HRSA’s Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) is pleased to announce the release of Program Assistance Letter (PAL) 2012-02, “Calendar Year (CY) 2013 Requirements for Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) Medical Malpractice Coverage for Health Centers.” This PAL addresses the process that health centers must take in order to submit their FTCA deeming and redeeming applications for calendar year 2013. This PAL can be accessed at: http://bphc.hrsa.gov/policiesregulations/policies/pal201202.html [1] and http://bphc.hrsa.gov/ftca/healthcenters/hcappprocess.html [2].
FTCA eligible grantees are organizations awarded grant funding under section 330 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, including the Community Health Centers, Migrant Health Centers, Health Care for the Homeless Centers, Public Housing Primary Care Centers and eligible subrecipients.
All FTCA applications must be submitted electronically through the FTCA deeming module within the HRSA Electronic Handbook (EHB). The EHB system will be available to begin receiving CY 2013 deeming applications on February 23, 2012. All applications will be due on April 5, 2012.
In response to requests for additional resources to assist in the application process, FTCA has expanded the resources that are available for FTCA eligible grantees. The following resources are recommended and should facilitate the application process.
- A series of brief, informative technical assistance videos that will walk applicants through the application process and provide best practice information related to key sections of the FTCA deeming application (Risk Management, QI/QA, Credentialing and Liability History). These videos will be posted online shortly and will be located at http://bphc.hrsa.gov/ftca/healthcenters/hcappprocess.html [3].
- Credentialing toolkit on the ECRI website provides sample documents and supports best practices. This toolkit is available at www.ecri.org. [4]
- EHB user guide provides step by step directions for completing the application in EHB. It is available for grantees to download within the EHB system.
- A technical assistance conference call hosted by FTCA will be presented. This call should help clarify any questions. The call will be held on:
Date: Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Time: 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Dial-in-Number: 800-988-9540
Participant Passcode: 19635
Slides for the call will be available at: http://bphc.hrsa.gov/ftca/healthcenters/hcappprocess.html [5]
- This technical assistance conference call will be recorded and an mp3 file will be available online at http://bphc.hrsa.gov/ftca/index.html [6] within one week following the call.
- The BPHC Help Line is another available resource. Questions and comments pertaining to the FTCA program or this PAL should be directed to the BPHC Help Line at:
BPHC Help Line
Phone: 1-877-974-BPHC (877-974-2742)
9:00 AM to 5:30 PM (ET)
Email: BPHChelpline@hrsa.gov [7]