National Academy Of Medicine Seeks Public Comment On Clinician Well-Being Plan

The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience released a draft plan to promote collective action to improve the health and well-being of the healthcare workforce. The plan aims to provide a roadmap to ensure health workers stressed by the demands of the COVID-19 pandemic can provide optimal care for their patients. The comment period is open until May 27, 2022. 

The plan can be obtained at National Plan for Health Workforce Well-Being - National Academy of Medicine (nam.edu).

Faculty Loan Repayment Program

The Faculty Loan Repayment Program application is now open. The program supports the recruitment and retention of health professions faculty from disadvantaged backgrounds. Applications will be accepted through Thursday, June 30, 7:30 p.m. ET. 

The application and program guidance information can be obtained at Faculty Loan Repayment Program - Fiscal Year 2022 - Application and Program Guidance - May 2022 (hrsa.gov).

ACE Webinar on Addressing Campus Mental Health Using Federal Relief Dollars

ACE, in partnership with the Department of Education, will be hosting a webinar exploring how colleges and universities can use federal COVID-19 relief funds to improve campus mental health resources at their institutions. Deputy Assistant Secretary Michelle Asha Cooper and a panel of campus leaders who have successfully used relief funds to expand the mental health resources available to their students will discuss their own experiences and answer questions from the public. The webinar will be held on May 25 from 2:00-3:00pm Eastern.

On May 23 at 12:30pm Eastern, the Department of Education will hold a summit on strategies to support students with disabilities and students with mental health needs.

Registration and more details for May 25 may be accessed here. Registration and more details for May 23 may be accessed here.

Senate Introduces Mental Health Legislation

U.S. Senators Chris Murphy and Bill Cassidy, M.D., members of the U.S. Senate HELP Committee, on Tuesday introduced legislation to reauthorize federal mental health and substance use disorder programs that were signed into law in 2016. The legislation would reauthorize through 2027 at $102.6 million annually, HRSA’s Mental and Behavioral Health Education and Training Grants to increase the supply of behavioral health professionals with a special focus on helping children, adolescents and youth at risk for behavioral health condition. The legislation would authorize $25 million to support states’ ability to enforce existing laws around mental health and substance use disorder parity.

More details may be accessed here.

Hospital And Health System Recent Job Profile

According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for April of this year, hospitals and health systems added 4,500 jobs. Hospital employment remains over 90,000 below its March 2020 peak, but has grown in 16 of the past 25 months for a slow but steady job recovery. Total health care jobs grew by 34,300 in April to a seasonally adjusted 16.2 million, with physicians’ offices and home health care services leading job growth. Employment at nursing homes and residential care facilities increased by about 1,900. 

The report can be obtained at Table B-1. Employees on nonfarm payrolls by industry sector and selected industry detail - 2022 M04 Results (bls.gov).

Apply Today for ASAHP's Annual Interprofessional Recognition Award

The deadline to apply is this Monday, May 2. 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.

Legal And Ethical Perspectives On The Transportation Mask Mandate

Two important questions about wearing masks during the COVID pandemic are:

• Who should be in charge of public health decisions affecting the American public, scientific agencies designated by Congress or unelected federal judges?

• How do we balance individual freedom and collective responsibility?

Two new commentaries from the Commonwealth Fund address these issues and can be obtained at Federal Judge Eliminates the CDC’s Public Transportation Mask Mandate | Commonwealth Fund and What Do We Owe Each Other? Balancing Personal Freedom and Collective Responsibility in the Age of COVID | Commonwealth Fund.

Call for Proposals: Interprofessional Collaboration Research Grant Program

ASAHP’s Research Committee is now accepting proposal for the Interprofessional Collaboration Research Grant Program. The grant’s goal is to support innovative research projects with the highest potential to produce new knowledge and paradigms towards success in interprofessional collaboration. Projects should involve at least two and preferably more health professions (definition available here). The most competitive applications will be designed as scalable projects with potential outcomes which can be broadly applied and implemented by ASAHP member institutions.

Eligibility: The Principal Investigator (PI) must be a full-time faculty in an ASAHP member institution. Applicants may serve as PI on only one grant application.

Award: 2-3 grant(s) may be awarded up to $25,000 per award. Awards will be provided for one year of support.

Deadline: Applications must be received via electronic submission to the Association of School Advancing Health Professions by 8:00pm ET on June 15, 2022. Proposals received by the deadline will be reviewed by a committee of educational researchers.

Learn more about the program here.

Advancing Health Equity

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has outlined an action plan that demonstrates the Biden Administration’s ongoing efforts to provide high-quality, affordable health care for all individuals, regardless of their background, and to drive health equity across the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

More information can be obtained at CMS Strategic Plan Pillar: Health Equity.

Opening The Door For States To Address Drivers Of Health In Medicaid

The Commonwealth Fund indicates in a blog that states increasingly are turning to Medicaid to address social drivers of health that contribute significantly to health outcomes, like living conditions and access to nutritious food. Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services approved a proposal from California to provide “in lieu of” services a robust menu of health-related services offered to beneficiaries through Medicaid managed care.  

The blog can be obtained at New Policy Opens the Door for States to Address Drivers of Health in Medicaid | Commonwealth Fund.