Recognizing National Health Center Week

Aug. 12 began National Health Center Week across the country. Federally qualified health centers are a foundation of high performing primary care: they deliver high quality care at a cost that is often thousands of dollars less per patient than care delivered in other settings. They demonstrate reduced hospital admissions, lower inpatient costs and decreased specialty referrals. All of this improves patient satisfaction. In 2017, Connecticut health centers served more than 350,000 patients, more than 10 percent of the state’s population, nearly all of whom fall below the federal poverty line.

FQHCs are models of success: Here in Connecticut, many of the federally qualified health centers have been recognized as “Health Center Quality Leaders” by the federal government. A health center that is a “quality leader” is among the top 30 percent of all health centers that achieved the best overall clinical outcomes in the entire country.

Health centers care for large populations of the uninsured, and even with the Affordable Care Act, these patients still form substantial percentages of patients at many centers, at times in excess of 20 percent.

Health centers care for a large percentage of patients with Medicaid. While across the nation it is becoming increasingly difficult for Medicaid patients to find primary care doctors and specialists, access is excellent and wait times remain short at most federally qualified health centers.

To provide specialty care, use of innovative systems to provide electronic consults has further decreased wait times, improved financial savings and resulted in more efficient delivery of evidence-based care for many health center patients.

Innovative programs, such as care coordination via the PCMH+ program here in Connecticut, have allowed FQHCs to push the envelope of coordinated, integrated care even further. Care Coordinators, Community Health Workers, and Community Engagement Specialists have become measurable, impactful members of the health care team. They work as a point of contact between patients and providers, helping manage patients’ primary and specialty care and serving, first and foremost, as advocates for patients’ health and well-being. They form important, long-lasting partnerships with other community organizations and hospitals. Within the growing complexities of our health care system, care coordination serves as a model that ensures patients’ care is not delivered in silos — allowing for the integration, effectiveness, and efficiency of a vast array of services, including physical, mental, and social services.

Health centers take the lead on many initiatives at the federal and state levels: particularly for some of our most vulnerable populations. As we recognize health centers across the United States this week, let us remember we have important, impactful, local successes right here in Connecticut. Our patients and the state are better for it.

Sofia Morales is care coordinator and Douglas Olson is vice president of clinical affairs at Fair Haven Community Health Care.