Certintell’s newest blog series, “Industry Insights,” takes a look at what topics are buzzing with popularity in the mHealth and care management arena for FQHCs and other community-based organizations. Here, you can explore how legislation might affect your workflows, what statistics might be preventing better patient outcomes and tips for pushing past your biggest care barriers. Stay on top of what FQHC news you should know below!
Patient-Centered Care Discussions
New Resources to Support 2022 National Minority Mental Health Month
Minorities face alarming disparities in mental health due to a variety of factors, including cultural stigma, lack of access and lack of awareness. As many of us have come to experience either first-hand or second-hand, physical health can’t be fully realized until mental health is put first. That’s why it’s so important to support minority patients in both areas, especially in culturally-competent ways.
Each year, Mental Health America releases a toolkit for how to encourage the uptake of healthier mental health habits among minority patients. This year, the toolkit is expansive; it consists of 29 pages detailing historical context; barriers to well-being; cultural beliefs; and strength and resiliencies in different communities. Populations covered include Native Americans, Arabs and South Asians, Asian and Pacific Islanders, Black Americans, Latinx and Multiracial individuals.
How to Implement Trauma-Informed Care: Stories from a Texas FQHC
Trauma is no easy barrier to conquer, for both patients and their subsequent primary care providers. That’s why the two have to work together as a team, putting the individual patient and their stories first in the hierarchy of care coordination.
A FQHC in Texas is learning how to navigate trauma-informed care through patient-centered care, specifically for its patients crossing the Mexico-U.S. border.
See how your organization might implement a similar model for patients experiencing trauma:
Health Equity Expansion and Ensuring Access to Care
First in Reproductive Care: FDA to Consider OTC Birth Control Pill
More than 100 countries in the world allow the sale of non-prescription birth control pills, and the United States could soon be the newest one added to the list. Opill, a progestin-only birth control pill maker, has been approved for prescription use since the 70s. However, the company just submitted an application to be the first over-the-counter birth control pill to the FDA. The company hopes it will remove systemic barriers to safe and affordable reproductive care, since oftentimes doctor visits and copays can pose barriers to accessing non-emergency care.
White House Overrides States’ Abortion Bans in Cases of Emergency
On July 11, the department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ordered providers to continue to supply abortion care in cases where the pregnant patient’s life or health are seriously threatened, regardless of current state laws surrounding abortion access.
The HHS secretary, Xavier Becerra, cited the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTLA), in effect since 1986, that requires Medicare hospitals to provide emergency care in spite of contradictory state mandates. Emergency situations covered under EMTLA will include ectopic pregnancies, complications of pregnancy loss or emergent hypertensive disorders (e.g. severe preeclampsia). Medicare hospitals who fail to comply may have their Medicare provider agreements terminated.
RELATED ARTICLES
