Technical assistance calls for grantees are generally held every other Thursday from 2 to 3 PM EST. The schedule for April appears below. To register, search for summaries or materials from prior calls, or download materials for upcoming calls, please go to the grantee Website: www.capcommunity.hrsa.gov. Please remember that the site is password protected. Grantees should contact their primary contact to receive the password. Once you register for the call you should immediately receive a confirmation note by email that includes the call-in number. Please be sure to download the materials that will be used. If you have difficulty registering or do not receive the call-in number, please contact Latonya Dunlow at ldunlow@mscginc.com  or call 301-577-3100.

	CAP TA Calls
	Date		Topic
	April 15th		EMR 102: The Grantee Experience  This TA Call will be the second in a two-part series focusing on the Electronic Medical Record. On April 1st we learned what an electronic medical record is and steps to get started in the implementation of an EMR. On this call you will hear from a Healthy Communities Access Program grantee and from a Health Center Controlled Network grantee that are both currently implementing an Electronic Medical Record in their programs. Chrysanne Grund, Project Director of the Greeley Hospital and Long Term Care HCAP and Margery Prazar, Electronic Medical Record Project Director for the Community Health Access Network (CHAN), along with colleagues, will discuss their experiences with EMR implementation, getting consortium commitment to utilizing the system, and lessons learned throughout the process.

With the exception of calls related to legal issues, TA calls are summarized and posted on the CAP website (www.capcommunity.hrsa.gov). Legal issue briefs are posted on the site under legal issues. You may also request an audiotape copy of any previous calls (up to one month after the call) by contacting Latonya Dunlow at the email above.

Congratulations to HCAP grantee, Orange County Board of County Commissioners, whose HCAP consortium Primary Care Access Network (PCAN) was one of three winners selected to receive the AstraZeneca-National Managed Health Care Congress (NMHCC) Award. The award honors health care leaders and organizations that demonstrate quality, access, and efficiency of health care delivery through the cooperation and collaboration of organizations. The three award recipients improved patient outcomes through care enhancement programs and innovative disease management initiatives, while improving access, quality and coordination of health services to the uninsured. PCAN has successfully streamlined patient flow between providers, addressed the education needs of the uninsured, and improved access in Orange County, Florida. PCAN's successes include the following:

• Expanded primary care services for the uninsured in their community increasing from 5,000 patients to over 30,000 in less than 3 years;

• Network partners currently operate 17 primary care clinics in Orange County that are strategically located to best meet the needs of the uninsured population;

• Provision of culturally competent health care services with appropriate language support and staff education. PCAN is also currently developing a Medical Language Bank;

• Developed and executed a public education program regarding health care/medical and social services and community education programs targeting preventive care;

• Implemented an effective Medical Volunteer Recruitment program and retention activities with over 800 medical volunteers and over 2.5 million dollars in donated medical services for the residents in the community;

• Implemented an integrated medical and social services case management system to coordinate care of PCAN patients; and

• Expanded dental services by adding additional dental facilities serving underserved children and adults.

The awards will be presented and the partnerships showcased during the 16th Annual NMHCC at the Washington, DC Convention Center on Thursday, May 6, 2003 at 8:00 a.m. For more information about PCAN please contact Margaret Brennan by phone at 407-836-2649 or via email at Margaret.Brennan@ocfl.net.

On March 28, 2004, National Geographic's Ultimate Explorer television program included a small segment that featured HCAP's Copper Queen Community Hospital, which is a member of the Eastern Cochise Safety-Net Alliance program. The program, "Chasing the American Dream", hosted by Lisa Ling, centered on the flow of immigrants searching for the American dream. The crew visited Copper Queen Community Hospital for a day, interviewing CEO Jim Dickson and staff ER nurse, Josie Mincher. They wanted to explore some of the detrimental effects of immigration on the health care system.

Copper Queen Community Hospital, as well as other border hospitals, provides care for immigrants who are injured or become ill when crossing the desert into the United States. All persons entering the hospital must be treated, so the hospital provides care that is very largely uncompensated. When Border Patrol agents do not place the person in custody, they have no obligation to provide payment. At present Copper Queen Community Hospital has provided over $500,000 in uncompensated care.

CEO Jim Dickson was portrayed in the video walking with Lisa Ling down a hospital corridor, as he gave this information to the national audience. ER Nurse, Josie Mincher, stated that she feared for the future of the hospital if the drain on the hospital's resources is not stemmed.

The Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment and Leadership Social Justice and Tobacco Control Grant provides resources for organizations to promote policy change in tobacco control among Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities through community organizing and advocacy. Tobacco policy issues to be addressed include: racially targeted tobacco marketing and promotion; countering tobacco industry sponsorship; regulating the density of tobacco products retailers; second-hand smoke exposure/clean indoor air; tobacco control and prevention funding for AAPIs; increasing tobacco taxes or prices; youth access; and policy enforcement. Nonprofit organizations throughout the United States and the Pacific with experience in grassroots community organizing are eligible. For more information please visit: http://www.appealforcommunities.org/index2.php.

