Funding Opportunity – Healthy Start Initiative: Eliminating Disparities in Perinatal Health – HRSA-24-033

October 17, 2023

Funding Opportunity – Healthy Start Initiative: Eliminating Disparities in Perinatal Health – HRSA-24-033

This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the Healthy Start Initiative: Eliminating Disparities in Perinatal Health (Healthy Start or HS) Program. The purpose of HS is to improve health outcomes before, during, and after pregnancy and reduce the well-documented racial/ethnic differences in rates of infant death and adverse perinatal outcomes. HS is intended to support projects in communities and populations experiencing the greatest disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes.

HS has two focus areas:

1) providing direct and enabling services (for example, screening and referrals, case management and care coordination, health and parenting education, and linkage to clinical care) to enrolled HS participants; and

2) convening Community Consortia (formerly known as Community Action Networks or “CANs”) comprised of diverse, multi-sector partners to advise and inform HS activities as well as to develop and implement plans to improve perinatal outcomes within the selected project area.

HS continues to have an increased emphasis on addressing social determinants of health, such as:

  • access to adequate food
  • housing and
  • transportation

to improve disparities in maternal and infant health outcomes.

Based on stakeholder feedback, this FY 2024 HS competition also provides recipients with increased flexibility to tailor interventions to the unique needs of their community and/or target population.

The goals of HS are to:

1) Continue reducing infant mortality rates in the United States, and

2) Decrease disparities in infant mortality and poor perinatal health outcomes in  areas where those rates are high.

You can apply if your organization is in the United States and is:

  • Public or private Community-based Tribal (governments, organizations)

Additional Notes:

  • If you are a recipient of the Healthy Start Initiative – Enhanced (HRSA-23-130) (HSE) you are still eligible to apply for this grant if you are proposing a new project area, that is, an area not currently served by your or an existing HSE award. HSE grant project areas have been settled and it is not HRSA’s intent to alter or reset existing HSE project areas. Therefore, if you propose to serve a project area that fully overlaps with your own award or another HSE award, your application will be deemed ineligible and will not be considered.
  • Please see Appendix H for a list of Healthy Start Initiative – Enhanced project areas.

Still have questions? Please contact Mia Morrison: MCHBHealthyStart@HRSA.gov

Applications due by December 15, 2023

View Grant Opportunity

Apply Here

Funding Opportunity – Early Hearing Detection and Intervention State/Territory Program – HRSA-24-036

October 17, 2023

Funding Opportunity – Early Hearing Detection and Intervention State/Territory Program – HRSA-24-036

This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) State/Territory Program. The purpose of this program is to enhance the state/territory EHDI system infrastructure to improve language acquisition for deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children up to age 3. Funding will support state and territory EHDI systems of services so that DHH newborns, infants, and young children up to age 3 receive appropriate and timely services, including hearing screening, diagnosis, and early intervention (EI).

Who Can Apply?

  • Any state
  • District of Columbia
  • Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
  • Northern Mariana Islands
  • Guam
  • American Samoa
  • S. Virgin Islands
  • Micronesia
  • Republic of the Marshall Islands
  • Republic of Palau

In addition, you can apply if your organization is in the United States and is:

  • Public or private, non-profit
  • Community-based
  • Tribal (governments, organizations, as those terms are defined at 25 U.S.C. § 450b)
    • Native American tribal governments (federally recognized) are eligible
    • Native American tribal organizations (other than federally recognized tribal governments) are eligible.

Watch the August 23, 2023 technical assistance webinar for more information

Get answers to Frequently Asked Questions for this funding

Applications are Due November 6, 2023

Apply Here

AHRQ Free Health Literacy Toolkits and Guides

October 17, 2023

AHRQ Free Health Literacy Toolkits and Guides

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) offers Free information to promote organizational policies and procedures which can foster the inclusion of patients and family while creating collaborative partnerships with other providers.

Free Tools

Health Literacy Toolkits, GIFS and Educational Resources

October 17, 2023

Health Literacy Toolkits, GIFS and Educational Resources

October is Health Literacy Month – Join the American Institute of Healthcare Compliance (AIHC), a non-profit training organization, for this international observance when hospitals, health centers, literacy programs, libraries, social service agencies, businesses, professional associations, government agencies, consumer alliances, and many other groups work together to integrate and expand the mission of health literacy.

Often patients don’t comply because they either don’t understand what is communicated or they are subject to Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) issues.

Check out these AIHC courses to support your organization:

2023 National Telehealth Conference – Recorded Sessions Now Available

October 17, 2023

2023 National Telehealth Conference – Recorded Sessions Now Available

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has released the recorded sessions from the September 2023 National Telehealth Conference.

Watch individual sessions from the 2023 National Telehealth Conference:

HIPAA Privacy Online Training for Managers, Privacy Officers, Executives

October 17, 2023

HIPAA Privacy Online Training for Managers, Privacy Officers, Executives

The American Institute of Healthcare Compliance (AIHC) has a HIPAA Privacy, Online, On-Demand, No Classes to attend training. The option to certify is included in course tuition to earn your HIPAA Privacy Officer, Certified HPOC credential.

