title: Building a research agenda for community health centers and the medically underserved: meeting proceedings.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Community, migrant, and homeless health centers (CHCs) are an integral component of the nation's safety net with a proven record of success in access, quality, and cost effectiveness. Still, as CHCs face rising numbers of vulnerable patients and shrinking resources, they must continue to improve quality of care to further narrow health disparities, as well as demonstrate their cost effectiveness and value to policymakers.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  CHCs, researchers, national partners, and others met in December 2005 to produce a consensus-driven research agenda that lays out research priorities for CHCs and the medically underserved. This article details the meeting process and resulting research agenda.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The meeting focused on three domains that touch on community need: health information technology (HIT), quality improvement, and cost effectiveness and value. Community representatives helped to drive research priorities.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CHCs must continually demonstrate their efficiency and effectiveness. Accordingly, the research agenda must be continually revisited through a collaborative process.
authors.affiliation: National Association of Community Health Centers, USA.
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Proser
authors.forename: Kaytura Felix
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Aaron
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Meyers
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cornell
mesh_terms: D003151:Community Health Centers; D055812:Community-Based Participatory Research; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000191:economics*; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons; D006801:Humans; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D014171:Transients and Migrants; D057170:Translational Research, Biomedical