Health Center
Data Insights
Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative                                                              June 2018

Changes in Health Center                                                  Peter Shin, PhD, MPH
                                                                       Jessica Sharac, MSc, MPH
Patients Served,
                                                                          Rachel Gunsalus, MPH
2010-2016
                                                                           Sara Rosenbaum, JD
                                     Between 2010 and 2016, community health centers experienced major
                                     patient growth. The accompanying table and figures present this growth data
                                     for the nation as well as individual states. The source of these data is the
                                     Uniform Data System, a nationwide annual reporting system in which all
                                     community health centers participate. These data show that over a six-year
                                     time span, health centers nationwide experienced a one-third (33%) patient
                                     growth. Within this overall figure, state-by-state growth varied significantly in
                                     terms of both overall percentage growth rates and the number of patients
                                     served.

                                     As the following table and figures show, whether measured by growth in
                                     patient numbers or as a percentage increase in patients served, the health
                                     center patient surge was evident across the country. Both the Affordable Care
                                     Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion and non-expansion states were among those
                                     whose health centers experienced highest patient growth, whether measured
                                     in terms of the number of patients served or percentage of patient growth.
                                     This suggests that although adoption of the ACA Medicaid expansion has
                                     been shown to be a significant factor associated with health center growth, 1
                                     non-Medicaid expansion states such as Texas and Florida also have
                                     experienced a major surge. The fact that this surge reached all states
                                     underscores the role played by the Affordable Care Act’s health center fund,
                                     which was most recently extended by Congress in the Balanced Budget Act of
                                     2018.

                                     Dr. Feygele Jacobs, president and CEO of the RCHN Community Health
                                     Foundation, whose ongoing gift supports the Geiger Gibson/RCHN
                                     Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative, said, “These
                                     impressive growth figures not only show the importance of health centers to
                                     the medically underserved communities they serve but also underscore the
                                     essential role played by the Affordable Care Act, both for its Medicaid
                                     expansion and for its health center fund.”
                                     1
                                      Han, X., Luo, Q., and Ku, L. (2017) Medicaid Expansion and Grant Funding Increases Helped Improve Com-
                                     munity Health Center Capacity. Health Affairs 36(1). Retrieved at https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/
                                     hlthaff.2016.0929
Health Center Data Insights:
Change in Health Center Patients Served 2010-2016                                                      June 2018
Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative


 Change in the Number of Health Center Patients, by State (2010-2016)




                                                                                     Median for the 50 States and DC:
                                                                                             60,078 Patients




                                                      <50,000 (24 States)
                                                      50,000 to <100,000 (8 States and DC)
                                                      100,000 to <200,000 (11 States)
                                                      200,000+ (7 States)




Change in the Percentage of Health Center Patients, by State (2010-2016)


        Medicaid Expansion State
        Non-Medicaid Expansion State
Change in the Number of Community Health Center Patients from 2010-2016, by State
(Non-Expansion states are indicated with dark shading)
                                                                                                         Percentage Change in the
                                                                               Change in the Number of     Number of Patients,
           State                2010 Total Patients      2016 Total Patients     Patients, 2010-2016            2010-2016