Turning Community Health Center into Medical Homes
<p>A <a href="/publications/fund-reports/2011/sep/transforming-community-health-centers-patient-centered-medical">new report</a> from The Commonwealth Fund examines how changes in the financing of community health centers—critical providers of health care services to the poor and uninsured—could support their transformation into high-performing patient-centered medical homes. </p>
<p>Nonprofit federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) provide comprehensive primary medical care and, often, dental, vision, and behavioral health services, to low-income patients in medically underserved areas, regardless of a person's ability to pay. With the Affordable Care Act set to expand Medicaid eligibility in 2014, health centers are expected to play an even greater role in delivering care to this population. </p>
<p>To support and incentivize health centers to become medical homes, author Leighton Ku, Ph.D., and colleagues at George Washington University recommend that policymakers establish medical home standards for FQHCs that emphasize their broader community-oriented service components, and that states include these providers in all Medicaid health home projects for chronically ill beneficiaries. It is also important, the authors say, for the federal government to make clear that states may pay health centers more than the levels prescribed by the prospective payment system, and to show how states may increase FQHC payment levels under Medicaid.</p>
<p>Read <a href="/publications/fund-reports/2011/sep/transforming-community-health-centers-patient-centered-medical">the report</a> to learn more. <br /></p>