NEW! The Strategic Investment Guide for Population Health Management Platforms > Access the Guide
Skip to content
Support | Login

Health Policy Corner

Q4 2024 

With the recent election and anticipated changes in administration, potential shifts in policies and funding may impact healthcare programs and services.

Below, we’ve compiled brief highlights of key policy news. For more detailed information, links are provided with each summary. Enjoy!

Grant Funding

Why this matters for Azara:

These funding opportunities align with FQHCs’ mission to expand access, improve care, and enhance health IT systems, all of which complement Azara’s efforts to help health centers meet the needs of underserved populations. Azara offers a platform that complements a wide spectrum of community health-relevant grants, so please reach out if you have any questions about how to best use our tools to fulfill reporting and population health needs for your next funding opportunity.

 

Publications

Why this matters for Azara:

These publications highlight key updates to UDS reporting, including new measures for tobacco cessation, opioid use disorder, and dementia screenings. They also emphasize the importance of the CDC’s rural healthcare strategy and SAMHSA’s focus on veterans’ behavioral health, aligning with Azara’s goal of supporting a broad range of behavioral health programs, including working with CCBHCs and CMHs.

 

Policy

Why this matters for Azara:

The DEA’s telehealth extension allows FQHCs to continue offering remote prescriptions for controlled substances, improving access to care for underserved patients. The ACO Reach program’s demonstrated savings and quality improvements present valuable opportunities for FQHCs to enhance value-based care models, especially for those using DRVS Enrollment and Care Gap Integration module or Azara Cost & Utilization platform.

 

Research and Healthcare Landscape

Why this matters for Azara:

Azara has built strong partnerships to support public health efforts across the United States (Upstream USA, American Medical Association, local public health departments, etc.) and will continue to do so in service of our customers and their population health needs. We are also dedicated to following the latest research and building new guidelines for our products, so our customers have access to the most relevant reporting features. Additionally, DRVS supports diabetes control through measures, reports and additional modules such as Azara Patient Outreach (APO).

Thank you for reading! If these updates spark new ideas for ways Azara can support your organization or if you'd like to share your efforts, we’d love to hear from you.

Please get in touch!

 

 

Q2 2024

Below you’ll find short snippets to get top related policy news, down to the point. For those looking to dive deeper, links are provided in all blurbs. Enjoy!

Grant Funding

  • The U.S. Department of Health and Human Servies (HHS) through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded $56 million to support HRSA-funded health centers commitment to high-quality care through investments in adopting a modernized Uniform Data System (UDS+). Funds are to support new equipment, interoperability standards and data management training.
  • HRSA has opened applications for New Access Points (NAPs) to enhance access to primary health care, including mental health and substance use services, for underserved communities. Funding depends on Congress appropriating additional funds in FY 2025. Eligible applicants include current health centers, look-alikes, and new organizations. Deadlines for submissions are August 15, 2024.
  • HRSA announced a $15 million investment over four years to enhance maternal health in rural communities through the Rural Maternity and Obstetrics Management Strategies (Rural MOMS) Program. This initiative aims to improve access to maternal care, including obstetric services, by supporting innovative approaches in rural areas.
  • Older Americans living with HIV is a growing population due to improved treatments. Despite federal programs like Ryan White and efforts to end the HIV epidemic by 2030, funding constraints and political challenges continue to threaten support for this vulnerable group. In response to challenges, HRSA recently launched a $13 million, three year program to look at ways to improve outcomes.
  • ScalaNW, a new clinical program launched in Washington state, aims to enhance access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) in emergency rooms (ERs). Funded by opioid settlement funds, they bridge ER clinicians with outpatient care, enabling initiation of MOUD and linking patients to care.
  • The Department of Health and Human Services recently awarded $500 million in grants over the next five years for navigators (people that help individuals sign up for health insurance coverage). Reports by HHS also show that the uninsured rate has declined dramatically for many demographics from 2010 to 2022.

Why this matters for Azara:

Azara is always striving to align reporting solutions with grant opportunities like Ryan White, controlled substance programs, maternal health and family planning. Azara products and additional modules can be used to support not only reporting but a diverse array of  population health management needs, including for every group represented in the grants above. Azara is  proud to stay at the forefront of these new opportunities through partnerships with organizations like Upstream USA, workingto make contraceptive care more affordable and accessible for millions in the United States., and HRSA to support early testing efforts for UDS+.   

