Capital Link's Blog

LCCHC Asks House and Senate to Extend Community Health Center Fund

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 11 Sep 2019 19:31:00 +0000

With The Community Health Center Fund set to expire September 30, 2019, the Lenders Coalition for Community Health Centers (LCCHC) has been working to support its extension. There are currently proposals in both chambers to extend the program for multiple years.

The LCCHC steering committee has crafted a letter (link below) recommending a four-year extension of the Community Health Center Fund, highlighting the lender’s perspective. This letter has been delivered to the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senators Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell, and Representative Kevin McCarthy, as the majority and minority leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Read the full letter here.

New Report Examines the Financial and Operational Trends of California Health Centers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Apr 2019 13:46:00 +0000

Capital Link announces the release of an updated statewide financial and operational profile of California Federally Qualified Health Centers, sponsored by the California Health Care Foundation. This resource presents multi-year trends, offering a framework for identifying the financial strengths, challenges, and benchmarks that support opportunities for performance improvement.

Covering the five-year period of 2013 to 2017, this analysis focuses on the following trends for California Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and FQHC Look-Alikes (LALs):

· Patient and visit growth and expansion of service delivery and capacity

· Payer mix changes over the review period

· Financial performance as shown by revenue growth and operating margins

· Financial health as measured by liquidity and revenue collections

· Annual patient utilization and practice mix

· Productivity metrics and quality of care indicators

Click here for a free download of California Federally Qualified Health Centers: Financial & Operational Performance Analysis, 2013-2017.

Over our long history of working with health centers, Capital Link has amassed a database of financial and operational information to develop field-building resources on the factors affecting health center performance, impact, and growth. For more information, visit www.caplink.org.

New Report Highlights Financial and Workforce Characteristics of High-Performing Health Centers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 16:56:00 +0000

The nation’s highest performing health centers can be classified as having strong clinical quality as well as financial health, but are there lessons to be learned about their workforce models? Capital Link and the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (ACU) explored this question in a study examining the workforce and financial characteristics of high-performing health centers to begin to understand the success factors among a variety of staffing models for potential replication.

Developed with support from the Health Resources and Services Administration, Identifying Workforce and Financial Characteristics of High-Performing Health Centers is a report of findings comparing financial and workforce metrics of High Performers against Non-High Performers and median results of Federally Qualified Health Centers nationally to identify effective models for potential replication and areas for further research.

The report highlights the following findings:

High-performing health centers demonstrated operating margins approximately three times higher than national and non-high performing health centers
High Performers had nearly three times the cash reserves of Non-High Performers and national health centers, at the median
Provider mix at the high-performing health centers was comprised of approximately 60% physicians and 40% non-physicians
A 2 to 1 ratio of primary care support staff to providers for High Performers was higher than peer groups, a finding that supports research on effective team models
The average tenure for CEOs for High Performers was over 10 years, approximately 60% higher than both peer groups

Further analysis on the influence of workforce models on financial and operational performance would provide additional insight on replicable models. To learn more about the findings, access this new resource here.

Updated Report Highlights Financial and Operational Trends of Community Health Centers from 2013-2016

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 19 Oct 2018 19:48:00 +0000

Community health centers across the United States saw an expansion of service sites and patient visits from 2013 to 2016. Due to an increase in the insured patient population, health centers were more fully compensated, and therefore, able to improve their financial position to support this growth.

Capital Link’s newly release report, FederallyQualified Health Centers Financial and Operational Performance Analysis,2013-2016, provides an aggregate profile of financial and operation trends of community health centers, nationally. The report identifies strengths, challenges, and opportunities for performance improvement within these functions, which health centers can then use to develop a framework to review their individual practices and support change.

The report uncovered interesting findings, including statistics related to growth and expansion, productivity and utilization, financial measures, and quality of care. Most notably:

· There was significant growth in both patients and visits over the four-year review period. Health centers were busy in 2016, providing services to nearly 26 million patients and conducting over 104 million visits. This was a major increase from 21 million patients and 85 million visits in 2013.

· There was a substantial shift in insurance coverage over the review period. Uninsured patient rates dropped from 34% of patients in 2013 to 21% in 2016, while Medicaid coverage increased, from 34% of patients in 2013 to nearly 45% in 2016.

· Patient growth and an improved payer mix were partially responsible for a 47% increase in revenue from 2013-2016, with health centers bringing in $24 billion nationwide in 2016.

· Productivity declined across several functions over the four-year period, likely due to changes in care models and clinical practices. Physician visits and mental health visits per provider experienced the largest declines at -7% and -6%, respectively.

· Health centers experienced a 18% increase in cost of care for both patients and visits. Averaging approximately 6% per year, it was slightly higher than the rate of increase in physician and clinical expenditures.

· An overall look at health center financial stability from 2013-2016 found that 75% of health centers operated in a steady environment, while 25% operate under fragile financial conditions.

The analysis also looked at health center quartiles to examine strategies of high performers for replication, and areas of improvements for low-performers. The report was developed with support from the Health Resources and Services Administration.

To access this new resource, please click here.

PACE at Community Health Centers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 18 Oct 2018 18:18:00 +0000

Capital Link is proud to be participating in the PACE at Community Health Centers program, which is funded by The Retirement Research Foundation, along with our partners National PACE Association, National Association of Community Health Centers, and Galway Group.

The Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) is a national program that provides a comprehensive package of services to help enable elders to successfully remain in their homes. There are approximately 120 PACE programs across the nation, and only six are run by community health centers.

Read more about the PACE at Community Health Centers program here on NACHC’s blog.

Examining Cost of Care at Health Centers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 20 Sep 2018 16:10:00 +0000

In the current health care environment where health centers seek to negotiate adequate reimbursement from payers and become as cost-efficient as possible, accurately tracking, comparing, and allocating costs across all service lines is critical. Yet as health centers evolve to provide a broader range of services beyond just medical, these tasks have become more complex.

Capital Link announces the release of two new cost of care resources: Cost of Care Trends for Community Health Centers 2012-2016 and Cost Per Visit – Measuring Health Center Performance. Together, these complementary resources support the ongoing focus on tracking and understanding costs in order to provide a strong foundation for current and future financial and clinical operations at health centers.

Cost of Care Trends for Community Health Centers 2012-2016 provides median health center cost trends for all services using national data from Uniform Data System (UDS) from 2012 to 2016, providing general comparative data for benchmarking. The report further breaks down the data by separately analyzing direct staff and related costs, and the allocation of facility and non-clinical support costs (overhead) for each service. Results of the analysis show that health center costs have been increasing across all service lines at a relatively rapid pace. However, there is one area where cost increases have risen at a more modest rate: cost per-full time equivalent employee (FTE). This implies that health centers have been broadening the services offered to patients without increasing the cost per-FTE. Download the full report here.

Developed by Capital Link and the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) as an update to NACHC’s original 2003 publication, Cost Per Visit – Measuring Health Center Performance, reviews in detail the process and methodology for calculating the component costs of care with a focus on cost per visit across all service lines — medical, dental, mental health (including substance abuse), and vision services. It also examines methods for reducing health center costs through population health management, global payment methodologies, and tying reimbursements to outcomes. Download the Issue Brief here.

For more information on this topic, attend Capital Link’s upcoming webinar, Managing Your Health Center's Cost of Care on Wednesday, September 26, 2018 2-3 p.m. ET. Click here to learn more and register.

Capital Link will soon be launching two new reports that can be customized using individual health center cost of care data: Cost Comparison Profile and Cost Comparison Snapshot. Details and ordering information will be released in the next month, so keep an eye out.

New Report Measures Health Center Reporting of Social Determinants of Health Interventions

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 15 May 2018 14:52:00 +0000

While increasing access to health care and transforming the health care delivery system are important, there has been growing interest in the impact of social, economic, and environmental factors to health and well-being. Community health centers have long served both the clinical and non-clinical needs of their patients and collaborated with community and social support services. A natural extension of this commitment is to track their patients’ social determinants of health requirements, such as The Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patients’ Assets, Risks, and Experiences (PRAPARE), in order to begin to inform care plans and connect patients to community and social services.

As health centers begin to offer non-health related services to address the social determinants of health (SDOH), they should also collect data on (1) what services are being offered; (2) the scope and reach of these services; and (3) which SDOH interventions hold the most promise for improving health outcomes. A new baseline analysis by Capital Link, sponsored by Blue Shield of California Foundation, provides a start to measuring health center efforts to impact the non-clinical dimensions of the SDOH.

The analysis documents SDOH interventions offered by health centers as reported to the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Uniform Data System (UDS) during 2015 and 2016, the most recent data available, in California and nationwide. SDOH interventions seek to link patients with programs that provide social and economic opportunities that promote good health but are not part of the listed medical, dental, behavioral, and other health services. They are distinct from clinically-focused enabling services which facilitate access to care, and include services such as: Women, Infant and Children (WIC) programs, job training, head start programs, shelters, housing programs, child care, frail elderly support, adult day health care programs, fitness programs, and public/retail pharmacies. Prior to this review, no substantive research had been conducted on these services, although multiple studies have been undertaken on clinically-focused enabling services.

