CHAMPS’ mission, in part, is to provide a variety of services to federally qualified Community Health Centers (CHCs) in Region VIII (CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, and WY).

In order to better understand Community Health Centers, please click or scroll down for:
CHC Introduction
Finding a CHC in Region VIII
Understanding FQHCs
CHC Requirements & Expectations
Other Online Resources
CHC Terms & Acronyms

Community Health Centers (CHCs) provide high-quality, affordable and accessible primary health care to primarily indigent, medically underserved, and underinsured populations in a wide range of communities, from inner cities to rural frontiers. As of 2007 there are more than 1,200 organizations operating over 7,000 health centers in the United States; these include migrant health centers, health care for the homeless centers, and public housing primary care centers. These CHCs served about 18 million people in 2007.

For a history of Community Health Centers, please link to the National Association of Community Health Center’s (NACHC’s) About Our Health Centers webpage.

To learn more about efforts to raise awarness about and support CHCs, and to experience stories from CHCs, please link to the United Health Foundation’s Faces of Hope: Celebrating Community Health Centers webpage.

Follow the links below to locate Community, Migrant, and Homeless Health Centers throughout Region VIII.

• Colorado - Colorado Community Health Network (CCHN)
  
• Montana - Montana Primary Care Association (MPCA)
  
• North and South Dakota - Community Healthcare Association of the Dakotas (CHAD)
  
• Utah - Association for Utah Community Health (AUCH)
  
• Wyoming - Wyoming Primary Care Association (WPCA)
  
• National - Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
  

Please note: the links listed above may include information for health service sites that are not FQHCs.

FQHCs are health centers which receive Public Health Service (PHS) Act Section 330 funds and serve medically underserved areas (MUAs), or serve a medically underserved population (MUP), or meet the statutory requirements for receiving federal community health center program funds.

For more information about MUAs and MUPs, link to our Understanding HPSAs and MUAs page.

FQHC Advantages:

• Health centers receiving Section 330 federal funds are automatically eligible for certification as Medicaid and Medicare FQHCs, receiving cost-based reimbursement for Medicaid and Medicare patients. (Health centers not receiving federal funding must complete an application through the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Bureau of Primary Health Care to obtain this certification.)
  
• FQHC status may offer health centers certain other benefits, such as access to federally-funded and supported technical assistance, higher rates of payment under Medicaid managed care, and eligibility for the PHS Drug Pricing Program.
  
• Visit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) Federally Qualified Health Center Fact Sheet for more details.

The federal government compiles statistics from all health center grantees on an annual basis. This information, called the Uniform Data System (UDS), is available from the Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC).

For more details, please link to the BPHC’s Uniform Data System (UDS) Overview page.

For summarized Region VIII CHC UDS information relating to users, staffing, and encounter types, please click HERE.

All Federally Qualified Health Centers are required to:

• Be located in a medically underserved area or serve a medically underserved population
  
• Provide comprehensive primary care (directly and/or by contract)
  
• Serve all patients regardless of age or income, within a defined service area
  
• Have a sliding-fee schedule based on the patient’s ability to pay
  
• Be a public or not-for-profit organization
  
• Have a community-based board of directors; to be federally funded, a majority of the board members must use the health center and must represent the community served in terms of demographic factors such as race, ethnicity, sex, age, and socioeconomic status
  
• Comply with program expectations for a federally funded CHC

To receive federal funding a community health center must meet the program expectations of the U.S. Public Health Service. These expectations describe aspects of organizational structure and processes that are associated with successful health center programs. Every CHC should have a sound infrastructure able to respond to the needs of its community within the constraints of its resources, and should develop processes and procedures designated to ensure the provision of high quality health services supported by strong management and governance.

The four parts of the program expectations are as follows:

1. Needs Assessment and Planning
Community health centers are required to assess the health needs of the population to be served and the resources available in the community to meet those needs. Health centers are required to work closely with other safety net providers in defining and revising an appropriate role for the health center in addressing community health care needs. Factors used to determine need are geographic, demographic, and economic.

2. Governance
A board of directors must govern community health centers, which has full authority and responsibility to establish program policies. The board of directors should govern within the context of a long-term strategic mission and goals, as well as an annual operating plan. A majority of the board members must represent users of the center’s services. A set of by-laws governing the organization should be maintained by the center. The by-laws should describe the structure and functions of the Board, and meet the requirements of federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

3. Management and Finance
To operate efficiently and effectively, the center must have appropriate management. The long-term mission and goals of the organization should guide center management. Management of a health center is a team process with well-defined lines of authority and responsibility. Adequate infrastructure must be in place including finance, management information systems, and communications.

4. Clinical Program/Health Services
Community health centers are required by law to operate a system of care that contributes to the desired outcomes of availability, accessibility, quality, comprehensiveness, and coordination. Centers must ensure that basic primary care services, coordinated with other levels of care, and support services appropriate to the communities defined health care needs are available and accessible. Centers must also have qualified providers and a clinical management system that ensures quality and continuity of care.

For more information, visit the following BPHC webpages:

Kaiser Family Foundation, Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
Resources that examine the role of community health centers (CHCs) as a key components of the US health care system
CHC Fact Sheet
Issue brief on the role of CHCs in the health system
Report on how CHCs fared in the wake of health reform in Massachusetts

KUED - the University of Utah
Utah Community Health Centers were highlighted in a PBS documentary that aired on affiliate KUED looking at the barriers to health care, particularly among the uninsured. Website includes film transcript, Q&A with the director, interviews, and the film
Healthcare: Facing Barriers

National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC)
Practical guide to starting a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC)
So You Want to Start a Health Center...?

US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, Office of Rural Health Policy
Report helping practitioners understand the differences between Rural Health Clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers
Comparison of the Rural Health Clinic and Federally Qualified Health Center Programs