Iowa’s Community Health Centers: Community Health Quality Leaders 

This year:

• Four (4) of Iowa’s health centers were recognized with the Gold Health Center Quality Leader badge, meaning they perform in the top 10% of all community health centers nationwide.
• Three (3) achieved the Silver Health Center Quality Leader badge, performing in the top 11-20% nationally
• One (1) achieved Bronze Health Center Quality Leader badge, performing in the top 21-30% nationally.

Altogether, 8 of the 14 Iowa’s community health centers – 57% of our members – achieved recognition in the top 30% of the over 1,300 community health centers nationwide. This is an amazing accomplishment!

Rhode Island was the only other state to achieve a higher percentage of health centers receiving a Health Center Quality Leader badge (75% of their eight community health centers).

“Our member community health centers continue to be shining starts in the Community Health Center Movement for their demonstration of providing quality care to nearly 250,000 Iowans each year,” said Aaron Todd, Chief Executive Officer of the Iowa Primary Care Association. “During the last year, 11 of our 14 members made a significant shift to a new electronic health record (OCHIN Epic) while also navigating the Medicaid unwinding process. Even in the face of these challenges, our members continue to lead the nation while ensuring access to high quality, affordable healthcare services in under-resourced urban and rural communities all across our state.”

More from HRSA on the Community Health Quality Recognition Badges: https://data.hrsa.gov/topics/health-centers/chqr

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Iowa’s community health centers received the following recognition:

• Health Center Quality Leader (8 awardees): awarded to those achieving the best overall clinical quality measure (CQM) performance among all health centers. Health centers in the top 30% are recognized in the following tiers: Gold (top 10%), Silver (top 11-20$), and Bronze (top 21-30%).
  • Gold:
    • Community Health Care, Inc.
    • Community Health Center of Southeastern Iowa
    • Promise Community Health Center
    • Siouxland Community Health Center
  • Silver:
    • Peoples Community Health Clinic
    • River Hills Community Health Center
    • United Community Health Center
  • Bronze:
    • Crescent Community Health Center

• Advancing Health Information Technology for Quality (12 awardees): Recognizes health centers that meet all criteria to optimize HIT services. Health centers must meet the following five criteria: adopted an electronic health record (EHR) system, offers telehealth services, exchanges clinical information electronically with key providers health care settings, engages patients through health IT, and collects data on patient social risk factors.
  • Community Health Care
  • Community Health Center of Fort Dodge
  • Community Health Centers of Southeastern Iowa
  • Crescent Community Health Center
  • Eastern Iowa Health Center
  • Infinity Health
  • Peoples Community Health Clinic
  • Primary Health Care
  • Promise Community Health Center
  • River Hills Community Health Center
  • Siouxland Community Health Center
  • United Community Health Center

• Addressing Social Risk Factors (2 awardees): recognizes health centers that are screening for social risk factors impacting patient health and are increasing access to enabling services. Health centers must meet the following two criteria: collect data on patient social risk factors and increase the proportion of patients receiving enabling services between consecutive UDS reporting years.
  • Crescent Community Health Center
  • Siouxland Community Health Center

• Access Enhancer (1 awardees): recognizes health centers that have increased the total number of patients and the number of patients who receive at least one comprehensive service (mental health, substance abuse, vision, dental, and/or enabling) by at least 5% during the reporting period. Health centers must earn at least one Health Center Quality Leader or National Quality Leader badge and improve by at least 15% in one or more CQMs in back-to-back reporting years.
  • Community Health Care, Inc.

• Health Disparities Reducer (1 awardees): recognizes health centers that demonstrate at least a 10% improvement in the areas of low birth weight, hypertension, or uncontrolled diabetes for at least one racial/ethnic group in the reporting period and meet benchmarks for all racial/ethnic groups in the areas of low birth weight, hypertension, and uncontrolled diabetes.
  • Community Health Care, Inc.