Health Center Controlled Network - Established in 1989, the Community Health Center Association of Connecticut (CHC/ACT) – Connecticut’s Primary Care Association – has had an integrated Health Center Controlled Network (HCCN) program since 2012. The HCCN currently comprises 13 participating health centers (PHCs) – 12 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and one look-alike. For HRSA’s 2025-2028 program cycle, the HCCN will expand across state lines to add seven health centers from Rhode Island, for a total of 20 PHCs. Collectively, these health centers serve 419,000 patients across 288 delivery sites. This strategic expansion reflects a natural alignment: both states share similar healthcare landscapes, including emerging Health Information Exchanges (HIEs), comparable payer mixes, and similar patient demographics. Need: PHCs struggle with resources and technical capabilities to extract clinical and operational data from their electronic health record systems for analytics, visualization, and planning. Technical assistance will focus on improved data strategies and management; enhanced cybersecurity posture, including the understanding of benefits/risks of artificial intelligence (AI) tools; and better data sharing across multiple systems. With HCCN support, health centers will benefit from collaborations, expertise, and shared learning to reduce provider burden, enhance health center sustainability, and improve health outcomes. Proposed Services: The HCCN will provide services in five objective areas. Services will include tailored support to integrate data analytics and visualization tools, equipping health centers with powerful decision-making support. Support for interoperability will ensure broader connections to integrate/share patient data with external clinical and non-clinical sources. The HCCN will assist health centers in their readiness for HRSA-required UDS+ submissions, focusing on efficient coding and hygienic data practices. Elective objective services chosen by the PHCs will enhance health centers' cybersecurity posture and will support new AI implications and integrations. Target population: The HCCN program will support 20 PHCs in Connecticut and Rhode Island, primarily serving areas with high concentrations of underserved populations. Across the PHCs, 89% of patients are at or below 200% federal poverty guidelines; 56% are Medicaid enrollees; 14% are uninsured; 66% are racial/ethnic minorities; and 13,436 are individuals experiencing homelessness. Outcomes: CHC/ACT’s expanded HCCN will enhance the capacity of the 20 participating health centers to deliver high-quality, data-driven care. Expected outcomes include improved data collection, extraction, analytics, and visualization capabilities to inform clinical, operational, and financial decision-making; enhanced interoperability for seamless data sharing across clinical and non-clinical systems; and strengthened cybersecurity measures, including the responsible adoption of AI tools. These efforts will reduce provider and administrative burden, streamline workflows, and support compliance with HRSA’s evolving UDS+ reporting requirements. Ultimately, these improvements will lead to improved health outcomes for health center patients and enhanced health center sustainability, while addressing the unique challenges faced by each health center.
