AMERICA'S HEALTH CENTERS
America's Health Centers are private, not-for-profit, consumer-directed health care corporations that provide high quality, cost-effective and comprehensive primary and preventive care to medically underserved and uninsured people. This nationwide network of safety net providers is primarily comprised of health centers which are supported by federal grants under
the U.S. Public Health Service Act:

• Community Health Centers
• Migrant Health Centers
• Health Care for the Homeless Programs
• Public Housing Primary Care Programs

  These community-based providers are also commonly referred to as Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) because they meet rigorous federal standards related to quality of care and services, as well as, cost and they are qualified to receive cost-based reimbursement under Medicaid and Medicare law.

Health Centers are community-based and governed by consumer boards that ensure accountability to their local communities and taxpayers. At least 51 percent of the health center's board must be comprised of patients who utilize the health center's services.

TENNESSEE'S FEDERALLY FUNDED HEALTH CENTERS (click for listing)
Fifty-seven of Tennessee's 95 counties have a federally funded health center (FQHC) presence. We have a total of 24 QHCs with 104 sites. As often the sole provider of sliding fee scale services, Tennessee's FQHCs serve a disproportionate share of the uninsured and the disenfranchised, the individuals that no one else would serve. More than 211,500 Tennesseans are patients of federally funded community health centers of which over 73,000 are uninsured. On average, about 30% of the community health center patients are uninsured with the number of uninsured as high as 75% for some centers.

Community Health Centers participate in Health Disparities Collaborative, a national effort to improve health outcomes for all medically underserved people with chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and asthma. Community Health Centers are eligible for the federal 340B Drug Pricing Program which provides significant savings on pharmaceuticals for their patients.

Behavioral health services as health centers increase the cost effectiveness of care by managing psychosocial aspects of medical conditions, by providing alternative interventions to psychotropic medications and by preventing reliance on the costly psecialty mental health system.

Health Center Medicaid patients are 19% less likely to use the ER and 11% less likely to be hospitalized for potentially avoidable conditions than those with a usual source of care who received care elsewhere.

The Institute of Medicine and the General Accounting Office cites health centers as models for screening, diagnosing, and managing chronic illness and have recognized the success of health centers in removing barriers to care. The federal Office of Management and Budget recently cited the health center program as one of the 10 most successful federal programs.

TENNESSEE PRIMARY CARE ASSOCIATION MEMBERS (click for map)
While our membership includes the 24 federally funded health centers in Tennessee, other TPCA members include primary health care clinics throughout the state that serve the underserved regardless of their ability to pay, as well as other organizations and individuals who support our mission. These members include 34 non-profit primary care clinics across the state operating 154 sites that provide quality primary medical care to thousands of people across Tennessee.