Health Law and Regulation

Nearly $600 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) awards are available to support major construction and renovation projects at 85 community health centers nationwide and help networks of health centers adopt EHRs and other health IT (HIT) systems. The president also announced a new demonstration initiative to support the delivery of advanced primary care to Medicare beneficiaries through community health centers.

The awards are expected to not only create new job opportunities in construction and healthcare, but also help provide care for more than half a million additional patients in underserved communities.

To qualify for funding, a health facility must be a federally qualified community health center (FQHC). Grants of $508.5 million will be provided through the Facility Investment Program (FIP) to address pressing health center facility needs. The FIP grants support major construction and renovation at the nation’s health centers. These funds will help health centers build new facilities, modernize current sites and create employment opportunities in underserved communities. Recipients of FIP funds are expected to commit grant funds and complete the proposed projects within two years. The grants will cover two types of projects:

1. Alteration/renovation: This project type includes work required to modernize, improve or change the interior arrangements or other physical characteristics of an existing facility, and purchase/install equipment. Alterations and renovations make existing space usable for another purpose. This type of project does not increase square footage.
2. Construction (new site or expansion of existing site): This project type includes — (i) adding a new structure to an existing site that increases the total square footage of the facility and (ii) permanently affixing structure (e.g., modular units, prefabricated buildings) to real property (i.e., land).

Also, as much as $88 million will be available to help Health Center Controlled Networks (HCCN) improve operational effectiveness and clinical quality in health centers by providing management, financial, technology and clinical support services. The HCCN grant program was developed in 1994 to support the creation, development and operation of electronic networks, controlled by groups of collaborating health centers, to improve health center operations.

President Obama also directed HHS to implement a demonstration initiative designed to evaluate the impact of the advanced primary care practice model on access, quality and cost of care provided to Medicare beneficiaries served by community health centers. This model, known as the medical home, promotes accessible, continuous and coordinated family-centered care. Developed and administered by CMS, the demonstration will last three years. CMS anticipates that up to 500 health centers will participate.

Source: The White House, December 9, 2009

2010 Healthcare Benchmarks Yearbook: Metrics, Measurements and Innovations

This is a comprehensive collection of benchmarks in key areas of healthcare activity and growth — from the adoption of the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) to reduction of hospital readmissions to the use of health coaching, patient outreach, financial incentives and telehealth to foster behavior change and reverse healthcare spend. Compiled in 2009 from responses to the Healthcare Intelligence Network monthly e-survey series on key healthcare trends, this 200-page resource delivers more than 200,000 data points from 1,370 responding healthcare organizations in an easy-to-use binder format.

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