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HRSA Releases Two New Program Assistance Letters
July 15, 2011
by Andrea Charlton, MPH, MSW, Community Health Planning Specialist, MPCA

HRSA released two new Program Assistance Letters (PALs) this week which have implications for the Health Centers program.

PAL 2011-07 relates to capital projects and supports previous PINs that have been issued on the topic. This PAL more specifically addresses some issues for grantees who have recently been awarded capital funding.

This PAL highlights the existing policy and processes for documenting sites within a Health Center’s approved scope of project, with an emphasis on sites at which HRSA-supported capital investments and improvements have occurred/are occurring. This PAL supplements previous PINS.

1. Per PIN 2009-11, grantees are required to verify implementation of site changes within EHB through the “Scope Verification process.” A term on the NGA informed grantees that they were expected to verify that the new site was implemented once it became operational. The technical process for verifying the open/operational date in EHB for these sites is the same as for CIS requests; once verified, an NGA confirming the operational date of the site will be issued.
2. In order to assist grantees with assuring that their scope of project is accurately and appropriately reflected within EHB, this PAL contains descriptions of scenarios a grantee may experience and provides guidance on how to address those scenarios.  If a grantee encounters a scenario (related to scope) with a capital project site that is not described in this PAL, it should consult with its section 330 PO.
   1. Scenarios addressed in this PAL
      - Corrections and updates to addresses with no physical location change
      - Proposing a change to the physical location of an approved capital project

   3. The grantee should verify any new site approved through a HRSA-funded capital grant as operational by accessing the Scope Verification deliverable in its “Grant Portfolio” in EHB as soon as it begins to provide services at the site.

PAL 2011-08 relates to FQHC ‘Look-Alikes’ and  describes a future document that once issued will supersede previous PINs, and will require ‘Look-Alike’ applications to be completely online (previously able to be paper), as well as requiring electronic reporting similar to UDS.

A transition to a single information management system through the HRSA EHB is currently being phased in and targeted to be fully operational for FQHC ‘Look-Alikes’ by the end of calendar year (CY) 2011.

1. It is anticipated that starting on October 3, 2011, FQHC ‘Look-Alikes’ will be required to submit all applications electronically including Initial Designation, Renewal of Designation, and Annual Recertification applications utilizing the EHB.
2. HRSA will be issuing new application instructions for Initial Designation, Renewal of Designation, and Annual Recertification applications.  The document titled “Federally Qualified Health Center Look-Alike Application Instructions for Calendar Years 2011/2012” is scheduled to be released in August 2011. Once issued, it will supersede previous PINs
3. HRSA will transition the reporting of certain data from the application to an annual data reporting system.  Similar to the Health Center Program Uniform Data System (UDS), FQHC ‘Look-Alikes’ will be required to report on certain data elements through the EHB.  This annual data reporting submission process will commence in January 2012 with the submission of CY 2011 data
4. Beginning August 15, 2011, HRSA will cease to accept any FQHC Look-Alike applications, including Initial Designation, Renewal of Designation, and Annual Recertification applications, until the new electronic system is operational on October 3, 2011. Change in Scope requests are able to be submitted electronically via the EHB throughout this period. Any applications that are in PAPER format August 15, 2011 or later will be returned to the applicant so that they can be re-submitted through the EHB portal after October 3, 2011. Please see the PAL (Section V) for more information regarding these dates and application extensions.
5. HRSA will be conducting a series of technical assistance conference calls in the upcoming months.  The first conference call will be held in July 2011, and subsequent calls will be held after each new system release.  Specific dates will be announced via listserve to existing FQHC Look-Alike organizations and partners and posted on the FQHC Look-Alike webpage available at http://bphc.hrsa.gov/about/lookalike/index.html.