Assessing the Capacity of Iowa’s Community Health Centers to Respond to the Opportunities and Challenges of the Affordable Care Act

To determine the current and future capacity of Iowa CHCs as the ACA is implemented. We conducted an online survey among executive directors of all 13 Iowa CHCs, asking about current capacity and demand for services, projected increases in capacity and demand, and organizational readiness for change...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of health care for the poor and underserved 2014-11, Vol.25 (4), p.2032-2043
Main Authors: Wright, Brad, Damiano, Peter C, Bentler, Suzanne E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Capacity Building
Community Health Centers - legislation & jurisprudence
Community Health Centers - manpower
Community Health Centers - organization & administration
Community Health Centers - statistics & numerical data
Community health services
Directors
Executives
Health care policy
Health policy
Hospitals
Humans
Insurance coverage
Iowa
Legislation
Medical personnel
Nurse practitioners
Nurses
Organizational Innovation
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - organization & administration
Patients
Physicians
Population
Referral and Consultation - organization & administration
Referral and Consultation - statistics & numerical data
Safety-net Providers - organization & administration
Safety-net Providers - statistics & numerical data
Surveys
Uninsured people
United States
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:To determine the current and future capacity of Iowa CHCs as the ACA is implemented. We conducted an online survey among executive directors of all 13 Iowa CHCs, asking about current capacity and demand for services, projected increases in capacity and demand, and organizational readiness for change. Our survey response rate was 84.6%. Respondents reported shortages of physicians (72.7%), nurse practitioners (64%) and registered nurses (64%), and most CHCs attempting to recruit physicians (80%) indicated difficulty doing so. All respondents anticipate that the ACA will increase their provider needs and nearly 73% of CHCs anticipate an increase in the size of their patient population. Only 50% of CHCs agree that they have the resources to respond to the ACA’s challenges. Community health centers are embracing the opportunities before them and are willing to meet the challenges, but resource constraints may limit their ability to do so.
ISSN:1049-2089
1548-6869
1548-6869
DOI:10.1353/hpu.2014.0175