ASAHP Interview Series: Black History Month

In honor of Black History Month and the 2022 theme of black health and wellness, ASAHP will be interviewing different ASAHP members each week to discuss their work and the importance of diversity & inclusion as it relates to Higher Education and the Health Professions.

You will be able to watch the live interviews on our Facebook page.

February 1 @ 1pm ET: Craig Jackson, JD, MSW, FASAHP, Loma Linda University

February 8 @ 1pm ET: Cynthia Hughes-Harris, PhD, OTR, FAOTA, FASAHP, Florida A&M University

February 15 @ 1pm ET: Peggy Valentine, EdD, FASAHP, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

February 22 @ 1pm ET: Mary Simmons, PhD, MPH, RRT, President of National Society of Allied Health

Senate Committee Seeks Feedback on Bipartisan Pandemic and Public Health Preparedness and Response Bill

This week the Senate HELP Committee Committee Chair, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), and Ranking Member, Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), released a discussion draft of the PREVENT Pandemics Act, bipartisan legislation focused on strengthening the nation’s public health and medical preparedness and response systems in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Feedback on the discussion draft may be submitted to HELPPandemicbill@help.senate.gov until February 4, 2022. A press release may be accessed here, along with the draft bill text and section-by-section.

Building Back The U.S. Public Health System

For decades, the U.S. public health system has been chronically underfunded. While Congress passed several relief and recovery bills during the COVID-19 pandemic, it has not yet advanced a significant effort to bolster the public health system infrastructure, which is critical to improving an ability to identify unmet population health needs and emerging health threats. A blog from the Commonwealth Fund outlines federal policies included as part of the Build Back Better Act that would invest in the public health system.  

The blog can be obtained at Bolstering the Public Health Infrastructure in the Wake of COVID-19 | Commonwealth Fund.

2022 ASAHP Election: Call for Candidates

ASAHP’s annual election will be conducted this summer. The following positions are open for the 2022 election:

Board of Directors (three-year term) – 1 open position
Treasurer (two-year term) – 1 open position
Nominations & Elections Committee – 3 open positions

The election candidate form, including CV and headshot photo, must be submitted online no later than Friday, April 1, 2022. Election information is available here.

NIH Research Enhancement Award Program Opportunity

The National Institutes of Health has announced a grant opportunity, the Research Enhancement Award Program (REAP) for Health Professional Schools and Graduate Schools. The purpose of the program is to stimulate basic and clinical research in educational institutions that provide baccalaureate or advanced degrees for a significant number of the Nation's research scientists, but that have not been major recipients of NIH support. REAP grants create opportunities for scientists and institutions otherwise unlikely to participate extensively in NIH research programs to contribute to the Nation's biomedical and behavioral research effort. REAP grants are intended to support small-scale research projects proposed by faculty members of eligible, domestic institutions, to expose undergraduate and/or graduate students at health professional schools or graduate schools to meritorious research projects, and to strengthen the research environment of the applicant institution. The number of awards is contingent upon NIH appropriations and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications. Applicants may request up to $300,000 in direct costs for the entire project period of up to 3 years.

More information may be accessed here.

Funds Awarded For Health Care Workforce

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), announced $103 million in awards to improve the retention of health care workers and help respond to the nation’s critical staffing needs by reducing burnout and promoting mental health and wellness among the health care workforce. The funds, secured through the American Rescue Plan, will be disbursed to 45 grantees. 

More information can be obtained at Biden-Harris Administration Awards $103 Million in American Rescue Plan Funds to Reduce Burnout and Promote Mental Health and Wellness Among Health Care Workforce | HHS.gov.

Applications Now Open for ASAHP's Annual Interprofessional Award

Through the Award for Institutional Excellence and Innovation in Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Health Care, ASAHP looks to recognize a member institution and/or industry member for outstanding achievement in IPE and IPCP. In addition to the award, several institutions will also be recognized as “Programs of Merit” by ASAHP.

Candidates for this award must be ASAHP members and should demonstrate outstanding achievement in the following areas:

1. Initiatives are inclusive and comprehensive in scope in the preparation of collaboration-ready health professionals.

2. Initiatives are strongly committed to assessment of outcomes and dissemination of scholarship.

3. Initiatives are strongly connected to their Institution’s mission and culture.

4. Initiatives are connected to external stakeholders in the community.

5. Initiatives promote personal, community and population health.

6. Initiatives advocate for social justice and address social determinants of health.

Learn more about the award and view the application here.

Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Receipt Of Treatment Medications

A report from the CDC has an analysis of data from 41 health care systems participating in the PCORnet, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network. The results show lower use of monoclonal antibody treatment among Black, Asian, and Other race and Hispanic patients with positive SARS-CoV-2 test results, relative to White and non-Hispanic patients.  

The report can be obtained at Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Receipt of Medications for Treatment of COVID-19 — United States, March 2020–August 2021 | MMWR (cdc.gov).

2021 State Physician Workforce Data Report

The 2021 State Physician Workforce Data Report from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) examines current physician supply, undergraduate medical education (UME) students, and graduate medical education (GME) residents and fellows in the United States. The report provides the most current data available for each of the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia (D.C.), and Puerto Rico in a series of maps, figures, and tables. 

The report can be obtained at https://store.aamc.org/2021-state-physician-workforce-data-report.html.