Click here for a free download of Tracking Social Determinants of Health Interventions: Health Center Reporting of Non-Health Related Services in the Uniform Data System

Over our long history of working with health centers, Capital Link has amassed a database of financial and operational information to develop field-building resources on the factors affecting health center performance, impact, and growth. For more information, visit www.caplink.org.

New Report Examines the Financial and Operational Trends of California Health Centers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 15 May 2018 14:51:00 +0000

Capital Link announces the release of an updated statewide financial and operational profile of California health centers. This resource, sponsored by Blue Shield of California Foundation, presents multi-year trends as well as comparative data for health centers nationally, offering a framework for identifying the financial strengths, challenges, and benchmarks that support opportunities for performance improvement.

Covering the four-year period of 2013 to 2016, this analysis focuses on the following trends for California Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and FQHC Look-Alikes (LALs):

Growth and expansion of the patient population and service provision
Financial performance as shown by revenue growth and operating margins
Financial health as measured by liquidity and revenue collections
Operational measures such as patient utilization and practice mix
Productivity metrics and quality of care indicators

Click here for a free download of California Community Health Centers: Financial & Operational Performance Analysis.

Over our long history of working with health centers, Capital Link has amassed a database of financial and operational information to develop field-building resources on the factors affecting health center performance, impact, and growth. For more information, visit www.caplink.org.

New Markets Tax Credit Program Allocation Awards Announced: Capital Fund Receives $40 Million

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 14:29:00 +0000

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund announced the awardees for the 2017 round of New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocations. The $3.5 billion in awards are aimed at revitalizing low-income communities and increasing economic opportunity nationwide. Community Health Center Capital Fund (Capital Fund), Capital Link’s lending affiliate, was awarded a $40 million NMTC allocation.

While NMTC financing is a critical source of low-cost capital and equity for health center facility projects—often securing approximately 20-22% of total project costs—obtaining tax credits is a competitive and complex process. Interested health centers must demonstrate a high level of project readiness and be able to communicate the merits of their projects to Community Development Entities (CDEs) with allocation. Furthermore, the process of structuring and closing an NMTC transaction is complicated and the terms, benefits, and fees offered to borrowers vary widely.

Capital Link has extensive knowledge of the NMTC financing process and has strong connections with Capital Fund and other CDEs interested in working with health centers. Of the nearly $1 billion in financing obtained by health centers through the NMTC program, approximately 60% was raised with Capital Link and/or Capital Fund assistance. We’ve also assisted many health centers with combining NMTC financing with HRSA capital grants—an excellent option, especially for projects of $5 million or more.

For help in determining whether NMTC financing could be a good fit for your health center, please contact us here.

To learn more about the NMTC program and how it works, click here.

New Resource on Capital Project Planning

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 17:17:00 +0000

Federally Qualified Health Centers needing to build new facilities, renovate existing space, or purchase new equipment quickly discover that capital development is a complex endeavor. The capital development process requires careful planning and clear objectives, as it can take years from project conception to completion. Without proper planning, health centers can experience unexpected pitfalls, financial destabilization, or lack of interest to get the project off the ground. Capital projects become more manageable when a methodical process is followed.

Capital Link’s newly released publication, Steps to Success: A Toolkit for Community Health Centers Navigating a Capital Development Venture, provides community health centers with a broad overview of the capital development process. This resource highlights eight fundamental planning activities that create a foundation for smoother completion, eliminating most of the guesswork, and allowing health centers to understand opportunities and risks. Each action step provides guidance and related resources to help successfully direct a health center capital project and keep it on track. Steps include: developing a strategic plan, analyzing financial strength, achieving operational and clinical excellence, defining market opportunity, developing a comprehensive business plan, creating strong leadership team with project planning expertise, identifying capital sources, and benchmarking objectives for continuous improvement.

New Report Highlights Financial and Operational Trends of Health Centers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 18:52:00 +0000

The four-year period of 2012-2015 was a time of high growth for community health centers across the United States. The implementation of the Affordable Care Act resulted in the expansion of Medicaid and increased patient demand, but also a need for health centers to effectively manage their operations by better understanding their financial and operational performance.

Capital Link’s newly released report, Federally Qualified Health Centers Financial and Operational Performance Analysis, 2012-2015, highlights multi-year financial and operational trends of community health centers on a national basis. The analysis provides a framework for identifying the financial strengths, challenges, and opportunities for performance improvement.

