Newswire Archives
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a national plan to advance the fight against cancer. It includes strategies to prevent cancer, detect cancers early, develop effective treatments, eliminate inequities, engage people in cancer research, deliver optimal care, maximize data utility and optimize the cancer care and research workforce.
The plan can be obtained at https://nationalcancerplan.cancer.gov/national-cancer-plan.pdf.
Washington, D.C. - The Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions (ASAHP) announced today that it will present the 2023 ASAHP Regional Summits on May 25, 2023 with a theme of “Joining Forces to Build a Resilient, Collaborative and Practice-Ready Healthcare Workforce.” These annual in-person summits bring together academic institutions and their health care industry partners to promote dialogue, improve collaboration, and enhance health outcomes.
Held in-person concurrently at member institution-hosted “Hubs,” the Summits will culminate in a virtual “harvest” session between Hub participants who engage in a national-level conversation. ASAHP is expanding the 2023 Regional Summits to include six unique Hub site locations across the U.S. In 2022, ASAHP expanded the Regional Summits to three Hub locations; prior to that, the annual event took place in a single location. Each Hub will include an opportunity for dialogue and action between multiple stakeholders from academia and the healthcare industry to discuss improvements to clinical education. The Summits are designed to create specific strategies to enhance health professions education and improve the health of individuals and communities.
The in-person Regional Summit Hubs will take place on Thursday, May 25, 2023 from 12:00 Noon - 4:30 pm (ET)/11:00 am - 3:30 pm (CT)/10:00 am - 2:30 pm (MT) at the following six Hub site locations:
HUB: Nutley, New Jersey - Seton Hall University's School of Health and Medical Sciences Interprofessional Health Sciences (IHS) Campus.
HUB: Layton, Utah - Weber State University’s Dumke College of Health Professions and University of Utah’s College of Health
HUB: Houston, Texas - University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), and University of Texas Health Science Center at School of Allied Health Sciences in San Antonio
HUB: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida - Nova Southeastern University
HUB: Cincinnati, Ohio - University of Cincinnati
HUB: Sioux Falls, South Dakota - University of South Dakota
ASAHP members and industry partners who are interested in participating may register here. The deadline for advance registration is May 19th and registration is limited.
“We are thrilled to expand the Regional Summits this year to six locations across the country where our member institutions and their health industry partners can exchange knowledge and ideas. Participants will devote their day to interprofessional collaboration and problem solving which, we believe, will play a key role in improving both the future of clinical education as well as health outcomes for the U.S. population,” said ASAHP President Deb Larsen, PhD, FASAHP.
About ASAHP
The Association of School Advancing Health Professions (ASAHP) is a national professional organization of 130 universities and employers focused on critical issues affecting health professions education. ASAHP’s mission is to advance health through interprofessional collaboration.
Contact:
Kristen Truong
kristen@asahp.org
Director of Public Affairs
ASAHP
Each year, ASAHP offers a scholarship program for health professions students enrolled in its member institutions. The purpose is to recognize outstanding students in the health professions who are achieving excellence in their academic programs and have significant potential to assume future leadership roles in health professions. Each student chosen for an award will receive a $1,000 scholarship. The most exemplary Scholarship of Excellence recipient will also receive the “Elwood Scholar” award, qualifying an additional $1,000 in scholarship funds. We are now accepting applications for this year’s awards. The deadline is Friday, June 2, 2023 [extended to Friday, June 16, 2023].
More information may be accessed here.
ASAHP joined more than 90 members of Health Professions and Nursing Education Coalition (HPNEC) in urging Congress to provide $1.51 billion for the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Title VII health professions and Title VIII nursing workforce development programs for FY 2024.
The letter may be accessed here.
ASAHP joined more than 80 other organizations in submitting comments to the Department of Education on their guidance on third-party servicers released in February. The comments were led by the American Council on Education (ACE). The comments suggest the guidance be rescinded, and highlights its potential negative impact on clinical experiences, among other concerns.
