ANNOUNCEMENT:  2009-2010 UDS TRAINING CONFERENCES

The Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) is pleased to announce the latest in an ongoing series of training sessions on the Uniform Data System (UDS).  This training program is being offered by State and Regional Primary Care Associations who partner with the BPHC in hosting these sessions. 

UDS training will be provided by BPHC’s UDS contractor, John Snow Inc. (JSI).  This year, BPHC continues to modify the submission process begun last year with the introduction of the Electronic Hand Book based UDS.  As noted in Program Assistance Letter 2009-10 (available at http://bphc.hrsa.gov/policy/pal0902.htm) the process of editing will no longer take place after submission of UDS reports.  Instead, JSI will offer a robust technical assistance program for grantees, providing support while they are preparing their reports and then an opportunity for the report to be reviewed (similar to the old editing process) prior to actual submission.  Submission of the 2009 UDS will be on or before March 31, 2010; once submitted, BPHC will permit no further corrections or amendments.

The UDS Training Conference will be a full day session covering the preparation of the 2009 UDS Report.  These sessions will highlight changes to the UDS editing and submission process and to several of the tables in UDS.   These sessions will also provide a clear description of the differences between the UDS and BPHC’s new American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) reporting (the Health Center Quarterly Report or HCQR).  This will not however, be an ARRA training program.  The UDS Training Conference will specifically address each of the tables, integrating a discussion of the changes that have been made, and the definitions necessary to complete the reports.  Because of wide-spread problems in submitting the new clinical measures tables (Table 6B and 7) these will once again be covered extensively in these sessions.  (A complete list of changes will be provided to use as a part of your announcements of the training.)  The UDS training is aimed at those who are responsible for gathering and reporting the data elements included in the UDS report, as well as for management staff who need to understand the definitions and concepts used.

The schedule for the 2009-2010 UDS Training Conference has been confirmed.  Information on dates, locations, and contact information for the sessions is available in the table below.