Enhancing the Capacity of Community Health Centers to Achieve High Performance: Findings from the 2009 Commonwealth Fund National Survey of Federally Qualified Health Centers

Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) are community-based health centers that provide comprehensive primary care and behavioral and mental health services to patients regardless of ability to pay. Passage of federal health reform will likely increase demand for FQHC services. To assess these centers’ ability to function as high-performing providers of care, in 2009 The Commonwealth Fund surveyed more than 1,000 FQHCs. Four-fifths responded to questions about access to care, coordination of care across settings, engagement in quality improvement and reporting, health information technology (HIT) adoption, and the ability to serve as patient-centered medical homes. Most FQHCs can provide timely on-site care; many have problems accessing off-site specialty care. Adoption of HIT is correlated with ability to monitor and improve patient care. Medical homes demonstrate significant advantages in coordination of off-site care. The survey highlights methods for strengthening FQHCs’ ability to provide care. These include formalizing partnerships with hospitals, improving office systems, adopting the medical home model, and increasing use of HIT. Support for this research was provided by The Commonwealth Fund. The views presented here are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Commonwealth Fund or its directors, officers, or staff. To learn more about new publications when they become available, visit the Fund’s Web site and register to receive e-mail alerts. Commonwealth Fund pub. no. 1392.