The letter may be accessed here. More ASAHP coverage on this issue may be found here and here.
The Interprofessional Task Force (IPTF) of the Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions (ASAHP) developed the Interprofessional Innovation Grant (IIG) Program to provide support for interprofessional collaboration research among the ASAHP membership. The intent is to provide recipients a competitive edge in securing additional funding by supporting pilot projects and further developing grantsmanship skill sets. The intent of the IIG Program is that proposals submitted can be used to develop larger, more extensive interprofessional research projects that further engage faculty and ASAHP members in research endeavors.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE: Faculty at ASAHP Institutions in good standing
AWARD AMOUNT: We expect to fund 3 awards up to $2,000 per award
PROJECT PERIOD: September 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024
GRANT PERIOD: Up to 9 months
APPLICATION DEADLINE: June 5, 2023
Medicare patients who have access to telehealth services and medications for opioid use disorder have lower risk of fatal drug overdose, according to a study reported this week in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. The results add to the growing research documenting the benefits of expanding the use of telehealth services for individuals with opioid use disorder.
The study can be obtained at https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2802946.
The physical health impacts of climate change are everywhere, but climate change also affects mental health, causing everything from anxiety and feelings of helplessness to depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidal thoughts. A new report from The Commonwealth Fund examines the direct and indirect effects of extreme weather events, worsening air pollution, and rising temperatures on mental health.
The report can be obtained at How Climate Change Affects Mental Health, What We Can Do About It | Commonwealth Fund.
ASAHP was one of 77 signatories which sent a letter to Congressional leadership urging legislation that provides permanent protections for “Dreamers” who came to the U.S. as children. Currently, 34,000 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients provide health care to patients in communities across the nation.
The letter may be accessed here.
The U.S. Department of Education announced that it will hold virtual public hearings on April 11, 12, and 13 to receive stakeholder feedback on potential issues for future rulemaking sessions. The announcement is the first step in the process of issuing new regulations. Following the public hearings, the Department will finalize the issues to be addressed through rulemaking and solicit nominations for non-federal negotiators who can serve on the negotiated rulemaking committee(s), which will convene in fall 2023. The Department suggests the following topics for regulation in the hearing notice but invites comment on any regulatory issue that can improve outcomes for students. Potential topics may include:
The Secretary’s recognition of accrediting agencies and related issues
Institutional eligibility, including State authorization
Third-party servicers and related issues
The definition of distance education as it pertains to clock hour programs and reporting students who enroll primarily online
Return of Title IV funds
Cash management to address disbursement of student funds
Federal TRIO programs
More details may be accessed here.
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) released 2017-2022 data on the number of organ donors, organ transplant recipients and waitlist candidates, which it plans to update regularly. These data are part of an initiative to strengthen accountability, equity, and performance in the organ donation and transplantation system, which includes issuing contract solicitations for multiple awards to manage and improve the Network.
More information is available at https://data.hrsa.gov/topics/health-systems/organ-donation.
A newly released Issue Brief presents current estimates of enrollment in health insurance coverage obtained through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Marketplaces, Medicaid expansion, Children's Health Insurance Program, Basic Health Program and the subsequent reductions in state-level uninsured rates since the ACA was implemented in 2014. As of early 2023, the report finds that more than 40 million Americans have coverage under the ACA, the highest total on record.
The Brief can be obtained at Microsoft Word - Health Coverage Under ACA 03-22-2023 Final version_ (hhs.gov).
On Thursday, March 23, at 10:15 am Eastern, the the House Education and Workforce Committee’s Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development will hold a hearing titled, "Breaking the System: Examining the Implications of Biden's Student Loan Policies for Students and Taxpayers." On Wednesday, March 29, at 10:15 am Eastern, the same Subcommittee will hold a hearing titled, “Diversity of Thought: Protecting Free Speech on College Campuses.”