The report uncovered interesting findings across several financial and operational functions, including statistics related to growth and expansion, productivity and utilization, and financial measures. Most notably:

· There was significant growth in both patients and visits over the four-year review period. Health centers were busy in 2015, providing services to over 24 million patients and conducting nearly 97 million visits. This was a major increase from 21 million patients and 84 million visits in 2012.

· There was a substantial shift in insurance coverage over the review period. Uninsured patient rates dropped from 36% of patients in 2012 to 24% in 2015, while Medicaid coverage increased, from 39% of patients in 2012 to nearly 49% in 2015.

· Patient growth and an improved payer mix were partially responsible for a 40% increase in revenue from 2012-2015, with health centers bringing in $21 billion nationwide in 2015.

· Productivity declined across several functions over the four-year period, including medical visits, which decreased 12% by 2015. This decline was largely associated with health reform initiatives, including the implementation of medical records.

· Health centers experienced a 17% increase in cost of care for both patients and visits, exceeding the U.S. medical care inflation rate.

· An overall look at health center financial stability from 2012-2015 found that 75% of health centers operated in a steady environment, while 25% operate under fragile financial conditions.

To access this new resource, please click here.

Capital Link Resource Offers Guidance to Health Centers Recovering from Hurricane Damage

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 18 Sep 2017 19:10:00 +0000

Community health centers located in the wake of recent hurricanes may be in the process of assessing damage and making plans to rebuild. Determining where to start and how to finance repairs, replacements, or even relocation can be overwhelming, but health centers should be aware that they may be eligible for funding and assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Capital Link’s new resource, Hurricane Recovery Resources for Health Centers, provides guidance to health centers in need of disaster aid.

Capital Link’s resource has links to the necessary FEMA application documents, handbooks, and helpful websites, including updates from the state of Texas on public assistance process. It highlights, step by step, what to expect while working with FEMA, and what health centers can do to make the process easier. The document also reviews what FEMA may cover regarding cleanup, repairs, or replacement of facilities and equipment. Intended to help health centers through a difficult recovery process, the resource will be continuously updated as new information becomes available. As FEMA and the state of Florida assess damages and announce the disaster aid process, this document will be revised to reflect resources for health centers affected by Hurricane Irma, as well.

To access this new resource, please click here.

The Department of Health and Human Services has also issued draft guidance to help healthcare facilities with disaster planning and recovery. To learn more, please click here.

Communicating the Value+Impact of Health Centers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 21:09:00 +0000

For more than 50 years, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) have delivered comprehensive, high-quality preventive and primary health care services to patients regardless of their ability to pay. With revenues exceeding $21 billion in 2015, FQHCs constitute the largest network of primary care providers in the US and the second largest nonprofit health system, behind only Kaiser Foundation Hospitals. If FQHCs were listed on the Fortune 500, they collectively would rank #133, on a par with Staples and ahead of Whirlpool, Starbucks, Kraft Heinz and Facebook. However, as independently operated, locally-controlled nonprofit organizations, FQHCs focus on providing excellent care at the local level to their 24 million patients in the 9,800 urban and rural communities they serve.

The story of what health centers bring to their communities can be told along the following domains:

Employment and Economic Impacts, using economic modeling software
Savings to the Health Care System
Access to Care
Comprehensive Coordinated Care
Preventive Care and Chronic Disease Management

Health centers are facing the prospect of a changing financial landscape. Now more than ever, there is a need to demonstrate the value health centers have on the communities they serve and communicate this impact. To illustrate the value and impact of health centers nationally, Capital Link has created the Value + Impact of Health Centers, an updated version of our Economic Impact Analysis. Click on the image below to view a sample of the infographic and supporting data report.

Capital Link’s customized Value + Impact of Health Centers is available for $2,000, discounted from $2,500. Order by March 17th for use at the NACHC Policy & Issues Forum.

To assist PCAs in advocacy efforts, we are also offering customized statewide and congressional district Value + Impact of Health Centers infographics and supporting data reports. Click here to view a sample of a statewide report. Interested PCAs should contact Steve Rubman, Director of Data & Information Systems, at srubman@caplink.org or 617-422-0350 for more information.

What Can Health Centers Do to Be Resilient During Uncertain Times?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Jan 2017 18:26:00 +0000

The health care landscape is evolving and changing, but patients will still need access to care and health centers will need to serve them. It is particularly important now for health centers to operate efficiently and effectively in order to weather whatever lies ahead. Capital Link has created a library of resources and tools to assist health centers in planning, whether the goal is growth, stabilization, or sustainability. Below are some strategies to consider and a collection of related resources available to health centers and PCAs.

