The Health Center Resource Clearinghouse is a new, HRSA-funded, NACHC-organized online resource repository of training and technical assistance materials for health centers and primary care associations that was launched in June, 2018. The Clearinghouse contains resources produced by the 20 HRSA-funded National Cooperative Agreement organizations serving community health centers, including warehoused trainings developed by HOP. Resource topics include (but are not limited to): social determinants of health, special and vulnerable populations, outreach, operations, workforce, quality improvement, capital development, HIT/data, governance, and emerging issues. The Health Center Resource Clearinghouse can be accessed freely at the website below. ​ Learn More at healthcenterinfo.org >

Kristina Wharton is thrilled to have joined Health Outreach Partners in August, 2018, as a project manager. Kristina brings with her eight years of experience working in FQHCs or with them through Primary Care Associations and community-academic partnerships in North Carolina and Louisiana. Her previous work included HIV and HCV screening outreach program planning, NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home transformation, remote care coordination and telehealth program and reimbursement strategy evaluation, Outreach and Enrollment, voter registration campaigns, and coordinating collaborative, multi-institutional community health needs assessments. She holds an MPH from the University of North Carolina, MPA from North Carolina State University, and BA from Smith College. In her free time, Kristina enjoys farmers markets and being outside with her rescue dog, Nugget.

Health Outreach Partners (HOP) is pleased to announce the election of Vernita Todd as our new Board Chair.  Vernita is the Senior Vice President of External Affairs and Chief Experience Officer at Health Center Partners of Southern California. She joined HOP’s Board of Directors in November 2015 and previously served as HOP’s Board Secretary.  We are grateful for Vernita’s guidance and commitment to HOP and look forward to working under her leadership. Thank you, Vernita, for all of your support!

Addressing Diabetes Through Outreach Diabetes affects more than 30 million people in the United States. More than fourteen percent (14.3%) of patients served by Health Resources and Services Administration-funded health centers have diagnosed diabetes. Diabetes is manageable through physical activity, diet, and appropriate use of insulin and oral medications to lower blood sugar (glucose) levels. Outreach can play a critical role in facilitating patient access to health care and social services that support pre-diabetic and diabetic patients, and their families, in understanding and managing their chronic illness. Health Outreach Partners’ Innovative Outreach Practices (IOPs) are short case studies that showcase effective, field-tested strategies for improving access to care. Drawn from organizations throughout the country, IOPs provide an opportunity for peer learning across potential and existing health centers. Addressing Diabetes Through Outreach: Innovative Outreach Practices from the Field features eight HRSA-funded health centers that are using innovative outreach-focused activities to provide diabetes prevention and management care services. The resource is now available for download free of charge from HOP’s webpage. Download the resource!

With the rapid spread of ridesharing services such as Lyft and Uber, many organizations have been turning to this innovation to help their patients overcome transportation barriers to care. Please join HOP and our guest panelists for the second webinar, "The Role of Ridesharing Services in Addressing Transportation Barriers," in our Transportation Webinar Series to discuss how organizations are using the ridesharing model in different settings. Date/Time: Wednesday, March 28, 11am-12pm PST/2:00-3:00pm EST Register today!

Please join HOP and our guest panelists on Wednesday, March 7 at 11am PST for office hours on "The Need for Research and Data to Address Transportation Barriers." This is your chance to ask questions, share your experiences, and to get into more depth on this topic from last week's webinar. If you missed the webinar from last week, view the recording here! Register today!

During the summer of 2017, HOP hosted a series of four convening events for Community Health Workers (CHWs), Promotoras, and other frontline staff conducting outreach in immigrant communities. At these events, participants had the opportunity to network, share their professional and personal experiences, and exchange best practices. These discussion topics were captured, summarized, and are now available in the newly updated Silent Crisis Resource. We want to give a BIG thank you to the convening participants from Oakland, CA; Hillsborough, OR; Sunnyside, WA; and Fresno, CA for taking time out of your day to engage in such important discussions. Your knowledge will help others nationwide in supporting our immigrant communities! Access the Resource!

Health Outreach Partners (HOP) is excited to formally share our new Theory of Change—a way to visually represent how HOP contributes to desired changes in the world especially in the area of community and public health. Our Theory of Change links HOP’s work with an identified issue or problem, a set of desired changes on which we will focus our efforts, specific strategies that contribute to that change, and underlying values and stances that guide our work. The year-long process of developing our new Theory of Change was made possible with support and expertise of CompassPoint Non-Profit Services; and the direct input and feedback from numerous community health centers, primary care associations, other funders from around the country, and HOP staff. We wish to thank all of you who participated in the process. As always, thank you for your continued support. Click here to learn more.

