Primary Care for Low-Income Populations

This case study is the third in a series profiling how primary care clinics are meeting the needs of patients with low incomes. New Mexico stands out for its widespread deployment of community health workers, as well as for state and local approaches to financing their services.

CareSouth Carolina, an FQHC operating 14 clinics across rural South Carolina, pursues value-based payment and uses incentives earned from Medicaid managed care companies to improve on measures such as tobacco use screening/counseling, adult BMI screening/counseling, breast cancer screening, and adolescent well visits.

11th Street Family Health Services serves public housing residents in North Philadelphia. Many of its patients, mostly African American women covered by Medicaid, have chronic medical conditions and have experienced trauma. The center uses creative arts therapies, mind–body interventions, and traditional counseling.

A Commonwealth Fund case study examines how two independent primary care practices, one in New Hampshire and the other in Vermont, tailor their services to patients who struggle to afford care, deal with chronic physical or mental health conditions, or need help finding social supports.