title: Community health center-led networks: cooperating to compete.
abstract: The primary mission of community health centers (CHCs) is to provide primary and preventive healthcare for the underserved and vulnerable populations, including the uninsured, underinsured, and Medicaid beneficiaries. Economic and regulatory challenges have placed these safety net providers in a precarious position, forcing some to respond using cooperative strategies. This article focuses on seven CHC-led networks, delineating their integrative efforts in the core areas of managed care, clinical, administrative, information, and finance. Interviews with key representatives from each network highlight the networks' accomplishments and the critical success factors and outcomes of their integrative efforts. Several underlying themes emerged from this study that are consistent with findings of previous studies conducted in other organizational settings. Specifically participants in CHC-led networks cite the following factors as contributors to success: reciprocity, communication, trust, and long-standing relationships among key individuals. This is the first study to provide a rich depiction of CHC network activities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy Administration, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA. dcb190@psu.edu
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Baxter
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Levin
authors.forename: Marie M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Legaspi
authors.forename: Barbara E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: Christie L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000573:American Hospital Association; D003151:Community Health Centers / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019058:Community Networks / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005376:Financial Management; D006801:Humans; D007256:Information Systems; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000458:organization & administration; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D009935:Organizational Affiliation; D018511:Systems Integration; D017749:Total Quality Management; D014481:United States; D035862:Vulnerable Populations