$ 90 million to support new data-based approaches for health centers

To identify and reduce health disparities

US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (@HHSGov), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)@HRSAgov), announcements Nearly $ 90 million to fund the U.S. Rescue Plan to support new data-based efforts for HRSA Health Center-supported health centers and similar (HRSA-designated health centers) to identify and reduce health disparities .

HRSA’s modernized data collection and reporting initiative, called the Uniform Data System Patient-Level Submission (UDS +), is designed to collect more and better data on the social determinants of health, while streamlining and improving data quality reporting. health centers. This effort will enable health centers to tailor their efforts to improve health outcomes and promote health equity, more specifically to the needs of specific communities or patients.

“Health centers are vital to increasing equitable access to primary health care,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Besera. “The Biden-Harris administration has made historic investments in health centers, and this funding from President Biden’s US rescue plan will further enable health centers to use data to meet the needs of their community and help reduce care gaps. .

“HRSA funding has supported our country’s health centers to become leaders in using the latest technology and data to provide high-quality care to individuals and communities that have historically been underserved,” said HRSA Administrator Carol Johnson. “Today’s communication builds on this work and will help health centers modernize their data tools to improve equitable access to care and continue to best meet the needs of the communities and patients they serve.

The funding announced today can be used for various COVID-19 activities and for modifying, improving and expanding health services and infrastructure by improving health information technology, improving data collection and supporting staff training. . These efforts will contribute to a broader response to COVID-19, mitigation and recovery efforts. In addition, they will help prepare for future public health emergencies.

The improvements that health centers can make in their infrastructure using ARP-UDS + tools will support patient-level reporting and allow them to identify, measure and better explore differences in health care use and health outcomes by race, ethnicity and ethnicity. affiliation, age and other important demographic factors and to target their resources accordingly. The standardization of health data at the patient level will make it possible to identify the populations most at risk of health differences and will provide data to inform potential clinical interventions. In addition, the ability to collect, store and report standardized health data at the patient level will support the participation of health centers in critical activities to monitor the health of the population during public health emergencies.

Since March 2021, HRSA has awarded approximately $ 6 billion for health centers to support and expand vaccination, testing and treatment against COVID-19 for populations at higher risk of COVID-19; nearly $ 1 billion mainly construction to increase access to health care in health centers and approximately $ 32 million to improve training and technical assistance related to COVID-19.

HRSA-supported health centers serve populations and underserved communities that are often disproportionately affected by COVID-19. The health centers serve 1 in 5 people living in rural communities and 1 in 11 people across the country. More than 90% of HRSA-funded health center patients are individuals or families living in or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guidelines, and nearly 63% are racial or ethnic minorities.

Applications must be submitted in the HRSA e-Manuals by 5:00 PM ET on Monday, May 23, 2022. Visit Technical assistance website for additional funding for the US UDS + rescue plan for a notice of funding opportunity, information on technical assistance and other resources.