This course is recommended for those who are involved in developing and enforcing confidentiality, privacy and security as a Covered Entity or Business Associate, including but not limited to:

  • HIPAA Privacy Officers
  • Practice Administrators
  • Office Managers
  • Compliance Officers
  • C-Suite Executives
  • Directors and Administrators

Cost:

  • AIHC Members: $375
  • Non-AIHC Members pay $625

Tuition is All-Inclusive with online, proctored certification exam.

Tuition includes:

  • All training materials
  • On-demand access to qualified, experienced instructors
  • Online quizzes
  • Mock exam and certification exam fee
  • Course completion certificate worth 12 AIHC/AHIMA CEUs

Not a member of AIHC: Join Here

If you need to enroll three or more persons, complete this form to request a group discount.

Register Online for Immediate Access

State of the Healthcare Industry: Market Updates for Rural Strategy

October 17, 2023

State of the Healthcare Industry: Markey Updates for Rural Strategy

The National Organization for State Offices of Rural Health (NOSORH), in partnership with Stroudwater Associates, invites you to participate in a series of quarterly market updates for rural healthcare stakeholders to stay current on the changes in the healthcare marketplace in order to strategize responses to ensure vital services for rural communities.

By the end of these sessions, participants will be able to:

  • Understand new regulations and laws that have occurred during the last 90 days
  • Describe the current market dynamics of the healthcare industry
  • Evaluate the effects of these trends on rural providers
  • Apply this understanding to their own organization

Who should attend?

  • Rural hospitals
  • Primary care practices
  • Non-profit organizations
  • Rural philanthropy organizations
  • Policymakers, government agencies and other rural health stakeholders

When:

Monday, October 30, 3:00 p.m. ET

Register Here

Rural Health Clinics Still Have the Opportunity to Apply

October 16, 2023

Rural Health Clinics Still Have the Opportunity to Apply

As announced by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in January 2023, clinicians no longer need a federal waiver to prescribe buprenorphine for treatment of opioid use disorder. Clinicians will still be required to register with the federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to prescribe controlled medications. On June 27, the DEA began to require that registration applicants – both new and renewing – affirm they have completed a new, one-time, eight-hour training. Exceptions for the new training requi8rement are practitioners who are board certified in addiction medicine or addiction psychiatry, and those who graduated from a medical, dental, physician assistant, or advanced practice nursing school in the U.S. within five years of June 27, 2023.

Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) still have the opportunity to apply for a $3,000 payment on behalf of EACH provider who trained between January 1, 2019 and December 29, 2022 (when Congress eliminated the waiver requirement). Approximately $889,000 in program funding remains available for RHCs and will be paid on a first-come, first-served basis until the funds are exhausted.

How to Apply

  • RHCs will need a System for Award Management (SAM) account in order to apply
    • For information on how to create a SAM account, visit gov
    • For help on setting up a SAM account, you can watch this helpful video
  • RHCs will also need a HRSA Electronic Handbooks (EHBs) account in order to apply
  • Apply through HRSA EHBs

Watch this 11-minute video that explains the changes.

Please send questions to DATA2000WaiverPayments@hrsa.gov.

Rural Monitor Article – Recovering from a Cybersecurity Attack and Protecting the Future in Small, Rural Health Organizations

October 16, 2023

Rural Monitor Article – Recovering from a Cybersecurity Attack and Protecting the Future in Small, Rural Health Organizations

A new feature article in The Rural Monitor examines the increasing incidence of cyber-attacks on healthcare organizations and the particular vulnerability of rural providers. According to the Cybersecurity Program at the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 60 percent of ransomware attacks – whereby bad actors gain entry to an organization’s online system and lock critical files until a ransom is paid – were aimed at healthcare systems in 2020. FORHP-supported research out last year found that rural hospitals are less likely to be attacked, but staff are less equipped to handle them when they do happen, and rural residents who need these services have fewer alternatives for care.

Read Full Article

NRHA Today Weekly Newsletter

October 16, 2023

NRHA Today Weekly Newsletter

The National Rural Health Association (NRHA) has posted the latest copy of NRHA Today.

In this issue:

  • What rural health providers need from Washington
  • NRHA now accepting Health Equity Conference presentations
  • Legislative error derails millions for struggling hospitals
  • What does CEO Alan Morgan see as the future of rural health?
  • Louisiana hospital leading in midwife care – more is needed
  • University establishes center for health care cybersecurity
  • Is the health care industry selling telemedicine short?
  • Ways for Congress to tackle rural health care shortages
  • How has your rural community changed in your lifetime?
  • JRH publishes new article on rural mammography services
  • Wondering where you can find qualified rural health pros?
  • Throwback: NRHA CEO on top rural health, hospital concerns
  • NRHA webinars on wound care, leadership succession planning
  • What parking lot mobile clinics say about rural health care
  • Rural child hunger summit, primary care ECHO upcoming
  • Participate in NRHA’s latest rural health advocacy campaigns
  • University receives grant to combat rural physician shortage
  • Rural emergency rooms take on health care challenges
  • Study examines health, other factors in happiest states
  • Rural youths who drink heavily more likely to carry a gun

Go to NRHA Today