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New Study Indicates Community Health Centers Increase Continuity Of Health Care For Racial And Ethnic Minorities

Community health centers not only provide quality health care to medically-underserved and low-income populations, they also improve the continuity of care for these populations, says a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

In the study, the researchers compared frequency of visits and demographics of people served by community health centers with other "safety net" delivery sites, primarily physicians' offices and hospital outpatient departments. The study found that community health centers were more likely to serve ethnic minorities than were other delivery sites. Patients who had previously been treated at community health centers were more likely to revisit the center when they experienced another health problem than go to a hospital outpatient site or physician's office. In other words, patients' continuity of care was found to be better in community health centers.

Community health centers are the federal government's principal method of ensuring health care to medically-underserved and low-income populations, often located in rural and inner-city areas. In 1994, over seven million individuals received primary care from over 600 community health centers in the U.S., increasing to over eight million people in 1998. The study was published in the October 25, 2000 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.


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