2022 Insurance Marketplace Open Enrollment Report

According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, more than 13.8 million beneficiaries have selected a 2022 health plan through the federally facilitated or state-based marketplaces since open enrollment started this past November 1. The American Rescue Plan Act provides enhanced financial assistance to help reduce premiums for new and returning customers. 

More information can be obtained at https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/marketplace-2022-open-enrollment-period-report-december-national-snapshot.

Authority Expanded To Administer Flu Vaccines

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) amended its declaration providing liability protection under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act to expand the category of “qualified persons” who are protected under the Act. Licensed pharmacists and qualified pharmacy interns in good standing will be authorized to administer seasonal flu vaccines in states where they are not licensed or certified, and licensed pharmacists may order flu vaccine in those states.  

The amendment takes effect once published in the Federal Register on January 7, 2022 and can be obtained at https://www.federalregister.gov/.

In-Demand Temporary Allied Healthcare Professionals

Respiratory therapists, who are essential to treating COVID-19 patients, top the list of most in-demand temporary allied healthcare professionals, according to a new survey by AMN Healthcare, the nation’s leader in healthcare total talent solutions. The survey of 159 hospitals, as well as other healthcare facilities, indicates that 96% have used allied healthcare professionals of various types to fill temporary assignments during the last 12 months. Respiratory therapists are most commonly used, followed by laboratory technologists, radiologic technologists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech pathologists. 

The survey report is available here and can also be obtained at AMN Survey: Respiratory Therapists Top List of Most In-Demand Temporary Allied Healthcare Professionals | Business Wire.

Family Caregiving In Diverse Communities

The Diverse Elders Coalition (DEC), in coordination with the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC), has published a report, "Family Caregiving in Diverse Communities: Addressing the Needs of Diverse Family Caregivers for Older Adults." It highlights key findings from diverse caregivers for older adults prior to and throughout the pandemic. Key themes that have emerged include a lack of resources to address caregivers’ mental health, social isolation, and financial strain adequately and culturally responsively. 

The Report can be obtained at DEC-Caregiving-Report-Final.pdf (diverseelders.org).

Racial Disparities Tracker Launched

A Health Care Workforce Diversity Tracker was launched at The George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health. It analyzes workforce diversity in 10 health care professions by displaying a map outlining the diversity of graduates and health care workers, including nurses, dentists, therapists, physicians, and pharmacists in comparison to the diversity of the general population. The map shows that minority representation in health care professions is well below minority representation in the general U.S. population. 

The tracker can be obtained at Milken faculty launch tracker showing racial disparities in health care workforce – The GW Hatchet.

Student Borrower Protection Center Hosts Upcoming Webinars

On Thursday, the Student Borrower Protection Center and the UCI School of Law is hosting a webinar entitled, “Delivering on Debt Relief: Scoring the Biden Administration’s Progress and Building a Roadmap for 2022”. The webinar will feature remarks by Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Julie Morgan, Deputy Under Secretary at the Department of Education. On Monday, December 20, the Student Borrower Protection Center, the Department of Education’s office of Federal Student Aid Federal Student Aid, and UnidosUS will host a webinar on “Accessing Public Service Loan Forgiveness: What Borrowers Need to Know”.

More information and registration links may be accessed here and here.

Closing Evidence Gaps In Clinical Prevention

The report Closing Evidence Gaps In Clinical Prevention refers to prevention recommendations described by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and other clinical practice guideline developers and presents a taxonomy of these evidence gaps for future use. This report aims to improve the coordination of efforts to describe and communicate priority evidence gaps among funders and researchers. It also proposes new opportunities for collaboration among researchers, funders, and guideline developers to accelerate research that could close evidence gaps.

The report can be obtained at Closing Evidence Gaps in Clinical Prevention | The National Academies Press (nap.edu).

Medicare Beneficiaries’ Use Of Telehealth

A report from the office of the Assistant Secretary of Planning and Evaluation at HHS provides information for policy considerations by analyzing trends in Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) beneficiary use of telehealth compared to in-person visits in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic and in 2020 during the pandemic. The number of Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) beneficiary telehealth visits increased 63-fold in 2020, from approximately 840,000 in 2019 to nearly 52.7 million in 2020. Despite the increase in telehealth visits during the pandemic, total utilization of all Medicare FFS Part B clinician visits declined about 11% in 2020 compared to levels in 2019. Most beneficiaries (92%) received telehealth visits from their homes, which was not permissible in Medicare prior to the pandemic. 

The report can be obtained at https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/documents/a1d5d810fe3433e18b192be42dbf2351/medicare-telehealth-report.pdf.

IPEC Webinar Series: December 15

This webinar presentation features recent winners of the 2021 Public Health Excellence in Interprofessional Education Collaboration Award from Kean University. Their multi-disciplinary project, The Effectiveness of Patient Navigation using Motivational Interviewing and m-Health Technology on Patient Activation & Engagement: A Pilot Study, is the result of a collaborative effort of faculty representing Nursing, Educational Leadership, Speech Language Pathology, Physician Assistant Studies, Occupational Therapy, Mathematics, Community Health, as well as a number of external organizations.

Learn more and register here.

Supporting The Health Care Workforce

An advertorial published today in the Wall Street Journal highlights the growing challenges facing the nation’s health care workforce, how America’s hospitals and health systems are working to support them, and the need for policymakers at every level of government to do the same. 

The advertorial can be obtained at https://www.aha.org/aha-news/2021-12-02-supporting-health-care-workers-who-supported-all-us.