Peer Provider News Needs You!

Peer Provider News e-Magazine is looking to hire teen writers for paid writing positions. Candidates must be highly motivated, detail-oriented and able to attend 1 or 2 meetings.

Prior writing experience preferred, but not required. This opportunity is available for teens 14 – 19 years of age who are available to start immediately. For general information about Peer Provider News or to find out more about the writing assignments, please e-mail the editor.

Deadline passed; contact information removed 07/20/07.

Peer Provider News Issue 3 is available now!

Sex Has consequences: Peer Provider News Issue 3 is a fascinating update on teen pregnancy prevention matters. Teen pregnancy has gone down 40% between 1995 – 2005, thanks, in part to the fine work that Peer Providers do in their communities. While this is encouraging, teen birth rates in the United States are still much higher than in other industrialized countries like France or Spain. In fact, 59,000 California teens become parents every year.

In this edition, two stories highlight the lives of teens dealing with parenting. The issue provides free downloads from the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy about a variety of different topics. One report puts a spin on the pregnancy prevention discussion by putting the focus on teen boys and another one talks about cultural issues Latino teens face when it comes to talking about sex. There are also links and reports that give parents useful tips and information about how to deal with all of the big questions.

CPCA’s Annual Billing And Coding Training Series

Intermediate Coding Training – July 12, 2006

Long Beach, California
(CPCA will convene these trainings in Sacramento on March 5 – 6, 2007 at the Sacramento Convention Center.)

Overview:
Effective billing and coding practices are critical to the financial well being of a community clinic/health center. Building on the success of CPCA’s recent billing and coding tele-trainings, CPCA is pleased to offer comprehensive day-long training programs on these topics. The training programs will be provided by expert faculty with extensive experience in community clinics and health centers. Each training offers participants more than five hours of specialized training, customized written materials, time to interact with the faculty, and an opportunity to network with one another. The first day will focus on billing and collections issues and the second day will focus on coding issues. 

Presenters:
Jennifer Fielding, M.B.A., Supervising Consultant, BKD, LLP, Springfield, MO
Trisha Priest, R.H.I.T., C.P.C., Supervising Consultant, BKD, LLP, Springfield, MO

Who Should Attend:
CFOs, Accountants, Billing Managers, Billing Staff, Coders, Charge Entry Personnel, Front Desk Supervisors, Clinic Managers, Nurse Managers, and Providers.

Training Program Descriptions:

Intermediate Billing Management and Collections Training – July 11, 2006 Topics:

• Key performance indicators for billing and collections
• Denial management strategies and tools
• Patient collection strategies

Intermediate Coding Training - July 12, 2006 Topics:

• Intermediate level coding for ICD-9 diagnosis codes
• Coding of actual cases
• CPT-4 procedure codes
• Evaluation and management coding training

The Coding Session attendees will need to have their ICD-9 diagnosis and CPT-4 coding books with them for this training session.

Schedule:
8:00 am – 9:00 am    Registration
9:00 am – 4:30pm     Training

Lunch break from noon until 1:00 pm (Please note breakfast and lunch will not be provided.)

Logistics:
Long Beach Convention Center
300 E. Ocean Blvd.]
Long Beach, CA 90802

Parking:
$8.00/per day with no in and out privileges. If you decide to leave, you will be charged another $8.00 upon re-entry.

A limited block of rooms is being held at the Hyatt Hotel adjacent to the Convention Center at 200 South Pine Avenue, Long Beach, CA 90802, for a rate of $159.00 per night for single or double occupancy, exclusive of state and local taxes. To make reservations, please contact the hotel at 1-800-233-1234 or 562-491-1234 by Friday, June 16, 2006, before 5:00 pm and indicate that you are attending this CPCA training to obtain this special rate. Parking at the Hyatt is $12.00 per day for self parking and $16.00 for valet parking. You can begin making reservations on Tuesday, May 23, 2006.

Registration:
Please register online. You will receive an email confirmation within one week of submitting your registration.

Fees per training day:
$200.00             Member
$250.00             Non-Member, clinic or health center
$325.00             Non-Member – other

If participants attend both days of training they will receive a discount of $50.00, (i.e. CPCA member fee for both days will be $350).

Deadline & Cancellation Policy:
To receive a full refund of your registration fees, CPCA must receive your cancellation notice by Monday, July 3, 2006.  No refunds will be offered for cancellations received after Monday, July 3, 2006.

Additional Information:
Please contact Glenna Davido at (916) 440-8170, ext. 212, or via e-mail at gdavido@cpca.org for more information.