The SBC Foundation, the philanthropic arm of SBC Communications Inc., announces its Excelerator technology grant program, which will award $5 million in competitive technology-related grants, enabling nonprofit organizations to integrate technology into their ongoing operations and community outreach. To qualify, an organization's major focus and project must emphasize education, community development, health and human services, or arts and culture. Grant funds may be used for data communications services, hardware, software, technology training, personnel, and application development. Interested organizations can apply by downloading a copy of the 2004 request for proposals from www.sbc.com/foundation, or by calling 1-800-591-9663.

Registration is now open for an upcoming VIH Teleworkshop, Charitable Immunity Legislation: Implications for Volunteer Clinicians. This workshop will be an overview of recent federal appropriations that have enabled HRSA to create a national program to offer liability coverage to some clinical volunteers. The panelists will discuss the limits of this appropriation and the implications for state charitable immunity laws. Participants will also have the opportunity to hear about Iowa's charitable immunity legislation, which offers similar liability coverage to clinical volunteers and free clinics.

The format for this call will be an interview between VIH staff and Paul Hattis, MD, JD, MPH, author of Understanding Charitable Immunity Legislation: A Volunteers in Health Care Guide, and Sarah Kobliska, a volunteer who led a campaign to change Iowa's charitable immunity legislation last year. Participants also will have an opportunity to ask the panelists questions. To find out more information about the workshop and to register for the call, please visit the VIH website: http://www.volunteersinhealthcare.org.

Cover the Uninsured Week 2004, a project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, is less than a month away. Building on the success of Cover the Uninsured Week 2003, over 800 national and local organizations and thousands of Americans in all 50 states and the District of Columbia will once again work to make the issue of the uninsured a focus of national discussion. From May 10 -16, 2004, events will be held coast to coast so that more Americans can learn about this critical problem -- who is affected, why they are uninsured, the consequences of being uninsured to physical and financial health, and how this issue affects every American, not just those who are uninsured.

The following are the initial target markets for Cover the Uninsured Week 2004. Cover the Uninsured Week staff will help local coalitions organize events in these communities. Additional markets may be announced soon. Interested individuals and organizations in all communities are welcome to sign on and plan activities for the week. The initial target markets are: Albuquerque, NM; Chicago, IL; Denver, CO; Detroit, MI; Houston, TX; Los Angeles, CA; Nashville, TN; New Orleans, LA; New York, NY; Portland, OR; Sacramento, CA; Salt Lake City, UT; St. Louis, MO; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; and Washington, DC. For more information on Cover the Uninsured Week visit: http://covertheuninsuredweek.org/ or contact (202) 572-2928 or send e-mail to info@covertheuninsuredweek.org.

National Community Access to Child Health (CATCH) is sponsoring this unique 2-day conference which will be held in beautiful downtown Chicago - a perfect place to learn about Medical Homes and improving health care for children in your community. Participants will learn about practical strategies to provide Medical Homes and improve access to health care; asset-based community development; assessing quality improvement; screening and surveillance; coalition building; and successful models of care from community-based initiatives around the world. A pre-conference workshop will also be offered on "social capital" -- the processes between people that establish networks, norms and social trust, and facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit and improved health.

The conference will be packed with exciting topics that address action on the community level for providing quality health care to our children and youth, including those with special needs. Come hear from pediatricians, family members, nurses, and service system leaders who are making a difference today in their community. To view descriptions on the conference's content, visit: http://www.aap.org/catch/nationalconfMAINCONF.html.

The first Border Bi-national Health Week will be an event to help raise awareness of the unique health challenges faced by individuals and families living in the border region. It will be celebrated across various sites along the United States-Mexico border. The theme for the week is Families in Action for Health, with a broad focus on immunizations across the life span, healthy behaviors, and access to health care. The major supporters for this week include the Department of Health and Human Services, the Mexican Secretariat of Health, the U.S.-Mexico Border Health Commission, the Pan American Health Organization, and the California-Mexico Health Initiative.

Already, a Regional Committee comprised of local, State, and Federal staff are conversing with and engaging border towns for the week. Interested parties in the towns and communities identified will soon convene to determine the types of activities, specific locations, and schedule for this celebration. A successful Border Bi-national Health Week requires the participation and commitment of all those who serve affected border communities. If you are interested in learning how you can get involved, please contact Elizabeth Rezai-zadeh at 301-443-4107 or erezai@hrsa.gov.

 The Center on an Aging Society has just released the fifth in a series of Issue Briefs on chronic and disabling conditions. These Issue Briefs are being released in conjunction with the Center's Data Profiles on chronic and disabling conditions in the United States. Cultural Competence in Health Care points out that the increasing diversity of the population brings opportunities and challenges for the health care system in the United States. Racial and ethnic minorities, who are disproportionately burdened by chronic illness, are also likely to benefit from care that is delivered in a culturally competent manner. The Brief notes that the commitment to cultural competence is growing among health care providers and systems, and that more attention to this issue could help improve access to health care services, quality of care, and health outcomes for vulnerable populations. To view the Issue Brief visit: http://ihcrp.georgetown.edu/agingsociety/pubhtml/cultural/cultural.html.

