Oral

Health centers succeed in reducing racial/ethnic disparities in the care and services provided to their patients. For all health center patients, including migrant and seasonal farmworkers, patients seen at health centers reported comparable or better accessibility to primary care compared to U.S. national healthcare users. Moreover, unlike other healthcare settings where significant disparities existed in primary care quality among patients with different racial/ethnic and insurance groups, no racial/ethnic and limited insurance-related disparities were noted among health center patients. In general, racial/ethnic disparities are not evident in screening for cervical, breast and colorectal cancer. For patients with hypertension, selected follow-up care (receipt of and compliance with counseling on diet, exercise, salt intake, and alcohol; hypertension self-management training by a nurse) do not exhibit any disparities. Insurance related disparities are noted for cancer screening, suggesting that greater expansion of coverage may lead to improved screening rates. These and other findings from the 2009 Health Center Patient Survey are of considerable interest to all primary care providers that serve safety net patients.

Session Objectives: 1. Describe the role of federally-funded health centers in providing primary care to the nation’s vulnerable populations. 2. Identify the sociodemographic factors that are associated with access to care among health center patients. 3. Describe the role of insurance coverage on access to care among migrant and seasonal farmworkers in health centers. 4. Identify factors associated with hypertension-related emergency department use or hospitalization among health center patients. 5. Identify health behaviors that impact cancer screening.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH) , Masters Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES)