Implementing and Enhancing Social and Economic Needs Screening at a Federally Qualified Health Center

Background

Programs to screen for social and economic needs (SENs) are challenging to implement.

Aim

To describe implementation of an SEN screening program for patients obtaining care at a federally qualified health center (FQHC).

Setting

Large Chicago-area FQHC where many patients are Hispanic/Latino and insured through Medicaid.

Program Description

In the program’s phase 1 (beginning April 2020), a prescreening question asked about patients’ interest in receiving community resources; staff then called interested patients. After several refinements (e.g., increased staffing, tailored reductions in screening frequency) to address challenges such as a large screening backlog, program phase 2 began in February 2021. In phase 2, a second prescreening question asked about patients’ preferred modality to learn about community resources (text/email versus phone calls).

Program Evaluation

During phase 1, 8925 of 29,861 patients (30%) expressed interest in community resources. Only 40% of interested patients were successfully contacted and screened. In phase 2, 5781 of 21,737 patients (27%) expressed interest in resources; 84% of interested patients were successfully contacted by either text/email (43%) or phone (41%).

Discussion

Under one-third of patients obtaining care at an FQHC expressed interest in community resources for SENs. After program refinements, rates of follow-up with interested patients substantially increased.

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