A new CDC report documents a continuing increase in the number of Americans seeking medical care in hospital emergency departments, even as other data show the actual number of emergency departments on the decline. In 2002, Americans made 110.2 million visits to hospital emergency rooms, a 23 percent increase over the 90 million visits made in 1992. During the same period of time hospital emergency departments have decreased by approximately 15 percent. To view this report visit: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/releases/04facts/emergencydept.htm.

With poor diet and physical inactivity poised to become the leading preventable cause of death in America, HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson renewed efforts against obesity and overweight, announcing a new national education campaign and a new research strategy at HHS' National Institutes of Health (NIH). A new study released by HHS' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that deaths due to poor diet and physical inactivity rose by 33 percent over the past decade and may soon overtake tobacco as the leading preventable cause of death. To view the press release visit: http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2004pres/20040309.html.

Volunteers in Health Care recently assisted the National Health Policy Forum, based at George Washington University, with background information for a white paper focused on clinician volunteerism. Entitled, "Necessary but not Sufficient? Physician Volunteerism and the Health Care Safety Net," the white paper examines the level of charity care in the US, discusses the shortcomings of data on the subject, and provides an overview of an organized system for physician volunteerism. The paper also outlines the major barriers to volunteerism and discusses state and federal legislation that addresses these barriers, with a particular emphasis on malpractice concerns. To read the white paper, visit: http://www.nhpf.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Details&key=498.

The Kaiser Women's Health Survey was conducted to document how the health care system works for women in terms of access to care, health coverage and the system's ability to meet their health needs. The survey demonstrates challenges faced by different groups of women. As a result of this survey, the Foundation has released several issue briefs analyzing the access challenges faced by different groups of women. "Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Women's Health Coverage and Access to Care" finds significant differences between women of color and white women in insurance coverage, communication with health care providers, use and site of care, and perceived quality of care. "Health Coverage and Access Challenges for Low-Income Women" examines the experiences of low-income women in gaining access to health care. To view the issue briefs and findings from the 2001 Kaiser Women's Health Survey, visit: http://www.kff.org/womenshealth/whp031004pkg.cfm.

APHA Disparities Solutions Database

The American Public Health Association (APHA) officially launched the Disparities Solutions Database on Monday, April 5, 2004. This database contains projects and interventions provided by members of the public health community. You can search for projects and interventions to health disparity challenges in your communities. APHA received information about numerous programs around the country, but it's still not too late to submit your programs. Your answers will be posted in a database on the APHA website. This information is available for communities to use during National Public Health Week 2004, April 5-11, 2004. APHA will maintain the preservation of the database. To visit the database and to input your solutions go to: http://www.apha.org/NPHW/solutions/.

Kaiser Permanente Institute HealthCast

The Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy and Health Affairs hosted "Delivery Systems Matter! Improving Quality and Efficiency in Health Care" in March 2004. The conference focused on options for integrating and organizing systems for care delivery to bring about improved quality, safety, efficiency, and patient-centeredness. To view the archived HealthCast, visit: http://www.kaisernetwork.org/health_cast/hcast_index.cfm?display=detail&hc=1018.

Monitoring the Safety Net Tools

In 2000, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report describing the health care safety net -- the Nation's system of providing health care to low-income and other vulnerable populations -- as "intact but endangered." One of the five key recommendations in the report was the need for data systems and measures. In response, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) developed a joint safety net monitoring initiative. Out of that collaboration, AHRQ created two data books that describe baseline information on a wide variety of local safety nets. Information about those products can be found at: www.ahrq.gov/data/safetynet/netfact.htm.

AHRQ recently announced the availability of the third product of the safety net monitoring initiative, Monitoring the Nation's Health Care Safety Net Book III: Tools for Monitoring the Health Care Safety Net. Book III is a tool kit designed to help policy analysts and planners at the State and local levels assess the performance and needs of their local safety nets. Topics range from estimating the size of local uninsured populations to using administrative data and presenting information to policymakers. The Tool Kit is available for free, please visit: www.ahrq.gov/data/safetynet or send an e-mail to ahrqpubs@ahrq.gov  and request Publication Number 03-0027. The website also includes Data Books I and II, a fact sheet, electronic data sets and documentation, and frequently asked questions.  

Child and Adolescent Health Insurance and Access to Care

The Maternal and Child Health Library is pleased to announce a new edition of its knowledge path about child and adolescent health insurance and access to care. This electronic resource guide points to a selection of recent, high-quality resources and information tools, many with an emphasis on families with low incomes, Medicaid, and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. The path is intended for use by health professionals, program administrators, policymakers, researchers, and families. To access this library visit: http://www.mchlibrary.info/KnowledgePaths/kp_insurance.html.