title: Comparison of nurse managed health centers with federally qualified health centers as safety net providers.
abstract: Nurse Managed Health Centers (NMHCs) provide a critical safety net function in their communities, yet they often remain invisible and challenged in terms of financial sustainability. This paper presents a comparison of demographics and financial status of NMHCs and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs). The comparison is based on four years of annual NMHC national survey data that includes 42 NMHCs overall and the 2008 FQHC data in the Uniform Data System. Findings indicate that NMHCs and FQHCs serve very similar diverse populations yet funding and revenue differences were significant. NMHCs tend to rely more on grants and donations from the private sector as well as contracts while FQHCs have access to considerable federal support that is cost based when serving the underserved. In addition, NMHCs are challenged by the array of state, federal and third party insurers' regulations that often disadvantage nurse practitioners as primary care providers.
authors: The University of Michigan School of Nursing, Ann Arbor, USA. jpohl@umich.edu
authors: Joanne M
authors: JM
authors: Pohl
authors: Clare
authors: C
authors: Tanner
authors: Bonnie
authors: B
authors: Pilon
authors: Ramona
authors: R
authors: Benkert
mesh_terms: D003151:Community Health Centers / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D005380:Financing, Government; D006801:Humans; D009718:Nurse Administrators; D009722:Nurse Practitioners; D058991:Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; D014481:United States