Assess Your Financial and Operational Strength. The best way to prepare for tomorrow is to understand where you stand today by tracking performance and benchmarking results against peers and targets.

Related Resources, Services, and Programs:

Performance Benchmarking Toolkit for Health Centers (toolkit)
Hallmarks of High Performance: Exploring the Relationship between Clinical, Financial and Operational Excellence at America's Health Centers (publication)
High-Performance Community Health Centers: Learning, Measuring, and Achieving (publication)
Performance Evaluation Profiles (service)
Financial Trends Snapshot (service)
Advancing Financial Strength (program)
High-Performance Community Healthcare: How to Measure It and How To Achieve It (webinar)

Understand Your Market. Health centers should have an understanding of their communities and the unmet needs in order to identify opportunities for growth and better programs of care.

Related Resources and Services:

Market Assessment for Service Expansion Rooted in the Community (upcoming webinar)
Market Assessment and Payer Mix Modeling in an Era of Health Reform (webinar)
Market Assessment and Patient Revenue Modeling (webinar)
NACHC State Level Data and Maps (various online resources)
Market Assessment Process (service)
Community Asset Mapping (service)
NACHC’s Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patients’ Assets, Risks, and Experiences, or PRAPARE (toolkit)

Develop a Strategic Business Plan. The health centers most prepared to respond to changing conditions have developed a dynamic strategic plan that they use actively.

Related Resources and Services:

Develop Your Leadership and Workforce. For the insight and agility to react to change, health centers need to have a strong board and staff. They also need to have the ability to support team-based care, recruit and retain providers, and establish project teams for expansion plans.

Related Resources and Services:

Engaging Staff and Community in Defining Your Capital Project (publication)
Planning for Growth: Health Center Board and Staff Training (webinar)
An Introduction to Managing with Metrics (webinar)
NACHC’s Staffing the Safety Net: Building the Primary Care Workforce at America’s Health Centers (report)
NACHC’s Workforce Snapshot (fact sheet)
Creating a Healthcare Facility that Supports the Patient-Centered Medical Home (publication)
Creating a Place for Care: Fostering Alignment and Eliminating Barriers in the Patient-Centered Medical Home (publication)
Developing an Organizational Culture that Sustains the Patient-Centered Medical Home: Lessons Learned (publication)
Solutions, Training, and Assistance for Recruitment and Retention (STAR²) Center, project of the Association of Clinicians for the Underserved (resources and training)

Assess Your Capital Needs and Funding Sources. Understand your need for facilities and how to finance growth.

Related Resources and Services:

Capital Plans and Needs of Health Centers: A National Perspective (report)
Spotlight On Capital Resources series and Capital Project Financing resources (publications)
Adding Fund Development Capacity to Sustain Health Center Growth (publication)
Successful Health Center Project Stories (case studies)
Financing Health Center Projects with New Markets Tax Credits (webinar)
Accessing Capital from Community Development Financial Institutions (webinar)
HRSA’s Capital Development Grant Technical Assistance (online resource)

Communicate Your Value. Now more than ever, it is imperative that health centers document and demonstrate the valuable impact they have on the communities they serve on national, statewide, and local levels.

Related Resources and Services:

Value + Impact of Health Centers (report)
HRSA's Year in Review (infographic)

Four Capital Link Readiness Program Participants Awarded Healthy Futures Fund Planning Grants

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 18:59:00 +0000

Capital Link would like to congratulate Avenue Community Development Corporation with Legacy Community Health, Blackstone Valley Community Health Care, Esperanza Health Centers, and First Choice Community Healthcare for being awarded Healthy Futures Fund (HFF) planning grants provided by The Kresge Foundation and Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). The health centers were selected for their ability to demonstrate plans for innovative, groundbreaking capital projects (described in the box below) that involve unique collaborations with community partners to expand access to health care while also addressing at least one other critical community need, such as affordable housing, access to healthy food, job training, schools, elder care, and other community wellness projects.

Prior to receiving the grants, all four health centers participated in a free HFF Readiness Program, offered by Capital Link and sponsored by LISC and Kresge. Capital Link provided program participants, a group of 10 centers selected through a competitive application process, with technical assistance to advance their capital project plans and prepare for additional funding. A HFF partner, Capital Link developedthe Readiness Program based on our 18 years of planning and development experience in support of FQHCs nationwide.

