It's Spring! Time to clean up your medicine cabinet of unneeded prescription medications. Unused or expired prescription medications are a public safety issue. Proper disposal of unneeded drugs saves lives and protects the environment and our overall community!

There are many challenges faced by practices and providers as they strive to ensure all children are fully immunized and protected against vaccine-preventable diseases. 

On March 29, the FDA approved the first nonprescription, 'over-the-counter' (OTC) naloxone nasal spray, Narcan. Naloxone--a medicine that can reverse an opioid-related overdose--has been shown to be a critical tool to prevent fatal overdoses, connect more people to treatment for substance use disorder, and save lives. 

Join us in saying a hearty THANK YOU to all the hard working, compassionate, skilled physicians on National Doctors' Day, March 30, 2023.

In an effort to improve physician skills and experience with Telehealth, Northwest AHEC and Wake Forest School of Medicine Internal Residency were awarded a grant to produce online learning for physicians and distribute medical supplies to patients.  Funding allowed telehealth technology capabilities to be fully integrated in two clinics.

One of Northwest AHEC's practices in located in Catawba County recently received a training from Practice Support staff on Managing Difficult Patient Situations. Practice Administrator for Newton Family Physicians P.A., Melissa White,  commended our staff and services "NWAHEC is a valuable resource for us and recently assisted us in some valuable training for my staff."

We encourage you to subscribe  to the Quality Payment Program Small Practices Newsletter. It is a valuable resource from CMS to help your practice be successful in the Quality Payment Program. This week we bring you selected resources:

"The idea of planning for care through the end of life seems distant and hard to grasp for a lot of us — especially those considered young or without current health conditions. When are we at the end? When we’re diagnosed with cancer? When we’re in the wrong place at the wrong time? “Advance care planning” is similarly vague. In advance of what? Plus, a lot of us assume a doctor or medical team is responsible for planning our care." Aly Lynch, 3/1/2023

To ensure nearly 150,000 people seamlessly receive care on day one, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services will delay the implementation of the NC Medicaid Managed Care Behavioral Health and Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities Tailored Plans. The launch was scheduled for April 1 and is now targeted for Oct. 1, 2023.

Check out this important update From Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services