2022 Annual Meeting

Plenary Session – Integration Across Agencies: Discussion with Federal Partners

Speakers: Dr. Jonathan Mermin, MD, MPH (CDC); Heather Hauck (HRSA); Dr. Laura Cheever, MD, ScM (HRSA); and Harold J. Phillips, MRP (White House)

Affinity Session – Hepatitis

Description: The Hepatitis Affinity Session was an opportunity for meeting participants to learn about current and upcoming programs and priorities for CDC’s Division of Viral Hepatitis. NASTAD’s Hepatitis Team was joined by Dr. Carolyn Wester, Director, and Clarisse Tsang, Health Department Support Lead, from DVH for a brief presentation and discussion with participants.

Speakers: Dr. Carolyn Wester (CDC) and Clarisse Tsang (CDC)

Breakout Session - 12 Years Later: How the Affordable Care Act Has Advanced Public Health Goals

Description: The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is one of the most important pieces of legislation in the fight against HIV and viral hepatitis in our history. This session provided an overview of the ACA's impact on public health and how it has moved us closer to ending the HIV and viral hepatitis syndemics, including discussion about how the ACA has expanded public health capacity through new programs and funding. This session included a discussion of the changing dynamics of medication access since the ACA, the role of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program in providing insurance assistance to clients, and the impact of expanded healthcare access and need for continued enrollment engagement in light of COVID-19 vaccine and testing protocols and payment mechanisms.

Speakers: Dori Molozanov (NASTAD); Alison Gaye (NASTAD); Michelle Dawson (JSI); and Amy Killelea (Killelea Consulting)

Breakout Session - Addressing the Syndemic through Improved Program Coordination and Service Integration

Description: Effective responses to the intertwined epidemics of HIV, STIs, viral hepatitis, and substance use require multi-level coordination and the design and scale-up of comprehensive care models. Research shows that there are significant gaps in testing, linking, and retaining people who use drugs or have a substance use disorder to HIV and viral hepatitis prevention and care services; care is often fragmented and rarely integrated within one program or setting. Presenters shared a range of experiences and approaches on this topic, including: methods of enhancing system-level coordination across state agencies responsible for HIV and OUD services; an innovative model that integrates housing and PrEP services; integrated HIV, STI, SUD, and viral hepatitis planning and implementation; and efforts towards payment reform that support infectious disease service integration into substance use treatment settings. Discussion centered on identifying and dismantling the structural (policy, financing, workforce development) barriers to service integration, with a particular focus on substance use disorder treatment settings.

Speakers: Jaeson Smith (Baltimore) and Beth Crutsinger-Perry (Washington)

Breakout Session - Conceptualizing and Operationalizing ‘Organizational Excellence’ [part 2 of 2]

Description: Building on the broad overview of Organizational Excellence from part 1, this breakout session will examine how to approach this strategic pillar through a trauma-informed and healing-centered lens. Beginning with an overview of the trauma-informed principles and organizational culture, and continuing with a discussion around workplace wellness, participants will leave this breakout with a greater understanding of what makes an organization trauma-informed and examples of how this work can be operationalized in a health department setting.

Speakers: Mahelet Kebede (NASTAD); Meredith McCarthy (NASTAD); and Ka'leef Stanton Morse (New Jersey)

Breakout Session - Data Integration: Landscapes and Stakeholders

Description: Data integration is a core element of collaboration efforts across programs, between local and state health departments, and with other agencies, particularly Medicaid. HIV and viral hepatitis programs across the country are making significant investments to improve their data integration processes and data modernization efforts are underway at health departments across the country. This session provided an opportunity to dive into several emerging issues in data integration and opportunities to accelerate data integration efforts across HIV and viral hepatitis programs. Key topics included: privacy and confidentiality considerations when allowing a data-exchange between HIV programs and Medicaid, lessons learned from the development of data-sharing agreements between state HIV surveillance and RWHAP Part A programs, and opportunities to leverage health information exchanges to engage health care payers and provider networks in the context of national data modernization efforts.

Speakers: Dr. Anne Rhodes (Georgetown University); Brandi Knight (Florida); and Deniz Soyer (Washinton, DC)

Breakout Session - The Wonders of 340B for Viral Hepatitis and Drug User Health

Description: In 2020, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Office of Pharmacy Affairs indicated that, in addition to STD programs, HIV and viral hepatitis prevention CDC grantees and subgrantees, authorized under Section 318 of the US Public Health Services Act, may qualify to participate in the 340B Drug Pricing Program and much progress has been made by viral hepatitis programs to interpret, maximize and continue to leverage the 340 Drug Pricing Program. This session provided a space for the NYC Department of Health and for START Treatment & Recovery Centers to speak to their achievements and all the work that allowed for them to be conferred 340B eligibility. Session moderators guided the discussion to highlight opportunities and challenges navigating the 340B Drug Pricing Program as well as patient impacts and outcomes centering on a syndemic approach while advancing health equity.

Speakers: Ana Ventuneac (Research and Evaluation at START Treatment & Recovery Centers, Inc); Erin Fratto (NASTAD Consultant); and Tim Horn (NASTAD)

NASTAD Industry Partners Meeting

Speakers: NASTAD Senior Directors