A $200 million initiative formed by the LISC, Morgan Stanley, and Kresge, HFF utilizes New Markets Tax Credit and loan capital to improve community health by expanding healthcare access and addressing social determinants of health. Read more here.

New Markets Tax Credit Program Allocation Awards Announced

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 14:22:00 +0000

On November 17th, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund announced the awardees for the combined 2015-6 round of New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) allocations. The awards, which were increased to an historic high of over $7 billion, are aimed at revitalizing low-income communities and increasing economic opportunity nationwide. The 120 Community Development Entities (CDEs) that received these awards are actively seeking projects to finance. This is great news given that many CDEs are interested in providing financing for community health center expansion and renovation projects. For health centers needing additional funding for a project, NMTC could be the answer.

NMTC financing is a critical source of low-cost capital and equity for health center facility projects—often subsidizing project costs by 20% to 25%. In order for health centers to obtain credits with a CDE, they must demonstrate a high level of project readiness and be able to communicate the merits of their projects to CDEs with allocation. Furthermore, the process of structuring and closing an NMTC transaction is complicated and the terms, benefits, and fees offered to borrowers vary widely.

Capital Link has extensive knowledge of the NMTC financing process and strong connections with virtually every CDE interested in working with health centers. Capital Link can provide assistance with the complex process of completing a NMTC transaction. We’ve also helped many health centers with combining NMTC financing with HRSA capital grants—an excellent option, especially for projects of $5 million or more. Our lending affiliate, Community Health Center Capital Fund, can provide leverage loans to complete the NMTC financing package, as needed.

Of the nearly $1 billion in financing obtained by health centers through the NMTC program, approximately 60% was raised with Capital Link and/or Capital Fund assistance.

For help in determining whether NMTC financing could be a good fit for your health center, please contact us here.

To learn more about the NMTC program and how it works, click here to access Capital Link’s three NMTC publications and here to access a recording of the recent webinar, Financing Health Center Projects with New Markets Tax Credits.

New Resource on New Markets Tax Credit Program Extension

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 14:59:00 +0000

Until recently, the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Program was one of several tax credit programs that required annual approval and appropriation through the federal budget process. In December 2015, the situation changed when Congress approved the program for five more years (2015-2019) at an annual appropriation of $3.5 billion. While the program is still not permanent, this extension provides a welcome degree of certainty to the industry. Health centers with capital project plans will have the time to find and secure a site in a qualifying census tract and, if necessary, conduct a multi-year capital campaign with reasonable confidence that the credits will be available when it is ready to begin building.

Our latest resource publication, Spotlight on Capital Resources: New Markets Tax Credit Program Extension, is designed to help health centers better understand the extension and its implications. The third in a series of NMTC Program resources published by Capital Link, this resource also describes the steps necessary for preparing to utilize NMTCs for your capital project (including a discussion on new constraints on the use of the “one-day loan” structure) and the feasibility of using a “developer fee” in the transaction to increase investment in your project.

To access this new resource, please click here.

To help health centers take advantage of this opportunity, we will also be hosting a webinar, Financing Health Center Projects with New Markets Tax Credits, on Thursday, October 13, 2016, from 2-3 pm ET. This work session will acquaint participants with the benefits provided by using NMTC, how to obtain them, and how to structure and close transactions. We will discuss some near-term opportunities arising from the historically large 2015-2016 allocation round. Register by clicking here.

Using Predictive Analytics to Drive Health Center Decision-Making

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 01 Aug 2016 18:50:00 +0000

Using data and technology, organizations can now move beyond simply tracking the past to anticipate the future through the use of predictive analytics, technology that learns from experience [data] to predict the future behavior of individuals in order to drive better decisions. Predictive analytics is now becoming more applicable to health care, and will eventually become essential for health centers to improve patient care, reduce costs, and negotiate favorable contracts with payers.

Health centers can utilize predictive analytics in a multitude of ways, furthering its consideration and implementation of patient engagement, patient compliance, chronic disease management, regulatory compliance, avoidable deaths, hospital readmissions, public health, waste and abuse, and health outcomes. And this is only the beginning. Predictive analytics is in its infancy within health care, and the exponential pace of technological advancements will identify additional uses and benefits we have yet to consider.

Capital Link and the National Association for Community Health Centers (NACHC) have just released, Predictive Analytics: An Overview for Community Health Centers. The purpose of this publication is to:

Define predictive analytics
Provide an overview of its history and development
Address the data and resources needed to predict a patient’s future behavior
Identify how a health center can begin utilizing it
Include specific examples of how it has been successfully used
Clarify health centers’ understanding and expectations of predictive analytics

Access this publication at no cost here and at MyNACHC.

