Notice2022-19933
Notice of Availability of Health Center Program Scope of Project and Telehealth Policy Information Notice
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 15, 2022
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services DepartmentHealth Resources and Services Administration
Abstract
HRSA is inviting public comment on the Draft Health Center Program Scope of Project and Telehealth Policy Information Notice (Telehealth PIN). The purpose of the Telehealth PIN is to establish policy for health centers that provide services via telehealth within the HRSA-approved scope of project. The Telehealth PIN also describes considerations and criteria health centers must meet for providing services via telehealth within the Health Center Program scope of project. The Health Center Program is authorized by section 330 of the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 254b. HRSA provides federal award funding to health centers to deliver required primary care and additional health services to medically underserved areas and populations. HRSA also certifies entities that it has determined to meet section 330 requirements as Health Center Program look-alikes. Health centers provide required primary care and additional health services to residents of the area served by the health center. Each health center is responsible for maintaining its operations, including developing and implementing its own operating procedures for providing health services through telehealth, in compliance with all Health Center Program requirements and all other applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.\1\ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 178 (Thursday, September 15, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 178 (Thursday, September 15, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56689-56690]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-19933]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Health Resources and Services Administration
Notice of Availability of Health Center Program Scope of Project
and Telehealth Policy Information Notice
AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS).
ACTION: Request for public comment on Draft Health Center Program Scope
of Project and Telehealth Policy Information Notice.
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SUMMARY: HRSA is inviting public comment on the Draft Health Center
Program Scope of Project and Telehealth Policy Information Notice
(Telehealth PIN). The purpose of the Telehealth PIN is to establish
policy for health centers that provide services via telehealth within
the HRSA-approved scope of project. The Telehealth PIN also describes
considerations and criteria health centers must meet for providing
services via telehealth within the Health Center Program scope of
project.
The Health Center Program is authorized by section 330 of the
Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. 254b. HRSA provides federal award
funding to health centers to deliver required primary care and
additional health services to medically underserved areas and
populations. HRSA also certifies entities that it has determined to
meet section 330 requirements as Health Center Program look-alikes.
Health centers provide required primary care and additional health
services to residents of the area served by the health center.
Each health center is responsible for maintaining its operations,
including developing and implementing its own operating procedures for
providing health services through telehealth, in compliance with all
Health Center Program requirements and all other applicable federal,
state, and local laws and regulations.\1\
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\1\ 42 CFR 51c.304(d)(3)(v).
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Health centers are increasingly using telehealth as a means of
delivering required and additional services to health center patients.
Providing health care via telehealth \2\ can increase patient access
and improve clinical outcomes, quality of care, continuity of care, and
reduce the need for hospitalization. Within the context of the Health
Center Program scope of project, telehealth is not a service or a
service delivery method requiring specific HRSA approval; rather,
telehealth is a mechanism or means for delivering a health service(s)
to health center patients using telecommunications technology or
equipment.
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\2\ HRSA defines telehealth as the use of electronic information
and telecommunication technologies to support long-distance clinical
health care, patient and professional health-related education,
health administration, and public health.
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DATES: Submit comments no later than November 14, 2022.
ADDRESSES: The PIN is available at the Scope of Project and Telehealth
PIN Public Comments web page. Written comments should be submitted
through the HRSA Bureau of Primary Health Care Contact Form (<a href="https://hrsa.force.com/feedback/s/policy-information-notice">https://hrsa.force.com/feedback/s/policy-information-notice</a>), by November 14,
2022.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jennifer Joseph, Director, Office of
Policy and Program Development, Bureau of Primary Health Care, HRSA,
5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857; email: <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a1cbcbced2c4d1c9e1c9d3d2c08fc6ced7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6309090c1006130b230b1110024d040c15">[email protected]</span></a>;
telephone: 301-594-4300; fax: 301-594-4997.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: HRSA provides grants to eligible applicants
under section 330 of the PHS Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 254b), to
support the delivery of preventive and primary care services to the
nation's underserved individuals and families. HRSA also certifies
eligible applicants under the Health Center Look-Alike Program (see
sections 1861(aa)(4)(B) and 1905(l)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act).
Look-alikes do not receive Health Center Program funding but must meet
the Health Center Program statutory and regulatory requirements. Nearly
1,400 Health Center Program-funded health centers and approximately 100
Health Center Program look-alike organizations collectively operate
over 14,000 service delivery sites that provide care to over 30 million
patients in every U.S. state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico,
the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Pacific Basin. Note that for the
purposes of this document, the term ``health center'' refers to
entities that receive a federal award under section 330 of the PHS Act,
as amended, as well as subrecipients and organizations designated as
look-alikes, unless otherwise stated.
Section A of the Telehealth PIN includes considerations for health
centers delivering services via telehealth within the HRSA-approved
scope of project. Each health center is responsible for maintaining its
operations, including developing and implementing its own operating
procedures for telehealth, in compliance with all Health Center Program
[[Page 56690]]
requirements and all other applicable federal, state, and local laws
and regulations. Among other considerations, health centers using
telehealth to deliver in-scope services to health center patients are
responsible for addressing the considerations described in the policy.
Section B of the Telehealth PIN includes criteria for health
centers delivering services via telehealth within the HRSA-approved
scope of project. PIN 2008-01: Defining Scope of Project and Policy for
Requesting Changes provides the parameters of what may be included in a
health center's scope of project and how to accurately document a
health center's scope of project. Health centers may deliver in-scope
services via telehealth to individuals who have previously presented
for care at a health center site and to individuals who have not
previously presented for care at a health center site. Services
delivered via telehealth generally would be within the scope of the
health center project if all of the criteria are met as described in
the policy.
Diana Espinosa,
Deputy Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2022-19933 Filed 9-14-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P
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