance, Williams, Pike and Jackson
- Team Care Medicine: Initiated team-based models of care pilot to support clinical teams experiencing provider burnout
OACHC Members Recognized:
- Health Center Quality Improvement Grant Awards: 47 FQHCs received 156 awards; two Health Centers received National Quality Awards
- Healthy People 2020 Awards: six Ohio Health Centers surpassed 4/8 measures
- Technical Assistance Grants from Safety Net Solutions: Centerpoint Health and Rocking Horse Community Health Center
- Ohio’s first GOLD status Advocacy Center of Excellence: Compass Community Health
OACHC Community Partnerships:
The following are organizations, partnerships, and coalitions of which OACHC team members are active, and in many cases, are in positions of leadership:
- 3RNet and 3RNET Academy
- Advocates for Ohio’s Future
- American Cancer Society
- Better Health Partnership
- Executive Committee of Ohio Partners for Cancer Control
- Health Policy Institute of Ohio
- Healthcare Collaborative of Greater Columbus
- HPV Vaccination Committee and Workgroups
- LARC Access Ohio
- National Association of Community Health Centers – multiple committee appointments
- National Oral Health Innovation and Integration Network (NOHIIN), State representative for Regional Team
- OHT/ODE School Based Workgroup
- Ohio Collaborative to Prevent Infant Mortality (OCPIM)
- Ohio Health Professions Affinity Community (HPAC) Program
- Ohio Parity at 10 Coalition
- Ohio Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative
- Ohio Perinatal Quality Collaborative
- Ohio Primary Care Physician Workforce Collaborative (OPCPWC)
- Ohio Statewide Health Improvement Program
- Oral Health Ohio
- Rural & Appalachian Ohio Community Advisory Board (CAB)
