Sandra Lane said she has been to the emergency room about eight times this year. The 62-year-old has had multiple falls, struggled with balance and tremors, and experienced severe swelling in her legs free.

A paramedic recently arrived at her doorstep again, but this time it wasn’t for an emergency. Jason Frye was there for a home visit as part of a new community paramedicine program.

Frye showed up in an SUV, not an ambulance. He carried a large black medical bag into Lane’s mobile home, which is on the eastern edge of the city, across from open fields and train tracks that snake between the region’s massive open-pit coal mines. Lane sat in an armchair as Frye took her blood pressure, measured her pulse, and hooked her up to a heart-monitoring machine.

“What matters to you in terms of health, goals?” Frye said.

Lane said she wants to become healthy enough to work, garden, and ride her motorcycle again.

Frye, a 44-year-old Navy veteran and former oil field worker, promised to help Lane sign up for physical therapy and offered to find an anti-slip grab bar for her shower.

Community paramedicine allows paramedics to use their skills outside of emergency settings. The goal is to help patients access care, maintain or improve their health, and reduce their dependence on costly ambulance rides and ER visits.

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The Self-Measured Blood Pressure (SMBP) Monitoring Implementation Toolkit (PDF) helps organizations integrate SMBP monitoring into care processes and workflows. The latest version adds a section to help a care team identify the best uses of SMBP for patients based on their blood pressure readings and risk factors. This workflow is courtesy of the Health Federation of Philadelphia, an HRSA-funded Health Center Controlled Network. The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) developed the toolkit for CDC’s Million Hearts initiative.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has released a new report, Moving Beyond Change Efforts: Evidence and Action to Support and Affirm LGBTQI+ Youth (PDF). The resource provides a comprehensive research overview of effective and ineffective therapeutic practices related to youth of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Cybersecurity Task Force is offering new resources to help address the rising threat of cyberattacks in the health and public health sectors. See the HHS press release for details and to access resources to improve your health center’s cyber security

A new white paper from the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (ACU) showcases the National Health Service Corps’ (NHSC) 50-year legacy of success, as well as its funding history, the looming FY23 fiscal cliff, and ACU’s call to Congress to preserve and expand this vital program. Read the white paper to learn more about NHSC’ structure and role in increasing clinical diversity, recent NHSC milestones, threats to NHSC funding, and why Congress must act to ensure long-term, sustainable funding.

In a briefing document formatted as a Medical Assistance Advisory Bulleting and shared with the Medical Assistance Advisory Committee (MAAC) last week, the Department of Human Services (DHS) officially proposes to require both in-house and contract pharmacies to include a modifier on all Medicaid managed care drug claims. After the Dec. 22, 2022, MA Bulletin prohibiting contract pharmacies from dispensing 340B drugs was rescinded, DHS convened a workgroup with stakeholders to identify the best strategy for avoiding duplicate discounts at contract pharmacies. PACHC and FQHC representatives actively participated in these meetings and were led to believe that DHS was evaluating the options and considering the input offered and that a decision on strategy was unlikely before 2024. Consequently, the formal proposal without notification of or discussion with the workgroup came as a surprise, as was the choice of a model that is unworkable for large chain pharmacies and burdensome for in-house pharmacies. Comments on the document are due by May 4 and the proposed implementation date is July 1. PACHC will be submitting comments based on feedback from our 340B workgroup and subcommittee as well as from national 340B experts. Questions? Contact Eric Kiehl.

House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-TX) and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Subcommittee Chair Robert Aderholt (R-AL) held an Oversight Hearing on the Provider Relief Fund and Health Care Workforce Shortages on Wednesday, April 26. HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson provided testimony at the hearing on Community Health Centers, the National Health Service Corps, and other initiatives to expand the healthcare workforce, investments in innovation, pandemic relief investments, and accountability. The hearing is part of Congress’s annual budget process. Click here to watch a recording of the hearing and here to read her testimony.

Bipartisan leaders of the Senate Finance Committee are working on legislation targeting pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), the intermediaries in the prescription drug supply chain who negotiate discounts with drug companies on behalf of insurance plans. Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and his GOP counterpart Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) last Thursday released an outline of the issues they aim to tackle as they craft a bill this summer. The senators indicated they are concerned about the lack of transparency in the supply chain, business practices by large, concentrated PBM firms that drive up out-of-pocket costs for seniors, and “misaligned incentives” that make higher drug list prices translate into higher compensation for intermediaries. The committee held a hearing on PBMs and the prescription drug supply chain on March 30, 2023.

Gov. Josh Shapiro signed an Executive Order announcing his customer service transformation strategy and establishing the Commonwealth Office of Digital Experience (CODE PA) to improve online services for Pennsylvanians and streamline the way they interact with the Commonwealth online. As part of this announcement, Gov. Shapiro named Bryanna Pardoe to the role of Executive Director of CODE PA. CODE PA will work to provide digital services that are responsive, user-friendly and accessible to every Pennsylvanian, including building a cross-agency product that allows residents to apply for related benefits that currently live separately with the Department of Human Services (DHS), the Department of Health (DOH) and the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) and make them available through one platform. Click here to learn more.