Study Highlights the Cost-Savings of Community Health Centers
Posted on Tuesday, January 10th, 2012 at 2:36 pm
The following article was posted on the NACHC website Monday, January 9. Contact: Amy Simmons/Micah Clemens
A study published in the January-March Issue of The Journal of Ambulatory Care Management finds that patients who receive a majority of their ambulatory care at Community Health Centers have significantly lower health care costs than other patients. The study by the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative assessed the potential cost savings associated with health centers based on econometric analyses of the 2006 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.
Highlights of the study’s findings include:
- Patients who used health centers for the majority of their care incurred $3500 in total annual medical expenditures compared with $4594 for non health center users, for an annual estimated savings in 2006 of $1093.
- Health centers were associated with annual savings of $402 in ambulatory costs (25% less), and $29 in emergency costs (18% less), and $218 for (or 18 percent less) for hospital in patient expenditures.
These results are consistent with other independent studies indicating that by providing good quality primary care, Community Health Centers can reduce the utilization of other medical services. The report goes on to say:
“CHCs can provide good-quality primary care that low-income patients in medically underserved areas might not otherwise obtain, helping to reduce the demand for subsequent specialty and emergency and inpatient medical care. Not only does this demonstrate the utility of CHCs, but it also provides further support of the utility of improved primary care as a cost-saving approach to health care delivery.”
An abstract of the report can be found by visiting this link (the full text must be purchased). You can also read more studies about the cost-effectiveness of health centers by visiting this link on the NACHC research page.
National Association of Community Health Centers
http://www.nachc.com
7200 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 210
Bethesda, MD 20814
Phone: 301.347.0400
