Abstract

The initiation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will provide many opportunities of growth for community health clinics (CHC); however, several financial measures are only temporary. CHC’s require financial stability to meet the needs of the remaining 23 million uninsured. This financial stability established through the initiation of Patient Centered Medical Homes (PCMH) will increase quality and efficiency. PCMH’s collaborate with multiple organizations to decrease duplicated efforts and unify resources for a common mission. In addition, CHC’s can contract with state health insurance exchange programs to be network providers and diversify their payer mix. The following three policy options provide several alternatives to improve CHC’s financial future.Community Health Clinic will require further policy implications to address areas that the ACA is unable to fulfill. These areas in quality, efficiency, and cost can be addressed through two additional policies. The first policy is the integration of PCMH’s within CHC’s, which improves quality, efficiency while maintain cost that will sustain a profitable payer mix. Secondly, the establishment of CHC’s, as preferred network providers under the health insurance exchange will increase the diversity of their payer mix to assist in funding the uninsured. Therefore, the integration of these two policies with the ACA status quo will serve CHC’s mission to provide quality care to the uninsured and will establish fiscal viability.