Digest: The Month In Review
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Program News Health Care Access ADAPs and Health Reform: Western Region Meeting Funded by the MAC AIDS Fund In June, NASTAD hosted the first of two regional meetings funded by the MAC AIDS Fund to address the impact of health reform on ADAP. The western region meeting held in Phoenix, Arizona, provided an opportunity for ADAP coordinators to discuss key health reform provisions and assess the components of health reform. The conversation included planning for health reform as well as building relationships, infrastructure and systems, with an emphasis on how to ensure seamless and successful client migration. A similar meeting will take place for eastern region ADAPs in August 2012. Registration for the eastern region meeting closes on July 13. Through funding from the MAC AIDS Fund, NASTAD is prepared to provide targeted technical assistance to states on the implementation of health reform. For additional information about the ADAP and health reform regional meetings and available technical assistance contact Amy Killelea. Monthly ADAP Technical Assistance Conference Calls As part of NASTAD's cooperative agreement with HRSA, NASTAD has convened an advisory group comprised of several health department staff – a Professional Expert Educational Roundtable (PEER) – to provide expert, peer-based advice and guidance to ADAP coordinators on current issues. This committee consists of ADAP coordinators with diverse experiences and expertise in financial forecasting, cost containment and waiting list management, coordination with other payers, compassionate use programs and client level data systems with geographic and program composition diversity. PEER convenes all ADAPs monthly via conference call to provide a consistent technical assistance opportunity to states. Topics addressed on these conference calls have included six-month recertification, pre-existing condition insurance plans (PCIPs) and ADAP client level data collection. These calls are hosted on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 2:00 pm ET. For additional information about these calls and general ADAP technical assistance contact Britten Pund. back to top > Prevention HHS Indicators In response to the April 11 memo from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sebelius, the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Infectious Disease is convening representatives across the federal agencies to develop a set of core indicators for HIV. HHS recently invited several health department HIV/AIDS directors and other national partners to participate in the conversation. The proposed indicators are in clearance and are expected to be announced around mid-July. The Secretary's memo gives the federal agencies another 90 days (until October 10) to reduce or streamline their reporting requirements by 20-25 percent. For more information contact Natalie Cramer. CSTE Position Statement on Revisions to the HIV Surveillance Case Definition The Council of State & Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) convened their annual conference in Omaha, Nebraska in early June, where members formally approved their position statement on revisions proposed for the surveillance case definition for HIV infection. The position statement addresses the need for revision across a number of domains, including new HIV testing algorithms/tests, acute HIV, HIV-2 and opportunistic infections. For more information contact Natalie Cramer. back to top > Member and Staff Updates In member news, Francyne Wase-Jacklick is the new HIV/AIDS Program Manager in the Marshall Islands Ministry of Health, and Ralph Wilmoth will move from Colorado to Kansas, beginning his role as the Kansas AIDS director on July 9. In staff news, Anna Carroll joined the Global Program as a Surveillance Study Fellow, working mostly in Zambia. |
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