RCPA Member CONCERN Anniversary Event Celebrates 45 Years of Providing Services to Children, Youth, and Families
Sharon Militello
As communications director, Sharon Militello is responsible for the design, development, and maintenance of the association website and social media pages; editing and preparation of communications; preparing and running webcasts; cultivating media relations; and maintaining relationships with technology support vendors.
OMAP & OMHSAS Release Joint Bulletin Regarding “Street Medicine”
The PA Department of Human Services, Office of Medical Assistance Programs (OMAP), and Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) joint bulletin, entitled “Street Medicine,” was issued on September 29, 2023. This bulletin obsoletes MAB 08-23-12 “Street Medicine,” issued on July 5, 2023.
This bulletin informs medical assistance (MA) providers that DHS will cover certain services for MA beneficiaries experiencing unsheltered homelessness in their lived environment, known as street medicine. Covered services include physical and behavioral health services, such as primary care, vaccinations, wound care, counseling, and diagnostics in the lived environment. The bulletin applies to enrolled physicians, nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, psychologists, mobile mental health treatment providers, and outpatient practitioners in mental health. Managed care providers should contact their managed care organization(s) for billing questions.
If you have questions or concerns regarding this bulletin, visit this website, and select the appropriate toll-free number or email for your provider type. Additional questions may be directed to RCPA Policy Director Jim Sharp.
CHOP and Penn get $50 Million to Study Environmental Effects on Pregnancy
Researchers at CHOP and Penn plan to enroll 2,500 Philly-area pregnant patients, tracking the health of their fetuses through early childhood.
by Tom Avril, The Philadelphia Inquirer
Published
The University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have won a $50 million grant to study how environmental factors affect the health of fetuses, babies, and toddlers.
Researchers plan to enroll 2,500 pregnant patients and their partners over a 7-year period with the grant from the National Institutes of Health, as part of a larger study of more than 60,000 children.
The study will track harmful environmental exposures such as pollution, violence, and extreme temperatures, as well as beneficial ones like walkability and green space.
All are thought to have significant effects on pediatric health, but the grant will allow researchers to tease out the individual impact of each, said CHOP neonatologist Heather Burris, one of three leaders of the Penn-CHOP portion of the study.
“We really need to understand the relative importance of each of these environmental toxicants and also what can be done about it,” she said.
Philadelphia joins national study
The national study, called Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO), has been underway since 2016, already yielding 1,200 peer-reviewed research articles, the NIH says.
The addition of Philadelphia to the mix will allow researchers to get a better sense of how environmental harms can have a disproportionate impact on children of color, who are underrepresented in some other participating locations, Burris said.
The other two project leaders are CHOP neonatologist Sara B. DeMauro and Sunni L. Mumford, a professor of epidemiology at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine and the co-director of Penn’s Women’s Health Clinical Research Center.
The team plans to study the interplay between “macro” environmental factors like pollution and violence and the “micro” environment for each individual fetus: their parents’ diet, physical activity, stress, and sleep.
The researchers will monitor fetal health throughout pregnancy into the first three years of childhood, tracking preterm birth, asthma, obesity, and developmental delays.
The study seeks to enroll pregnant patients at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvania Hospital.
Special Report on BH/PH Integration Care Models
On behalf of COMCARE, Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, and their partner Behavioral Health Managed Care Organizations (BH-MCOs), RCPA is pleased to distribute the following report highlighting more than two dozen Integrated Behavioral Health (BH) and Physical Health (PH) Care Models that are available to Pennsylvanians enrolled in Behavioral HealthChoices (BHC), the Commonwealth’s BH managed care program for Medical Assistance consumers. This is considered a “living” document and will be updated with additional models as they are identified.
Training Opportunities & Resources for RCPA Members in October from Relias
Keeping Youth Safe From (and in) the Juvenile Justice System
$19M Loan Forgiveness Not Enough to Rebuild Recovery Workforce: RCPA SUD Treatment Services Director Jason Snyder Quoted
Prisoners of Pa.’s Secret System of Indefinite Isolation Sue for Release and Damages (Paywalled)
RCPA Member Achieva Announces 2023 Future Planning Conference on Oct. 5
DisabilityScoop: Supreme Court to Weigh ADA Protections
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