WEBINAR

Virtual Office Hours

STAY IN THE KNOW: Key NC Medicaid Updates for Provider Office Staff

Thursday, September 4 | noon - 1 p.m.

Please join us on Thursday, September 4 from noon-1 p.m. for an informative Virtual Office Hours webinar to get updates and hear the latest statuses on hot program topics that are impactful to the provider community! Get the insights and resources you need to navigate upcoming developments with NC Medicaid. 

Webinar topics will include:

• EPSDT: Pay and Chase
• Carolina ACCESS Enrollment Refresher
• Maintaining Eligibility Program
• Children and Family Specialty Program – Provider Contracting
• Credentialing Committee Updates
• Avoid Common Enrollment Application Issues Cont’d
• Key Resource: NC Medicaid Provider Ombudsman

Register by clicking the blue button below. We look forward to connecting with you!

Did you know?

The North Carolina AHEC Practice Support Program is an approved provider of the North Carolina Maintenance of Certification (NC MOC) program.

Through this approval, physicians and physician assistants who work with a Practice Support coach to improve care for patients will meet the requirements of their specialty boards to maintain certification in their specialty (Family Medicine, Internal Medicine and Pediatrics).

To Qualify:

1.  Contact your coach
2. Enroll in a clinical improvement activity with NC AHEC Practice Support (The coach will work with you and your team to align your efforts to satisfy other requirements like MIPS, Medicaid PHP quality incentives).
3. Complete the requirements
4. Complete the attestation form (your coach will help) and submit it
5. Once the coach gives word that your credit was approved, confirm the status with your accrediting body

Learn more about this benefit from North Carolina AHEC here.

Download our flyer here.

From 2000-2023, more than 41,500 North Carolinians lost their lives to a drug overdose. Each day in 2023, 12 North Carolinians died from a drug overdose. Recent year death data is not yet final, but an estimated 3,025 North Carolinians (8 per day) are suspected to have died from an overdose in 2024.

Overdose does not discriminate.

One important way you can help is to have Naloxone on hand, ensure it is available to your patients and their families, and educate yourself, your staff, and people you care about, how Naloxone saves lives.

A person with a substance use disorder cannot begin recovery if they are not alive!

Who should have Naloxone on hand?

In 2018, United States Surgeon General, Dr. Jerome Adams, issued a public health advisory emphasizing the importance of naloxone in savings lives. In this advisory, he recommended the following groups of people carry naloxone and know how to use it:

• Individuals taking high doses of opioids as prescribed for the management of chronic pain
• Individuals taking prescription opioids concurrently with alcohol or sedating medications (i.e. benzodiazepines)
• Individuals misusing prescription opioids or using illicit opioids such as heroin
• Individuals with a history of opioid use disorder
• Individuals completing opioid detoxification
• Individuals recently discharged from emergency medical care following an opioid overdose
• Individuals recently released from incarceration with a history of opioid use disorder
• Family and friends of people who have opioid use disorder
• Community members who come into contact with people at risk for opioid overdose

Learn more here:

Responding to an Opioid Overdose

Source: https://naloxonesaves-nc.org/safer-use-and-overdose-prevention/what-is-naloxone/

https://naloxonesaves-nc.org/

Their behavior may become increasingly confrontational as a result.

Healthcare settings are places of intensified emotion.

How well do you and your staff respond to escalating confrontational behaviors from patients and their families?

The answer is The Hepatitis Virus.

Hepatitis is also the leading cause of liver cancer!

World Hepatitis Day is July 28th

What is Hepatitis? 

An inflammation of the liver, most commonly caused by a viral infection. There are five main hepatitis viruses (A, B, C, D and E). These are of greatest concern because of the burden of illness and death they cause, and the potential for outbreaks and spread.

Different Types of Hepatitis:

A: Primarily spread when an unvaccinated person ingests food or water that is contaminated with the feces of an infected person. Does not usually cause chronic liver disease. Closely associated with unsafe water or food, inadequate sanitation, poor personal hygiene, and oral/anal sex. An effective vaccine is available.

B: Spread when an unvaccinated person is exposed to infected blood or body fluids from an infected person, including from infected mother to child at birth. A safe and effective vaccine offers 98-100% protection. Potentially life-threatening liver infection and a major global health problem. Puts people at high risk of death from cirrhosis and liver cancer.

C: As a bloodborne virus, Hepatitis C is most commonly spread through sharing needles when injecting drugs, and through sexual contact. If appropriate practices are not followed, it can also be spread via inadequate sterilization of medical equipment in healthcare settings or transfusion of unscreened blood / blood products. There is no effective vaccine against hepatitis C.