New Resources to Support Sustainable Patient-Centered Care

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 17:24:00 +0000

Health centers that have made the decision to obtain certification as a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) seek to improve quality, outcomes, patient and staff satisfaction, and to prepare for new reimbursement methodologies. However, this endeavor comes with challenges. Capital Link announces the release of two new resources for health centers that support a patient-centered, team-based model of primary care delivery. These resources, developed with support from the Health Resources and Services Administration, address the issues health centers face in creating and sustaining an organizational culture and facility design that support a PCMH and provide strategies for success.

Developing an Organizational Culture that Sustains the Patient-Centered Medical Home: Lessons Learned examines the cultural challenges and successes health centers face in transforming to this new model of primary care delivery, offering considerations for the patient, family, and staff experience and flexible organizational structures to support team-based care delivery.

Click here to access this resource.

Creating a Place for Care: Fostering Alignment and Eliminating Barriers in the Patient-Centered Medical Home provides health centers with insight on how to respond to and reflect the unique needs and preferences of the patients they serve in order to align their facility design with their process of care, and the people they support.

Click here to access this resource.

Capital Link article on Investing in Health Centers Featured in OCC Publication

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 10 Jun 2016 20:07:00 +0000

An article by Peg Underhill, Director of Marketing, Communications, and Development at Capital Link, is featured in this month’s issue of Community Developments Investments, a newsletter distributed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. “Investing in Expanding Health Centers” highlights the importance of finding new ways to support health center growth so that they may fulfill their crucial role in serving the newly insured and remaining uninsured populations.

Click here to read the article on OCC's website.

New Reports Examine the Financial and Operational Trends of California Health Centers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 04 May 2016 15:21:00 +0000

Capital Link announces the release of an updated statewide financial and operational profile and an analysis of the financial sustainability of rural health centers in Northeastern California. These resources, sponsored by Blue Shield of California Foundation, highlight data trends in an effort to identify opportunities to ensure the financial sustainability of community health centers. With millions of new patients gaining insurance and the changing nature of the healthcare landscape, providing analyses that bolster the success of health centers is critical.

California Community Health Centers: Financial & Operational Performance Analysis, 2011-2014 updates Capital Link’s statewide, multi-year financial and operational profile.

Analysis of the Financial Sustainability of Rural Health Centers in Northeastern California sheds light on the unique challenges confronting frontier and rural health centers and offers ideas for strengthening operations.

Click here for a free download of the Financial & Operational Performance Analysis.

Click here for a free download the Analysis of the Financial Sustainability of Rural Health Centers in Northeastern California.

Over our long history of working with health centers, Capital Link has amassed a database of financial and operational information to develop field-building resources on the factors affecting health center performance, impact, and growth. For more information, visit www.caplink.org.

Help Us Report on the Capital Needs of Health Centers!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 21 Apr 2016 20:31:00 +0000

Capital Link is updating our national capital needs assessment, with support from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), to help document the tremendous need for health center capital funding and identify areas where technical assistance, training, or other resources may be needed.

We are requesting that all US health centers complete our brief, five question survey here:

(It should take no more than a few minutes to complete.)

Access the results from our last national capital needs assessment, “Capital Plans and Needs of Health Centers: A National Perspective” here on our website.

Thank you for your assistance in this important effort.

Application Deadline Extended to 3/25/16 for Healthy Futures Fund Readiness Program

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 03 Mar 2016 20:46:00 +0000

The Healthy Futures Fund (HFF) and Capital Link are offering new resources to help health centers seeking financing for projects that address the social determinants of health. A collaboration between the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), Morgan Stanley, and The Kresge Foundation, HFF launched in 2012 with an initial investment of $100 million, which is now fully deployed, and recently announced an additional investment of $100 million. Utilizing New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) financing, HFF is seeking to finance innovative, groundbreaking projects that will serve as models for the unique ways in which FQHCs are collaborating with partners to improve the health of their communities.

In addition to providing attractive financing, HFF is offering a free HFF Readiness Program, sponsored by LISC and Kresge, for a limited number of FQHCs interested in obtaining financing through the HFF. Offered through Capital Link, the HFF Readiness Program is available to select health centers through a competitive application process. Those that successfully complete the technical assistance program will be eligible for HFF grant funding to advance their project planning.

Given the level of interest and time needed to coordinate partner activities, we've extended the application deadline for the HFF Readiness Program to March 25, 2016 at 5 p.m. ET.

