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.