D: Infection with this strain cannot occur in the absence of hepatitis B. This co-infection is considered the most severe form of chronic viral hepatitis due to faster progression to cancer and liver-related death. Vaccination against Hepatitis B is the only way to prevent hepatitis D infection.

E: Most commonly found in countries with limited access to essential water, sanitation, hygiene and health services. (Some outbreaks have occurred in war zones and camps for refugees or internally displaced populations.) This virus is shed in the stools of infected persons and enters the human body through the intestine. A vaccine to prevent this strain is licensed in China but is not yet available elsewhere.

Did you know.......

Medicare covers Hepatitis B Screening, Hepatitis B immunization and administration, and Hepatitis C Screening ? (It also covers HIV Screening, and since HIV is also a blood-borne virus often associated with hepatitis viruses, can be transmitted through sexual contact,  (seniors ARE sexually active), it is important to offer this as well.)

Sources:

Medicare Preventive Services Quick Reference Chart

World Hepatitis Day

The AHEC Standardized Onboarding and Credentialing program aims to improve the process of placing health science students in clinical placements through partnerships as well as onboarding and credentialing tools.

These tools help reduce the time and resources needed to onboard and credential students to clinical rotations. These tools, as well as support and guidance from AHEC and other partners, can make it easier for small practices to host students, helping to increase opportunities for training, and ultimately increasing clinical capacity. To get started or for more information, please contact Aubrey Delaney, Associate Director Onboarding and Credentialing at Audelaney@wakeahec.org. 

Learn more: Standardized Student Onboarding and Credentialing.

WEBINAR OPPORTUNITY

Remote Patient Monitoring Optimization for FQHCs

June 25, 2025 | noon-1 p.m.

Join us for an exclusive training webinar hosted by NC AHEC Practice Support in collaboration with the NC Community Health Center Association. The training is designed specifically for federally qualified health center staff interested in optimizing or starting remote patient monitoring (RPM) as a solution for improved patient care. RPM is a new healthcare practice that uses digital devices to collect and transmit patient health data to healthcare providers. It allows for continuous monitoring and management of patient’s conditions from a distance. This healthcare practice can work successfully if implemented correctly. 

This session will provide an overview of the latest trends, how to implement in your workflows, and appropriate Medicare/Medicaid billing codes to ensure financial sustainability and accuracy. Register now and take the first step in learning more.  

Register for the RPM Webinar

Complete one or both of the interactive, self-paced eLearning modules on your computer or mobile device. Earn free contact hours!

PART 1 - About 1 in 10 Americans have diabetes, with 90-95% of those having Type 2 Diabetes. (CDC) The majority of these people receive health care in the primary care setting (Pilla et. al). Physiologically, diabetes affects multiple organ systems, as well as the emotional well-being of the affected person. Medicine regimens can be complex, especially for an older person with other chronic conditions. To enable the practice staff to support the person with Type 2 Diabetes, this course uses case studies of familiar patients seen in primary care. Practical office-based clinical assessment and patient education concepts are presented. Basic pharmacology of diabetes drugs, laboratory tests used to assess and monitor the disease and common physical exam findings are covered. Register online at www.nwahec.org/75805

PART 2 - Managing diabetes requires much more than taking medicines and visiting the primary care provider’s office---lifestyle changes at the heart of a person’s very self are needed. People with diabetes are 2-3 times more likely to have depression than those without diabetes (CDC). Typically considered a lifelong chronic condition, Type 2 diabetes requires the affected person to incorporate it into their self-image and work every day on difficult behavior changes. Mood disturbances may also be the result of physiologic changes caused by the illness, or from medication side effects. Building on the foundation of Part 1 of this series, this module focuses on the impact a diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes can have on the mental health of patients they see in primary care. Register online at www.nwahec.org/75808

Part 2 builds on the case study presented in Part 1, so you are encouraged (but not required) to take both modules.

There is no charge for either online course. Course registration is generously supported by the Division of Health Benefits.

From NC Medicaid:

Some private and commercial insurers already require these codes, so providers should check with their billing team to review relevant protocol. These F codes are required by NC Medicaid’s clinical policy and apply to all delivery claims (not just those that are globally billed).

NC Medicaid urges providers to begin using the new codes as soon as possible. After July 1, 2025, Medicaid claims for delivery will deny if 0500F is not in the patient's history. This change will apply to both NC Medicaid Managed Care and NC Medicaid Direct claims.

Details and Source: New F Codes: Capturing Prenatal and Postpartum Care Services