Federally qualified health centers reduce the primary care provider gap in health professional shortage counties.

BACKGROUND

Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) were designed to provide care in medically underserved areas. Substantial and sustained federal funding has accelerated FQHC growth.

PURPOSE

To examine temporal trends in primary care provider supply and whether FQHCs have been successful in reducing the gap in provider supply in primary care health professional shortage areas (HPSAs).

METHODS

Retrospective cohort study design using national county-level data from 2009 to 2013. Primary care providers included physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants.

FINDINGS

Partial-county HPSAs had the highest average provider supply and the greatest increase, followed by non-HPSA counties and whole-county HPSAs. The provider gap was larger in whole-county HPSAs compared with partial-county HPSAs. Counties with one or more FQHC sites had a smaller provider gap than those without FQHC sites. An increase of one FQHC site was statistically significantly associated with a reduction in the annual provider gap.

DISCUSSION

FQHCs reduced the gap in primary care provider supply in shortage counties and mitigated uneven distribution of the primary care workforce.