Primary Care & Community Health

For community health centers (CHCs) to thrive in this new environment and contribute to a sustainable primary care safety net, there is a need to create actions and infrastructure through partnerships and collaborations. When done well, such collaborations can help CHCs fulfill their mission by supporting and supplementing primary care activities to leverage resources, improve health, and achieve the quintuple aim — better care, better health, lower costs, happier staff, and reduced health disparities.

Research continues to emphasize the importance of a strong primary care system and the crucial role CHCs play in improving community health. Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) are well regarded for their diverse workforce, language, and cultural competency -- helping to make mental health and SUD care more accessible for many underserved populations.

FQHCs have experimented with moving from a largely reactive, physician-centered model of care based on individual face-to-face office visits, to a more proactive, team-based approach based on addressing the health needs of a patient population. This move has resulted in substantive improvements in care, especially for people living with chronic illness. Care delivery transformation initiatives like Whole Person Care, the Chronic Care Model and Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) have helped to spread these innovative and effective changes. Recent studies of high-performing clinics are providing more granular insights into how high-quality, comprehensive primary care is created.

CPCA has been deeply involved in working across sectors to identify best practice models and resources that help overcome common barriers experienced within FQHCs. Our hope is to support the strengthening of relationships between FQHCs, the State, private and non-profit providers, and counties in order to improve care coordination, patient experience, and outcomes.

We have included the resources below to assist your organization in creating a more robust practice.

My Birth Matters!

The California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), CMQCC and Consumer Reports have partnered on a consumer education campaign called My Birth Matters. The campaign’s goal is to educate low-risk, first-birth mothers about the overuse of C-sections and to encourage meaningful conversations between patients and their care team.

CPCA played a role in the extensive vetting and research that went into developing this campaign, and we’re now asking for your support in getting it out to pregnant women throughout the state. The campaign includes four animated videos, a consumer-facing My Birth Matters webpage, and print materials. You can find everything, including the campaign’s research methodology and a communications toolkit, on the outreach page. All materials are available in English and Spanish at no cost.

The videos are now being displayed in waiting rooms, brochures are being included in prenatal packets, and posters are being displayed in exam rooms. To continue the momentum and movement, please consider sharing these videos with your relevant teams to be included in your child and maternal health education marketing and any additional patient-facing communication channels.

If you're ready to get started or are already using My Birth Matters, please send a brief update of what you’ve implemented or a request more information to Beccah Rothschild at the California Health Care Foundation.