Simplify for the Summer!

Are you getting back from vacation and unpacking your 500 emails? Have you even turned your "OOO" (out of office) off yet? Does your desk look like a recycling center? Now that it is the end of August, it is too late to spring clean, but there is always time to simplify! Taking basic steps to clear out your inbox and physical mailbox will help you to get on the path to organization.

There are so many free versions of applications that can be used to help you on your path to simplifying tasks. For example, many of us struggle with too much paper! If you find yourself in a situation where you don't have easy access to a scanner, your phone will double as one. Apps like Scanner App and Adobe Scan make it easy for you to turn a picture into a PDF and send it on its way!

Need help keeping track of tasks? Depending on the tasks you have and the who/how it involves others, you can try using Evernote, Trello, or Microsoft OneNote to help organize your thought and then delegate responsibilities to others. 

Lastly, staying connected to others in your profession can be daunting. Are you feeling like you missed important events or information that went out within your organization? Staying connected to others through Slack and your company's membership organization can help you stay up to date on any shared info or events that may go out. All of this information can be found in one place instead of having to search multiple locations. 

For more times on how to simplify your work-life:

10 Apps for Small Business Success

Hacks For Simplifying Your Life

2019 Fall Operations Conference! Are you Ready?

Have you registered yet? This is one of our largest gatherings of Ohio’s FQHC professionals in the state of Ohio. At this conference, you can expect over 20 informational sessions! For the first time at this conference, we will be offering several different options for credit hours, (pending approval). We will be offering the opportunity to receive CCB credits for some of our sessions as well as CME, CPE and Social Work & Counselor CEUs.

You won't want to miss Maureen Corcoran our opening keynote!

Maureen is the Director of the Ohio Department of Medicaid and will be providing valuable information and updates for Ohio's FQHCs.

And back by popular demand, our closing keynote speaker, Angela Dawson as our closing keynote from Ohio Commission on Minority Health.

Angela will be discussing the importance of having culturally competent organizations and how they can produce effective results.

Also, get ready for all of our opportunities for networking! There will be ample time to meet your counterparts from across the state throughout the conference, including during our reception.

OACHC DOESNT LIE! Turn your world upside-down: step into our fictional land and experience an alternate universe with virtual reality, provided by Cincinnati Circus!

Have you registered yet?! Early bird ends today (Friday 8/23/19)!! Online registration is open until 9/11/19. Learn More and Register Here: www.ohiochc.org/conference 

NHCW 2019 Highlights

This National Health Center Week, OACHC traveled alllllll across the Buckeye State! 

We made some fun friends in Cincinnati and Dayton...

We joined a SWAT team in Mansfield....

We tried some yummy food and supported some amazing causes in Columbus...

And we saw some pumped up kids get bookbags and prepare for school in Bowling Green and Akron!

Thank you to all of our staff that traveled this week far and wide throughout Ohio for #NHCW19  and thank you to our NHCW sponsor UnitedHealthCare! For all of our travel pictures and event descriptions, check us out on social media at www.facebook.com/oachc and www.twitter.com/ohiochc

Breastfeeding!

August is Breastfeeding Awareness Month and this week is World Breastfeeding Week! According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), it is recommended that infants are breastfed exclusively for the first 6 months of their life. Breastfeeding helps build a child's immunity, allows a mothers body to recover faster after childbirth and can increase bonding. Did you know that 60% of mothers do not breastfeed for the recommended amount of time? This is due to a number of factors including; lactation and latching issues, infant

nutrition, mothers' medication and health history, lack of support, and cultural norms.

To help with breastfeeding insecurities, there are lots of products out there that help women maintain modesty while still feeding their child. Check some out here!

If you need help with lactation, many hospitals offer support groups and nurses will provide onsite help too! Find one near you!

If you are not able to produce enough milk you can always reach out to a group that will provide you with some of their own milk. Or, you can look for a formula that is high-quality. At the end of the day whatever you choose to feed your child is up to you. We all just want to have happy healthy children!

Helpful Links:
World Breastfeeding Week
Breastfeeding Facts
Women's Health.gov
Supporting Nursing Moms at Work

Ohio’s State Budget & Community Health Centers

Ohio’s State Budget & Community Health Centers: 

A Policy Wonk’s Perspective

House Bill 166, the state biennial operating budget, was enacted into law officially on July 18 with Governor DeWine’s signature and his subsequent vetoes. Overall, health center advocates are pleased with the progress made (and/or maintained) in HB 166, and we thank each and every advocate that contributed along the way!  Your advocacy matters, and truly made a difference. See a bulleted list of our priorities below:
•Medicaid Expansion remains intact!
•FQHC Primary Care Workforce Initiative (OPCWI) was fully restored (and slightly increased)!
•Names FQHCs to the Health Care Workforce Preparation Task Force - The Ohio Physician and Allied Health Care Workforce Preparation Task Force is created to study, evaluate, and make recommendations with respect to health care workforce needs in Ohio. FQHC representation is specifically noted in the Task Force composition
•Pharmacy/PBM Items: 