Publications

  • The National Institute of Health (NIH) launched a program in 2020, the HEALing Communities Study, aimed to reduce overdose deaths by 40% over three years through evidence-based practices. Despite implementing hundreds of strategies, communities faced obstacles in timely implementation and adapting to new drug market dynamics. The study emphasizes the ongoing need for innovative approaches amidst evolving overdose crisis challenges.
  • A recent report by Humana identifies that value-based care (VBC) arrangements significantly reduce costs and improve outcomes for chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease patients. Patients who received care at centers that participated in value-based care contracts experienced 5% fewer unnecessary hospital admissions and have seen a 12% reduction in medical expenses since 2019.

Why this matters for Azara:

As value-based care becomes more common for primary care practices and integrated behavioral health and primary care becomes a necessity, Azara has looked for novel ways to further support our customers to thrive in risk-based agreements. Azara recently announced partnerships with both Equality Health and Aledade (the nation’s largest network of independent primary care) and continues to offer an extensive reporting suite around MOUD programs.

Policy

  • The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has proposed regulations to prevent medical debts from impacting Americans' credit scores, aiming to protect millions burdened by unaffordable medical bills. The proposed regulations are undergoing public review with plans to finalize them next year, potentially alleviating barriers to economic opportunity.
  • The Republican-introduced 340B ACCESS Act aims to reform the 340B Drug Discount Program by tightening eligibility criteria and enhancing transparency requirements. Key provisions include new eligibility standards for hospitals, definitions for 340B patients and contract pharmacies, and mandates for transparency in reporting savings use.

Why this matters for Azara:

For the populations served by many of Azara’s customers, medical debt may be a significant factor in accessing care.  Reducing the impact medical debt has on families may help improvefinancial stability, access to basic needs (clothing and food), credit scores, and ultimately health outcomes. Many of Azara’s FQHC customers also take advantage of the 340B program, which helps both center operations and patients’ access to prescriptions. Users can run DRVS reports to analyze population health trends to better understand the needs of the patients they serve, including for those customers with Azara Cost and Utilizer, Rx patterns and costs. 

Research and Healthcare Landscape

  • Amazon Pharmacy is expanding its RxPass prescription drug subscription program to include Prime members on Medicare insurance. Launched in January 2023, RxPass offers unlimited access to 60 generic medications for a flat monthly fee of $5, with medications delivered to customers' homes. The initiative aims to enhance medication adherence and accessibility, particularly for individuals facing mobility challenges or residing in pharmacy deserts.
  • Expanding school-based care for students has been a strategy to improve access to behavioral health services. Leveraging Medicaid to improve services has been a more recent intervention (2024) and in 2023, CMS opened applications for state-level grants totaling $50 million to be used toward expanding school-based services. CMS anticipates that 20 states will receive grant funding.
  • The H5N1 Avian Flu (bird flu) continues to spread among dairy cows. The United States is preparing nearly 5 million doses of flu vaccine for possible use in humans. The CDC maintains the risk to the public low.
  • The Centers for Disease and Control (CDC) reports from a recent study that doxycycline can reduce syphilis and chlamydia infections when taken after sexual intercourse. Syphilis rates in the U.S. started going up in 2000 and have not stopped with cases rising among women. Screening rates have proven inadequate.

Why this matters for Azara:

Azara has proven time and again that it is prepared to adapt to new research and public health initiatives; with the COVID-19 pandemic, new reporting was rolled out within months of the national emergency being declared. Multiple reporting options exist for syphilis screening, including a registry data element and alert for all customers, as well as for pediatric patients seeking care in school-based clinics. Azara also recently launched Azara Cost & Utilization which can be used to evaluate prescription costs across populations and plans.

Thanks for reading, and if any of these sparked new ideas for ways Azara can support the work your organization does, or you want to share your efforts, we would love to hear from you so please get in touch !

 

Q1 2024

Grants, Opportunities, and Funding

  • The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced increased participation in Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) for 2024, noting they will receive more than $20 million for aiding underserved populations.
  • A network of Brooklyn-based providers and organizations have teamed up with Unite Us in a grant-funded pilot to track services and reimburse participating community-based organizations working with individuals experiencing food insecurity, unstable housing or difficulties navigating social services.

