Human Services News

From The Commonwealth Fund:

Community health centers (CHCs) provide primary health care services to more than 15 million Americans, many of whom are members of racial or ethnic minorities, have low income, are uninsured, or have coverage through Medicaid.

To improve access to care in underserved communities, the federal government recently increased the number of CHCs.

There are concerns, however, that CHCs lack adequate capacity to provide a full range of services to their patients.

A Commonwealth Fundsupported study has found that CHC patients---particularly those who are uninsured or covered by Medicaid---have difficulty obtaining off-site specialty services, including referrals to medical specialists, diagnostic testing, and mental health and substance abuse treatment.

The survey focused on two issues: the relationship between access to specialty medical and mental health services and patients' insurance status, and other factors associated with access to off-site specialty services for uninsured and Medicaid patients.

The researchers received completed surveys from approximately half the medical directors.

About 75 percent of the CHCs had on-site mental health services, about 80 percent had on-site diagnostic testing, and about 50 percent had diagnostic x-ray services available.

Medical directors re-ported that about 25 percent of CHC visits resulted in medically necessary referrals for services not provided by the centers, regardless of patients' insurance category.

Such access was difficult for uninsured patients even if the CHC was affiliated with a medical school or a hospital.

Because CHC patients are disproportionately minority and low-income, these improvements could go a long way in correcting disparities in health outcomes across racial and socioeconomic groups, they conclude.

Read more from this post.