North Carolina’s safety net providers address the opioid crisis by looking at behavioral health needs, how to best provide integrated patient care, and how to effectively use technologies such as telehealth to improve access to care for residents in the state.
The “Community Health Grants for FY 2020” are supported through the North Carolina General Assembly to help the state’s most vulnerable populations meet their health needs. About 18 grants will be awarded this year. Applicants may request up to a maximum of $150,000 for 12 months of funding.
There are two Tracks included in the grant notice. Track A includes primary care safety net organizations who care for underserved and medically indigent patients in the state are able to apply for funding to pay for patient care through encounter-based reimbursement
Track A visits are reimbursable for medically necessary on-site and face-to-face provider encounters. Face-to-face encounters may also include telehealth patient encounters with a provider,
Track B includes reimbursement for eligible expenses. Payment may include salary for clinical staff, medical office supplies and equipment, and capital expenses that include equipment for telehealth services.
Applicants must select one track. Also, all primary care safety net organization that provide direct primary and preventive care and serve as a medical home are eligible to apply. These organizations may include:
- Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC)
- Free and charitable clinics
- Health departments
- Hospital-owned primary care clinics
- Rural health centers
- School-based and school-linked health centers
- AHEC clinics
- Non-profit community organizations providing direct primary and preventive patient care to low income, uninsured, underinsured, and medically vulnerable populations
Organizations that provide direct primary and preventive care may support telehealth patient care, health promotion, disease prevention, health maintenance, counseling patient education, can also support the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic illnesses in a variety of healthcare settings.
The NC Office of Rural Health sees collaboration as important and seeks collaborative efforts among safety net and social support organizations. Applicants must describe collaborations, outlining specific partnerships within their community. If applicants in these communities can’t show collaborative partnerships, they must address the barriers that exist and why collaborations in their communities haven’t been established.
Go to https://hiea.nc.gov/blog/2018/12/17/december-2018-update for information from the North Carolina Health Information Exchange Authority and to the North Carolina Office of Rural Health for further information available on community health grants.