Financial Impact of COVID-19 on Rural Federally Qualified Health Centers
Year Developed: 2021
Resource Type: Other.Primary Audience: Administrative Staff Board of Directors C-Suite (CEOs, CFOs, CIO, COOs, CMOs, etc.) Outreach Staff PCAs
Language(s): English
Developed by: Capital Link (See other resources developed by this organization).
Resource Summary: The Financial Impact of COVID-19 on Rural Federally Qualified Health Centers report highlights the net projected losses of Rural FQHCs from April 2020 through June 2021, after taking into account critical federal support made available through December 2020. (Released in 2021)
Resource Details: As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation’s 608 rurally-located Federally Qualified Health Centers (Rural FQHCs) experienced a 25% decline in patient visits between April and December 2020, as patients complied with stay-at-home orders. They pivoted quickly to providing care virtually, with 28% of visits delivered via telehealth. However, the loss in patient visits severely impacted health centers’ revenue, jeopardizing their financial viability even as they continue to play a critical role in the pandemic fight.
Resource Topic: Emerging Issues, Finance, Health Information Technology (HIT)/Data, Operations, Special and Vulnerable Populations
Resource Subtopic: COVID-19, Financial performance improvement, Financial trends, Sustainability.
Keywords: Access to Care, Data Collection, Management, and Analytics, Research, Rural Health Services, Uniform Data System (UDS).This project is supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of an award totaling $6,625,000 with 0 percentage financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.