The nation’s nearly 1,200 community health centers provide care to more than 20 million people, mostly poor and many of them uninsured. The federal government has recently begun measuring the quality of care at the centers to determine whether patients are getting appropriate care. The 2010 data below are the most recent information available looking at the health centers’ clinical performance.

Main Story: Community Health Centers Under Pressure to Improve Care

The chart below includes data for six quality measures. The National Average data in the chart refer to the care provided to the entire U.S. population. Not all community health centers provide all services:

• Diabetes Control: The percentage of adults, age 18 to 75, with diabetes who have their blood sugar under control, defined as a HbA1c under 9 percent.
• Timely Prenatal Care: The percentage of pregnant women receiving prenatal care in the first trimester.
• Hypertension Control: The percentage of adults, age 18 to 85, with hypertension who have their blood pressure under control, defined as under 140/90.
• Low Birth Weight: The percentage of babies born with birth weight below 2,500 grams.
• Childhood Immunization: The percentage of children who receive all seven federally recommended vaccines by 2 years of age.
• Cervical Cancer Screening: The percentage of women, age 24 to 64, with at least one Pap test in the prior three years.

*Low Birth Weight is the only measure for which a lower number is better.

Source: U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration

Methodology: How This Story Was Reported

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