Role of community health outreach program "living for health" in improving access to federally qualified health centers in Miami-dade county, Florida: a cross-sectional study.
BACKGROUND
Care of the underserved remains one of the most compelling challenges to American healthcare. Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) address uninsurance and underinsurance by providing primary and preventive care to vulnerable populations with fees charged based on ability to pay. Our goal is to study the effectiveness of FQHCs system in engaging patients and the barriers to utilization, which have not been well defined.


METHODS
Retrospective analysis was performed on data from "Living for Health" (L4H) program participants from 2008 to 2012. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed to determine factors associated with FQHC utilization.


RESULTS
Among 9453 subjects screened, 1889 were referred to a FQHC, but only 201(11%) actually sought treatment. Public insurance, non-Hispanic ethnicity, and hypertension were associated with higher rates of FQHC utilization. Inability to afford costs, cultural factors and inflexible appointment times were the most common reasons for FQHC underutilization.


CONCLUSIONS
The current status of FQHC utilization is sub-optimal. Community outreach programs like L4H can improve the access and utilization of FQHCs.
Cardiac Sciences Department, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. almufleh.aws@gmail.com.|Internal Medicine Department, McGill University, 687 Pine Avenue West, Montreal, QC, Canada. almufleh.aws@gmail.com.
Aws
A
Almufleh
Education and Prevention Department, Florida Heart Research Institute, Miami, FL, USA. tori@floridaheart.org.
Tori
T
Gabriel
Data Management Department, Florida Heart Research Institute, Miami, FL, USA. laurat@floridaheart.org.
Laura
L
Tokayer
Comerford Associates, Miami, FL, USA. mcomer2424@yahoo.com.
Mary
M
Comerford
Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Surgery, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. ahmedalaqeel@hotmail.com.|Department of Neurosurgery, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. ahmedalaqeel@hotmail.com.
Ahmed
A
Alaqeel
Research Department, Florida Heart Research Institute, Miami, FL, USA. doctorwu18@aol.com.
Paul
P
Kurlansky
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D003151:Community Health Centers; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D017057:Medically Uninsured; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D035862:Vulnerable Populations; D055815:Young Adult