A hallmark of community health centers Is their ability to address the multiple, complex needs of their patient populations, both through high quality clinical services as well as non-clinical enabling services that promote full patient engagement. On February 8th, Join Health Outreach Partners, the National Association of Community Health Centers, and the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations for a webinar that describes tools and resources for assessing patients’ non-clinical needs and documenting the enabling services that address them. Presenters will also describe how these tools can be used to inform diabetes care. This is the 2nd webinar in the 6-part Social Determinants of Health Academy virtual training series. A follow-up Office Hours session with be held on February 15th. Register Here!

We are very excited to announce a new member of the Health Outreach Partners team, Emmanuel Williams! Emmanuel joined HOP in October as our new Associate Project Manager. He will be working with all project managers at HOP and is supervised by a Senior Manager. Emmanuel recently moved to the Bay Area from Greensboro, NC, where he was very active in direct service work with refugee and immigrant communities from Northern Africa and the Middle East. We are also excited to leverage his background in training on cultural competency and understanding racism. Emmanuel graduated from Guilford College with a Bachelor of Science degree in Justice & Policy Studies. Emmanuel loves playing and watching sports, especially Rugby and Basketball. Going on adventures, attending concerts, and exploring new music are just a few activities he enjoys.

Dear Colleagues, Partners, and Friends, As I take a moment to reflect on 2017 and look ahead to the possibilities of 2018, it is with admiration and gratitude for all the work you do to promote access to care and advance health equity. Reflecting back on 2017 and looking ahead to the new year, it is all of you— community advocates, health care leaders, social service providers, outreach workers, and other caregivers to our communities—who are working to keep our country’s health care and safety net systems accessible to those who need it. While our dedication is strong, we are facing many challenges. We continue to await the fate of two invaluable health programs: The Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) and the Community Health Center Program. Furthermore, new policies and laws are unfairly targeting low-income and immigrant communities, especially with the rescinding of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). With that in mind, I would like to specifically recognize staff from health centers and other safety net organizations for their continued work in the face of financial uncertainty and unprecedented attacks on our most vulnerable communities. (more…)

Read HOP's new report, Transportation and Health Access: Rides to Wellness Community Scan Project, which describes transportation barriers and its financial impact due to missed appointments, based on the findings of a national survey with health centers. The report also includes six profiles of communities who are taking action to address barriers and decrease loss of revenue.

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This 5-part series, led by Health Outreach Partners (HOP), will cover a variety of topics to support outreach workers, directors, and supervisors in outreach program development. HOP, the National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership, the National Healthcare for the Homeless Council, and the National LGBT Health Education Center will present content and share strategies to help effectively reach specific populations, create a healthy work environment, and engage in medical-legal partnerships.

Learn more and register for the webinars here!

HOP’s new resource Outreach & Value-Based Care: Impacting Health Care Delivery and Cost through Integrated Community Health Outreach Programs, describes how health centers can use their outreach teams to enhance value under service delivery models such as Patient Centered Medical Homes (PCMH) and Accountable Care Organizations. It offers examples of how outreach programs can enhance revenues from alternative payment models such as shared savings, pay-for-performance, and PCMH supplemental payments. The resource is a complement to HOP’s Outreach Business Value Toolkit.

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Health Outreach Partners (HOP) recently finalized and debuted our new Theory of Change—a way to visually represent how we contribute to desired change in the world. We express our long-standing beliefs that health care is a human right. We recommit to the idea that fighting for health equity means standing up for equal access and opportunities for people to lead healthy and dignified lives. We underscore that outreach is key to creating trusting relationships and ensuring access to quality care for marginalized and vulnerable communities. The Silent Crisis Convening Series on Health & Immigration encapsulates these values and beliefs. Currently, there is an anti-immigrant climate sweeping the nation. It is instilling fear and mistrust, and generating misinformation among immigrant communities. The current environment is forcing immigrants and their families to live quietly and out of view, unable to fully participate in or be supported by their communities. This “silent crisis” has many consequences, one of which is that immigrants and their families are choosing to forgo necessary health services, resulting in complications for their physical, mental, and behavioral health. (more…)