Autism: Get Involved and Get Informed

April is Autism Awareness Month
As the month of April winds down it is not too late to show your support and help spread awareness of autism spectrum disorder. In this blog you will find a myriad of resources around to spread awareness, toolkits, parental tips, hand-outs, children books and a free webinar on an autism screening tool for toddlers.

Here are some tools to help spread awareness for the few days of April left (and after):

The Autism Society has a lot of good materials. Such as facts, awareness toolkits and more!

The CDC provides many materials, such as information of the milestones to look out for as your baby ages.  They also provide many free materials, parenting tips, and ways healthcare providers can better identify autism.

Here is the CDC's children's book, "Amazing Me, It's Busy Being 3", which is about the developmental milestones of 3 year old toddlers.  It also has a parental checklist and tips at the end. Download the book here.

Autism Webinar

We are continuing the support of Autism awareness by hosting a webinar with Nationwide Children’s Hospital.  This webinar is now open for registration and will be held May 11th at 11am.  “Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers M-Chat Revised” webinar by Dr. Karen Ratliff-Schaub This webinar will discuss an autism screening tool designed specifically to identify children 16 to 30 months of age who should receive a more thorough assessment for possible early signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or developmental delay.  This screening tool is called the M-CHAT-R/F.

Dr. Ratliff-Schaub will discuss:
1.)    the latest statistics on age of ASD diagnoses, to include gap in diagnoses among white and minority populations
2.)    Recommendations from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Academy of Pediatrics to monitor, screen and refer during well child visits.
3.)    The latest revision of the M-CHAT-R, to include the online version available to parents.
The webinar will also address the M-Chat usage and cultural competencies.

Register Here

The Free CRC Project

GET PAID TO LEARN HOW TO IMPROVE THE OUTCOME OF COLORECTAL CANCER SCREENINGS

This June OACHC along with the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians are taking part in the 2015 Colorectal Cancer Screening Improvement Project.  This will present a unique opportunity for OACHC members to take part and help to reach our Quality Improvement goals of increasing colorectal screening in Ohio patients to help reduce colorectal cancer deaths. 

When you register for this project, you will be allowed to take three members from your practice to learn with you.  You will exercise teamwork in an effective and efficient way, which you can take back to the rest of your team at your practice.  The three team members will learn the benefits of team-based approaches to care and gain insight on the importance of having an office protocol in support of colorectal cancer screening improvement. 

This project offers CME credits, team training, and credit toward your Maintenance of Certification Part IV requirements from American Board of Family Medicine.  Another big perk to this project is, it’s FREE! Not only is it FREE but your practice will get paid $300 to help cover travel expenses!

Don’t miss this opportunity to get paid to improve your health center, improve your quality and more efficiently help your patients in detecting cancer early! Hurry, because this project is limited and only has 17 spots left!

Learn More Here 

Health Center Funding Cliff

Up to the Minute Info to Fix the Health Center Funding Cliff:  Take Action Now!

At the close of March, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.R. 2 containing a two-year fix to the Primary Care Funding Cliff (including Community Health Centers, National Health Service Corp, Teaching Health Centers).  Unfortunately the Senate recessed without a vote on HR 2.  The Senate is expected to return April 13th and between now and then, we need your help (see below) to solidify support and ask for a commitment to vote to pass H.R. 2. 

The following are the key action advocacy action items we can and should all take between now and the Senate vote on H.R. 2:

1.    Email House members and/or use social media to say THANK YOU for YES vote on HR 2!  Click here to send a ‘Thank You’ email to House members for their YES vote on H.R. 2.  Additionally, here are the twitter handles for the Ohio Delegation voting YES on HR 2; tweet them a note of thanks:

• @SpeakerBoehner 
• @RepMarciaFudge
• @RepDaveJoyce
• @TiberiPress
• @RepSteveStivers
• @RepBeatty
• @RepBobGibbs
• @RepBillJohnson
• @RepJimRenacci
• @RepSteveChabot
• @RepBradWenstrup
• @RepMarcyKaptur
• @BobLatta
• @RepTimRyan
• @RepMikeTurner

2.    Health Center Advocates should continue reaching out to Senators Brown and Portman to ask for their “yes” vote on H.R. 2 when they return to Washington on April 13th. The Senate still needs to vote to pass H.R. 2 in order for the bill to become law and move Health Centers closer to a fix for the Funding Cliff.  Click here to email Senators Brown and Portman and request their YES vote on H.R. 2 when they return to Washington.
                          
3.    Prepare NOW for the final national Cliff Call-In Day slated for April 13th when the Senate will take up and vote on H.R. 2!  Call-in Information coming soon, but NOW is the time to start planning how best to turn up the volume and turn out the calls on April 13th – perhaps a phone bank in your lobby, social media posts, outreach to staff, board members, and partners etc. With over $7 billion for the Community Health Center Program alone in H.R. 2, our Senators need to hear loud and clear from us back home!  

The call-in number is 1-866-456-3949

To ensure you receive the most up-to-date information, as well as critical Calls to Action, sign up to be a Health Center advocate here if you are not already!  It only takes seconds to sign up!