Why this matters for Azara:

Across the country, there are so many conversations surrounding value-based care and making “the shift.” DRVS can be used as a population health tool to not only understand your patient population but provide insights into the complexity of succeeding in a transforming healthcare landscape. Azara and Unite Us have already partnered to allow DRVS users one-click access to the Unite Us platform from the Patient Visit Planning report on DRVS. This, along with a robust reporting suite around SDOH, gives users a leg up in preparing for what will certainly be increasing demands for SDOH-related data.

Federal Policy and Public Health Priorities

  • The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) approved the Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule for ages 19 years and older for 2024 in the United States. Vaccine specific changes include new and recommended updates for respiratory virus vaccines, influenza, COVID-19, inactive poliovirus, Mpox, and meningococcal serogroups A, B, C, W, Y pentavalent vaccines. (Full schedule: Immunization Schedules | CDC)
  • The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is making significant updates to regulations regarding Opioid Treatment Programs for the first time in more than 20 years. The updates include expanding eligibility for patients to take home doses of their methadone treatment and allow them to be seen via telemedicine by their provider. The goal is to make treatments more accessible for all.
  • HRSA launched a year-long Enhancing Maternal Health Initiative in January 2024. The initiative aims to strengthen, expand, and accelerate HRSA’s maternal health work to address maternal mortality and disparities across the country. Through various partnerships and collaborations, they hope to end our maternal health crisis.
  • A historic new study out of Scotland shows the real-world impact of vaccines against the human papillomavirus (HPV). The country has detected no cases of cervical cancer in women born between 1988-1996 who were fully vaccinated against HPV between the ages of 12 and 13. Previous studies have shown the effectiveness of HPV vaccines, but this is the first to monitor a national cohort of women over such a long period of time AND find no incidences of cervical cancer.
  • Syphilis cases have increased by nearly 80% between 2018 and 2022. The vast majority of congenital syphilis cases (nearly 90%) might have been prevented with better testing and treatment according to the CDC. Communities that are most affected need innovative solutions and prevention strategies – we must meet people where they are. In November 2023, HHS stepped in and established a task force to leverage federal resources.  
  • Researchers are urging health systems to build sexual orientation and gender identity into EMR systems for data collection. Without collecting comprehensive information for LGBTQ+ communities, it’s difficult for clinicians to address varying health disparities that may affect people within different identities.

Why this matters for Azara:

Azara tools offer a variety of modules to help track efforts around specific populations and public health initiatives. DRVS is focused on not just on data, but how to harness the power of that data. Whether to increase rates of HPV vaccination, test for syphilis, or improve maternal health, Azara’s tools are designed to support a diverse array of population health work.  

Innovative State Work

  • CA: California has become the first state to offer health insurance to all undocumented immigrants. This expansion extends Medi-Cal coverage to undocumented adults aged 26 to 49 and completes earlier initiatives that covered undocumented groups. In total, Medi-Cal now covers ~700,000 undocumented immigrants and provides a payment mechanism to compensate hospitals and medical providers for previously unpaid costs. The California Primary Care Association (CPCA) launched a Medi-Cal Health Enrollment Navigators Project alongside the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) with $17.75 million in funding dedicated to community health centers and regional clinic associations to assist with Medi-Cal outreach, enrollment, renewal, utilization and troubleshooting efforts..
  • MI: Accompany Health (a primary, behavioral, and social care provider) startup company was recently launched with $56 million in funding from investors. The company serves over 8,000 patients in Detroit – providing at-home visits, virtual care and 24/7 support with a team of community health workers, providers, social workers, and pharmacists. The company prioritizes innovative, value-based payer partners and is currently working with managed care plans.

Why this matters for Azara:

Azara is currently working with the California Primary Care Association to support enrollment outreach efforts at community health centers across the state through the Azara Care Connect platform in service of this new state policy. Azara was well positioned to do this as multiple features around Medicaid redetermination have been rolled out since the public health emergency ended, including alerts on the Patient Visit Planning (PVP) report, Care Management Passport (CMP), 3 new Azara Patient Outreach text campaigns and a contact reason in Azara Care Connect. Azara is determined to continue supporting efforts across states as they focus on the profound implications of so many Medicaid patients losing coverage.

Thanks for reading, and if any of this sparked new ideas for ways Azara can support the work your organization does, or you want to share your efforts, we would love to hear from you so please get in touch!