[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 223 (Tuesday, November 21, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55382-55383]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-25191]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Supplemental Award to the National Network for Oral Health Access

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: HRSA announces the award of a supplement in the amount of 
$250,000 for a HRSA-funded cooperative agreement awarded to the 
National Network for Oral Health Access (NNOHA). The supplement, 
awarded on September 25, 2017, will fund demonstration projects to 
increase the integration of oral health and primary care practice 
through the adoption of HRSA's core clinical oral health competencies 
for non-dental health care providers in Health Center (HC) settings, 
focusing on services for pregnant women and children.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Intended Recipient of the Award: National Network for Oral Health 
Access.
    Amount of Non-Competitive Awards: $250,000.
    Budget Periods of Supplemental Funding: July 1, 2017, through June 
30, 2018.
    CFDA Number: 93.110.
    Authority: Special Projects of Regional and National Significance 
program (Social Security Act, Title V, Sec.  501(a)(2) (42 U.S.C. 
701(a)(2)).
    Justification: The National Network for Oral Health Access (NNOHA) 
supports goals to improve access to oral

[[Page 55383]]

health care, increase awareness of the connection between oral health 
and overall health, prevent disease and promote oral health, and 
improve health literacy to health providers and patients alike. HRSA 
developed a core set of oral health clinical competencies for non-
dental providers as part of its Integration of Oral Health and Primary 
Care Practice (IOHPCP) initiative in response to recommendations from 
two Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports: Advancing Oral Health in 
America and Improving Access to Oral Health Care for Vulnerable and 
Underserved Populations. NNOHA participated in the IOHPCP initiative 
and in fiscal year (FY) 2012 received supplemental funding (U30CS09745-
05-02) to implement a pilot project in safety net settings to inform 
the impact and effectiveness of oral health core clinical competencies 
and inter-professional collaboration in primary care settings. The goal 
of the project was to increase integration of oral health and primary 
health care. NNOHA published the pilot project results in a user guide 
entitled, User's Guide for Implementation of inter-professional oral 
health core clinical competencies and continues to provide technical 
assistance to health centers and training on oral health integration 
and primary care practice.
    The Joint Explanatory Statement to the Consolidated Appropriations 
Act of FY 2017 encouraged HRSA to allocate $250,000 for demonstration 
projects to support the implementation of integrating oral health and 
primary care projects. The projects are to model the core clinical oral 
health competencies for non-dental providers that HRSA published and 
initially tested in its 2014 report, Integration of Oral Health and 
Primary Care Practice. In order to achieve this goal, HRSA will provide 
supplemental funding to the NNOHA to advance and expand the 
implementation of oral health core clinical competencies in health 
centers, focusing on services for pregnant women and children. 
Additionally, these demonstration projects will directly align with 
four HRSA recommendations for effectively incorporating the 
competencies into clinical practice as described in the 2014 
Integrating Oral Health and Primary Care Practice report. This activity 
is consistent with the current work plan of NNOHA and includes 
providing training and technical assistance on IOHPCP. NNOHA's primary 
roles are to coordinate all activities at the planning, implementation, 
evaluation, and dissemination stages, as well as provide technical 
assistance and training to participating HCs. NNOHA shall select no 
fewer than six HCs, which it supports as part of the current HRSA-
funded National Training and Technical Assistance Cooperative Agreement 
Program (U30CS29051). NNOHA will assure that each HC will propose, 
implement, and track data for an innovative inter-professional oral 
health project that measurably increases the adoption of the core 
clinical oral health competencies among non-dental providers in the 
delivery of care to pregnant women and children.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chinyere Amaefule, Office of Quality 
Improvement, Division of Strategic Partnerships, Bureau of Primary 
Health Care, Health Resources and Services Administration, 5600 Fishers 
Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857, Phone: (301) 594-4417, Email: 
[email protected].

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                                                                                                   FY 2017-2018
                                                                                    FY 2017         estimated
        Grantee/organization name            Grant No.            State            authorized      supplemental
                                                                                 funding level        amount
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National Network of Oral Health Access..             U30CS2CO51                       $500,000         $250,000
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    Dated: November 14, 2017.
George Sigounas,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 2017-25191 Filed 11-20-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4165-15-P