Access the application here.

Ideal projects will include those that involve collaborations between health centers and other community partners that expand access to health care while also addressing at least one other critical community need, such as affordable housing, access to healthy food, job training, schools, elder care, and other community wellness projects.

Learn more by visiting Capital Link's HFF Readiness Program web page or www.healthyfuturesfund.org. Contact Jonathan Chapman, Capital Link’s Director of Community Health Center Advisory Services, at jchapman@caplink.org for details.

New Resources Available for Health Centers Seeking Funding for “Gazelle Projects”

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 03 Feb 2016 18:48:00 +0000

By Allison Coleman, Chief Executive Officer, Capital Link
Emily Chen, Director, Healthy Futures Fund, LISC

What’s a “gazelle project,” you might ask?

Definition: A capital project sponsored by a Federally Qualified Health Center that is out ahead of the pack, moving quickly to address the social determinants of health in its community; characterized by nimble leadership, discerning vision and swift progress.

For Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) working on a ‘gazelle project,’ Capital Link and the Healthy Futures Fund (HFF) are offering new resources to help you achieve your goal! HFF is a $200 million initiative formed by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Morgan Stanley and The Kresge Foundation. Initially formed in 2012 with $100 million in resources that have been fully deployed, the partners recently announced that they will invest an additional $100 million in projects that promote healthy communities and address the social determinants of health.

Utilizing New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) financing, HFF is seeking to finance innovative, groundbreaking projects that will be models for the ways in which FQHCs are engaging with others to improve the health of their communities. Ideal projects will include those that involve collaborations between health centers and other community partners that expand access to health care while also addressing at least one other critical community need, such as affordable housing, access to healthy food, job training, schools, elder care and other projects to advance community wellness.

In addition to providing attractive financing, HFF is offering a free HFF Readiness Program, sponsored by LISC and Kresge, for a limited number of health centers interested in obtaining financing through the Fund. Offered through Capital Link, a national non-profit that assists health centers in planning for and financing growth, the HFF Readiness Program is available to select health centers through a competitive application process. Those that successfully complete the technical assistance program will be eligible for grant funding to advance their project planning.

The HFF Readiness Program will offer group learning opportunities followed by individualized assistance to enable selected health centers to understand the basics of NMTC financing, what it takes to be ready to successfully obtain financing from this highly attractive funding mechanism, and lessons learned from peers who have undertaken collaborative projects to address the social determinants of health. A key part of the individualized assistance is to develop a specific work plan to achieve readiness for financing and application materials for the planning grant opportunity described below.

Upon completion of the HFF Readiness Program, health centers will be eligible to apply for planning grants to support pre-development and technical assistance project activities. LISC, a non-profit that works with a network of community-based partners to make investments in housing, businesses, jobs, education, safety and health, will provide the planning grants in addition to co-sponsoring the HFF Readiness Program.

Health centers are invited to apply to participate in the HFF Readiness Program by accessing the application here. Applications are due March 4, 2016.

Learn more by visiting Capital Link’s Healthy Futures Fund Readiness Program webpage or www.healthyfuturesfund.org for details.

New Study Examines the Relationship between Health Center Clinical, Financial, and Operational Excellence

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 20:19:00 +0000

Health centers are experiencing greater demands on their services as health reform implementation proceeds, often necessitating growth and operational transformation. As their role as key providers of primary care increases, health centers need to assess their current performance and develop strategies for improvement. Prior Capital Link studies have provided insight to health centers, Primary Care Associations, and other stakeholders about financial and operational trends. This analysis furthers our knowledge by examining the operating models, strategies, and practices of high-performing health centers to better understand the factors that work for and against the co-occurrence of strong clinical performance and financial sustainability.

This research sought to answer the following questions for the first time:

Do health centers that excel in providing high-quality patient care have better or worse financial results than other health centers?
What are the characteristics of health centers that achieve both high-quality care and strong financial results?
What do high-performing health centers do differently or better than their peers?

The results of this analysis show that it is possible for health centers to reach quality targets while also performing well financially. Quality Awardee health centers achieve key quality targets and invest more in enabling staff and services, but are also able to produce strong financial results through revenue maximization, efficient medical care teams, and higher utilization through positive engagement with patients. The data further indicates that the highest performers have a greater ability to control costs—in particular, staffing costs—even though they are more heavily staffed with generally higher-cost physicians.

Key findings are illustrated in our infographic. Access a free download of the complete report at www.caplink.org/resources/publications.