• Dispensing Fees – Requires ODM to adopt rules to provide to pharmacies a supplemental dispensing fee under the care management system. Provides that the dispensing fee must include at least three different payment levels 
• Single PBM- Requires the Medicaid Director, not later than July 1, 2020, to select a provisional single state pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) to administer pharmacy benefits for Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) 
• Requires the Director to collect from the state PBM clinical data
• Requires a PBM under contract with a Medicaid MCO to administer pharmacy services under the care management system to: (1) Upon the request of ODM, disclose all of its received payment streams, including drug rebates, discounts, credits, clawbacks, fees, grants, chargebacks, reimbursements, or other payments
• Prescribed Drugs - Permits, instead of requiring, ODM to include prescribed drugs in the Medicaid managed care system
• Prescribed Drug Spending - Requires the Medicaid Director, not later than July 1, 2020, to establish an annual benchmark for prescribed drug spending growth under the Medicaid Program
• Establishes an appeals process for prescription drugs maximum allowable cost- Requires the Medicaid Director to establish an appeals process that pharmacies can use to bring to the Department of Medicaid disputes about the maximum allowable cost set by the state PBM for a prescription drug
• Prescribed Drug Claims Processing Pilot Program- Requires ODM by Jan 1, 2020, to establish a Southeast Ohio pilot program for pre-audit processing of Medicaid MCOs and pharmacy benefit manager prescribed drug claims 

•Telehealth - Effective Jan.1, 2021, requires all commercial health benefit plans to provide coverage for telemedicine services on the same basis and to the same extent as in-person services. Prohibits such plans from excluding telemedicine services from coverage solely because they are telemedicine services but does not ensure payment parity. Note, expanded telehealth rules on Medicaid effective date of July 4

•Infant Vitality –includes funding under the Department of Health and Medicaid for home visiting and infant vitality interventions and for Produce Perks Midwest. Additional funding for birth spacing was unfortunately removed
•Improves Access to the Breast and Cervical Cancer Project (BCCP): increases eligibility to 300% of the FPL, eliminates the requirement that women be younger than 65, and lowers the age from 25 to 21 at which women with a family history or clinical exam results are eligible for screening and services
•School Wellness and Success Funding – Increases the amounts to $275M in FY20 and $400M in FY21 and expands permissible uses of student wellness and success funds (FQHCs are eligible partners; funding can also be used for capital expenses)
•SDOH – Requires the Medicaid Director to implement strategies that address social determinants of health and employment
•CPC/CPC for Kids – Funding intact 
•Managed Care

• Medicaid Prompt Pay – Requires Medicaid MCOs to submit claims in accordance with requirements established by the Department of Insurance (i.e. mirroring commercial prompt pay law) 
• Medicaid managed care performance - Requires that ODM's website include the metrics ODM uses to determine a Medicaid managed care organization's contract performance. 
• Requires ODM, in addition to the MCO performance payment program to establish performance metrics, which may include financial incentives and penalties, to evaluate and compare Medicaid MCO contract performance and then post the metrics to the website
• Requires ODM to update its website quarterly to reflect any changes to the metrics used

•MyCare Ohio / Standardized Claims Forms -  

• Requires the Director to (1) select a standardized claim form for each provider type from among universally accepted claim forms used in the US and (2) require that a provider that renders a medically necessary health care service under MyCare Ohio use the form
• Requires the Medicaid Director to create standardized claim codes that allow a provider that renders a medically necessary health care service under MyCare Ohio to use the same code for that service, regardless of the payor

From the OACHC Policy Team, THANK YOU again for all you have done and continue to do!

Space Oddity

This year on July 20th, we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. In 1969, 2 young astronauts did something no one had done before. They took "one small step for man" and "giant leap(s)" for mankind. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are not only held in high regard to the space program and America, but Neil is one of the many astronauts from Ohio!

Neil Armstrong was born in Wapakoneta, Ohio in August of 1930 and was later a professor at the University of Cincinnati. Along with him, John Glenn, Judith Resnik, and Jim Lovell all hail from Ohio as well. Each one of these individuals had a significant impact on the space program and continue to be remembered for their accomplishments now. Ohio is one of the top states in the US to produce astronauts to the NASA program and to ultimately take flights. 

So what does this all mean? With more school programs being geared towards science, schools specifically meant for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and even toys having a space theme, its showing kids that being a "rocket scientist" may not be such a far grasp after all. Back-to-school is only a few weeks away and with all of the upcoming back to school events, its time to inspire kids to take their dreams to a galaxy far far away! 

Links to help send you into orbit:

• 13 Colleges That Have Produced the Most Astronauts
• 11 things to know about the historic Apollo 11 mission
• Ohio STEM Learning Network
• Lego's 'Women of NASA' sale lifts off, lands as best-selling toy

Eye See You!

Your eyes are a very important part of your body and taking care of them should be a priority. Have a comprehensive dilated eye exam is one way that you can take care of your vision health. According to the National Eye Institute, many eye disorders do not have outward symptoms and one must have an eye exam to diagnose these.

Staying up to date on your family's eye health history is important in order to know if you are prone to develop issues in the future. However, there are many actions you can take to keep your eyes healthy all year long! A few things you can do are:

• living a healthy lifestyle
• wearing protective eyewear
• quit smoking
• keeping your eyes/eyelids clean
• giving your eyes a rest (put your phone down once in a while!)

Did you know that the average American looks at screens as much as 12 hours a day! Just like any other muscle in your body, putting that much wear and tear on a body part is going to cause some side effects. For more information on how to keep your eyes healthy, visit: Eye Health Tips

Schedule a vision care visit with an Ohio Community Health Center near you!