Event passed; registration link removed, 07/20/07.

2006 Condom Cover Art Contest

Have fun and a chance to win $500, participating in a statewide contest to increase awareness about Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and condom use by designing an eye-catching, educational condom cover.

This is a public art contest, open to residents of California between the ages of 13 and 25. Selected entries will be printed in full color on condom packets and widely distributed.

Contest passed. Link removed 02/25/2008.

LifeStyles® Condoms Pledges to Donate One Million Condoms

National Women’s Health Week 2006: LifeStyles® Condoms Pledges to Donate One Million Condoms to the National Coalition of STD Directors.

(Red Bank, NJ May 11th 2006) The maker of LifeStyles® brand condoms has pledged to donate up to one million condoms to the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD) to kick-off National Women’s Health Week, May 14-20, according to Carol Carrozza, VP Marketing, Consumer & Professional, North America of Ansell Healthcare.

“Rates of curable STD cases in the U.S. are the highest in the developed world,” says Carrozza. “Women are up to 5 times more likely to become infected and suffer serious consequences. We need women to be aware of this information so that they can make informed decisions about their health.”

The pledge will be met with the participation of the public educating themselves about the realities of STD’s. By going to the www.lifestyles.com homepage from now until May 20th, they can click on the Women’s Health Week logo and read the important information about women’s health and sexuality.  For every visitor to that page (ending May 20th), a LifeStyles® condom will be donated to NCSD for distribution in their locations throughout the country.

“The entire process should take less then two minutes; but the lessons could impact a lifetime,” continues Carrozza.

National Women's Health Week
During National Women’s Health Week, women’s health becomes a priority for families, communities, and government as all three work together to improve the health of women and to increase awareness and understanding of women’s health issues.

The 7th annual National Women's Health Week (May 14-20, 2006) will start on Mother's Day and end on the following Saturday, a time when there is much attention already being focused on women.

NCSD
The National Coalition of STD Directors, established in 1997, represents the 65 Directors of public health & sexually transmitted disease prevention programs in states, large cities and territories of the United States.

Ansell
Ansell, the maker of LifeStyles® brand condoms, is a global leader in healthcare barrier protective products with operations in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Information on Ansell and its products can be found at http://www.ansell.com.

Media Contact:
Joe Naughton
212 377 1971
joe@dreamcoat.biz

New Men Can Stop Rape Blog, and a Poster Give-Away!

I wanted to give you all an update about a few things that have been going on with Men Can Stop Rape.  Below you will find information on our new Blog (please visit and give us feedback), and a poster give-away that is just too good an opportunity to miss and it's easy to enter.

Tell Us What You Think: Masculinities in Media
Our new Blog (www.mencanstoprape.blogspot.com) will be a chance to both share our thoughts and dialogue with all of you so that we may better do our work.

T.V. Movies. Magazines. Music. Newspapers. They show us the world and sell us what it means to be a "real man." The messages are limiting, at best, if we don't respond to them, so here are our rants, raves, analyses, formal press releases and informal office conversations --- our chance to respond!

Poster Contest Give-Away
There is good reason to send positive messages to young men about the role they can play in preventing sexual violence right at the start of the school year. In the fall, hundreds of new students flood the high school or college campus, looking for ways to fit in, deciding who they want to be in this new environment. They need choices - healthy choices. By using male-identified voices and alternative visions of male strength, the "My Strength Is Not for Hurting" posters support young men's capacity for healthy and respectful sexual choices. And they help to establish a school climate in which young men are allies with women - a climate that can be built on and sustained throughout the school year. So enter the Start the School Year Strong Contest and start the school year right.

Win 300 of the original "My Strength Is Not for Hurting" posters - valued at over $2000 - to display on your high school or college campus at the start of the 2006-2007 school year. There will be both high school and college winners. Runner-up in each category will receive 100 posters.

To enter:

• Write a contest submission that includes
• A contact person with address, email, phone #
• A brief description of your college/high school
• How you plan to creatively use the posters at the beginning of the school year as part of your college/high school's overall programming and projects addressing sexual violence (extra emphasis on "creatively")
• Where the posters will be hung
• Who will be responsible for hanging the posters
• Email Submissions to pmcgann@mencanstoprape.org by May 31, 2006.

Thanks,
Patrick Lincoln
Consulting and Training Coordinator
Men Can Stop Rape
www.mencanstoprape.org

Deadline passed; contact information removed, 07/20/07.

