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In this first of a two-part video series, Briana Contreras, associate editor of Managed Healthcare Executive spoke with Dr. Sheldon Fields Associate Dean for Equity Inclusion and Research Professor in the College of Nursing at Penn State University, about the ongoing All of Us research program. All of Us is an initiative through partners of the National Black Nurses Association, which Fields is vice president of, and the National Institutes of Health that invites one million people across the U.S. to help build one of the most diverse health databases in U.S. history.

Federally Qualified Health Centers have been the safety net for individuals in need for decades. However, even with increasing demand for their services – tripling the number of patients served to more than 28 million since 2000 – FQHCs are not immune from challenges stemming from the pandemic.

Deaths by suicide and by substance use disorders have reached epidemic proportions, creating the tragic “perfect storm” of epidemics within a pandemic. A survey conducted by PRECISIONvalue of population health priorities among health systems and health plans since the onset of Covid-19 suggests that while mental health conditions have risen in priority, opioid use disorders have become alarmingly deprioritized.