Also, on Thursday, March 23, 2023 at 2:00pm Eastern, the House Ways & Means Committee’s Health Subcommittee will hold a hearing titled, “Why Health Care is Unaffordable: The Fallout of Democrats’ Inflation on Patients and Small Businesses.”
On Tuesday, March 28, 2023, 1:00pm Eastern, the House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee will hold a hearing titled, “Lowering Unaffordable Costs: Examining Transparency and Competition in Health Care>.”
The education Subcommittee hearings may be accessed here, the Ways & Means Health Subcommittee hearing may be accessed here, and the Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee may be accessed here.
On February 15 the Department of Education provided guidance via a Dear Colleague letter which expands its interpretation of the definition of “third-party servicers”. Institutions will have until September 1, 2023 to provide the requested details on their relationships with third-party servicers. The deadline to provide comments to the Department is March 30, 2023. According to ACE: “Based on our review of the DCL, it appears that the following entities may be considered TPSs: an institution that provides courses and instruction to another institution as part of an inter-college consortia; an online extension campus providing services to another campus of the same university; an institution in a state system providing services to other institutions in the system; a hospital providing clinical experiences and the related educational programing for nurses and other medical professionals; a local police department helping to compile and analyze campus crime statistics; a non-profit organization providing student engagement and 1 This letter does not attempt to detail our substantive input on the Department’s proposal, which we are in the process of developing and will provide to the Department in a separate submission. 2 retention services or tools to improve student outcomes for at-risk students; publishers providing online materials and study guides, or technology providers developing adaptive courseware solutions.”
Details and the opportunity to comment may be accessed here. A letter from ACE to the Department of Education is available here.
On Wednesday, March 22, the Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing on the President’s FY 24 budget request with testimony from HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. Later that day, the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Labor-H Subcommittee will hold their hearing on the President’s FY 24 budget request with testimony from Secretary Becerra.
On Tuesday, March 28, at 2pm Eastern, the House Ways and Means Committee will hold their hearing on the President’s FY 24 budget request with testimony from Secretary Becerra.
On Wednesday, March 29, at 10am Eastern the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health will hold their hearing on the President’s FY 24 budget request with testimony from Secretary Becerra.
The Senate Finance Committee hearing may be accessed here, the Labor-H Subcommittee hearing may be accessed here.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will hold the closing session of its “Artificial Intelligence in Health Professions Education” public workshop on April 26 from 12:30-2pm Eastern. The event will explore opportunities, issues, and concerns with preparing health professionals to maximize the potential of artificial intelligence to improve the process of health professions education.
Registration for the closing session may be accessed here. More details on the previous three sessions of the public workshop are available here.
According to a report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, transfers between community colleges and four-year institutions continued to drop last fall. The report also indicates that six-year college completion rates among transfer students improved, despite the disruptive nature of the pandemic.
The report can be obtained at Transfer and Progress | National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (nscresearchcenter.org).
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued initial guidance detailing the requirements and parameters, including requests for public comment, on key elements of the new Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program for 2026, the first year negotiated prices will apply. This guidance is one step in a timeline for the first year of negotiation.
The timeline can be obtained at Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program Timeline (cms.gov).
ASAHP’s Clinical Education Task Force conducted a literature review to find published articles about the impact of clinical education on clinical sites across a broad scope of health professions. Key findings from the review were summarized and categorized into four major themes about the benefits of site participation in clinical education: Students Add Value, Productivity, Preceptor Perception, and Patient Perception. These themes were compiled on a one-page infographic that summarizes the each theme in a single sentence and gives a “key” to achieving the listed benefit. A QR code embedded in the infographic takes readers to a bibliography of published literature supporting the listed themes. The one-page resource created by the CETF can be used by both academic programs and healthcare facilities as a tool to frame conversations about the benefits of clinical education. The information presented dispels common misunderstandings and perceived obstacles that serve as barriers to clinical education participation and highlights the benefits to students, faculty, clinicians, and patients.