Partnership for Prevention: Chalmydia screening cited as a "high ranking service with low utilization rates."

Attached is a press release from "Partnership for Prevention." (PDF, 72K) Chalmydia screening is cited as a "high ranking service with low utilization rates." The press release was distributed to all print and broadcast media through a public relations firm.

Don't forget to peruse the study's website next week. You'll be able to access all nine of the AJPM articles, read guides to the study for employers, public policymakers, and consumers, and review extensive data about each service.

Also, please let us know if you would like to have a newsletter article about the study, short blurb, graphic with key study findings, PowerPoint presentation, or executive summary to let people know about the study. We'd be very happy to provide these or other items for distribution or placement on your website.

If you have any questions, contact Tina Schultz, Partnership for Prevention s Director of Communications at 202.833.0009 ext 115 or email tschultz@prevent.org.

Reproductive Health Medical Symposium Early Registration Deadline Extended!

The Reproductive Health Medical Symposium early registration deadline has been extended to May 24th!

There is still time to take advantage of the early registration rates for the Reproductive Health Medical Symposium on June 7-8th at the Wyndham Orange County Airport in Costa Mesa.

CFHC Title X Delegate Agency providers can attend both conference days for just $99 and receive up to $200 in travel stipends. For more information and to register, visit us on the web. Or contact the EPA Division at (800) 428-5438.

Event passed; see www.healthed.org for information on other conferences and trainings. Links removed, 07/20/07.

Write the Text You Need for Your Patient Education Materials

Writing clear, easy-to-read text is an art! At the EPA Division of CFHC, we're glad to share our years of experience with you.

We can:

• Develop text from needs assessment and research results.
• Review and edit existing materials.
• Take hard-to-read patient education materials and adapt them to the literacy, cultural, and emotional needs of your clients.
• Help you make sure that the text is culturally appropriate, easy to read, respectful and practical as well as accurate and encouraging.

To learn more about the services we offer and how we can help your agency, please visit our website at www.epahealth.org, email Donna Bell Sanders at sandersd@cfhc.org or call our toll-free number 1-800-428-5438.

CVS/pharmacy Accepting Applications for Community Grants Program

Deadline: October 31, 2006

CVS/pharmacy ( http://www.cvs.com/ ) supports the communities it serves by providing nonprofit organizations the opportunity to apply for a CVS/pharmacy Community Grant.

The Community Grants program is currently accepting proposals for the following:

1. Programs targeting children under the age of 18 with disabilities that address any of the following: health and rehabilitation services; public schools promoting a greater level of inclusion in student activities and extracurricular programs; and creating opportunities or facilities that give greater access to physical movement and play.
2. Healthcare services for uninsured people.

All CVS/pharmacy Community Grant applications must be submitted online between January and October of each calendar year.

Visit the CVS/pharmacy Web site for complete program guidelines and to determine whether your program is eligible.

Unity Conference 2006

The Center for Sustainable Health Outreach (CSHO) will hold its annual Unity conference July 10 – 13, 2006 at the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana. Unity 2006 is a national conference designed for and about community health workers. The theme for this year’s conference is “Surviving Life’s Storms: Celebrating Community Health Worker Models of Innovation, Resilience, and Strength.”

Unity 2006 will address the role community health workers can play in these times of health care provider shortages, tight budgets, and impending public health crises. The conference will stress the importance of community health workers to the health care and human services delivery systems; ways to develop and sustain CHW programs; models of community health worker resiliency; and methods of overcoming barriers to CHW program success.

The conference format will include plenary sessions with addresses from keynote speakers and panelists, as well as numerous breakout workshop sessions. Community health workers are strongly encouraged to submit attend. Unity 2006 is an opportunity for community health workers to share knowledge, information, and expertise with other community health workers and interested parties.

Exhibit space will be available during Unity 2006. The Center encourages community health worker programs and related service providers and educational programs to exhibit during the conference. To discuss exhibiting during Unity 2006, contact Susan Mayfield-Johnson at (601) 266-6266 or Susan.Johnson@usm.edu.

The conference registration fee is $300 and includes training, materials, and lunch each day. Discounted registration fees are available for community health workers and students. A number of limited conference fee waivers are available to community health workers upon request.

New Orleans is a world famous tourist destination known for its multi-cultural heritage as well as its music and cuisine. Come join us as we are “Surviving Life’s Storms: Celebrating Community Health Worker Models of Innovation, Resilience, and Strength.” Mark your calendars now to join us in New Orleans for Unity 2006!

Event passed; link to brochure removed, 07/20/07.