HELEN News

HHS Announces Partnership with Morehouse School of Medicine to Fight COVID-19 in Racial and Ethnic Minority and Vulnerable Communities $40 Million Initiative Will Help Communities Hardest Hit by the Pandemic The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) announced the selection of the Morehouse School of Medicine as the awardee for a new $40 million initiative to fight COVID-19 in racial and ethnic minority, rural and socially vulnerable communities. The Morehouse School of Medicine will enter into a cooperative agreement with OMH to lead the initiative to coordinate a strategic network of national, state, territorial, tribal and local organizations to…

What Americans Can Do to Address Systemic Racism and Achieve Health Equity June 11th, 2020  I can’t breathe! This has become an all too familiar cry for many African Americans who everyday struggle to breathe in a society suffocated by systemic racism and entrenched inequities. They struggle to live in a society that has intentionally erected barrier after barrier intended to weaken their bodies and hasten their deaths. What we have is the perfect storm for a disaster—a serious health crisis, an inequitable method of health delivery, millions of uninsured and under-insured people, an uneven and politically charged approach to dealing with the pandemic, police…

GOOGLE AWARDS $1 MILLION GRANT TO THE SATCHER HEALTH LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE AT MOREHOUSE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE TO STUDY RACIAL IMPACT OF COVID-19  This partnership will enable the real-time COVID-19 collection and study of detailed demographic data about the communities of color that are being hit hardest by the pandemic.   Atlanta, GA - May 28, 2020 -- The COVID-19 outbreak is having a disproportionate impact on communities of color, raising urgent questions about why that’s happening -- and about what can be done to reduce risk and harm for people of color. A new $1 million grant from Google.org will help the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of…

Congress’s enactment of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) last year repealed Medicare’s sustainable growth rate (SGR) in favor of a new Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) intended to increase quality of care across the United States. The law was designed to shift how health care providers are paid from a volume-based payment system to a value-based system. While well-intentioned, this push raises several concerns. Most notably that providers with higher quality scores tend to also have higher disparities in care among racial and ethnic minorities and other vulnerable populations. On May 9, 2016 CMS released its much anticipated proposed rule to…

The National Minority Quality Forum is pleased to announce the establishment of The 40 Under 40 Leaders in Health Awards, honoring influential young African American leaders making a difference in healthcare. We encourage a wide range of health professionals to apply: physicians, pharmacists, dentists, anesthesiologists, nurses, policy experts, researchers, and others.   All nominations are to be submitted online here. Nominations will be accepted until February 1, 2016.   Honorees will be awarded at the Congressional Black Caucus Spring Health Braintrust Gala in Washington, DC with special guest CBC Health Braintrust Chair Congresswoman Robin Kelly.   Please direct…