Public Health Solutions

As a result of the Affordable Care Act, federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) are expected to double the number of patients they serve.

FQHCs provide comprehensive primary and preventive care regardless of a patient’s insurance status or ability to pay. Although FQHCs are required to provide family planning services to patients, they are not funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Title X Family Planning Program, and are therefore neither equipped nor properly trained to provide the same quality of services as their funded counterparts. NYHealth awarded Public Health Solutions a grant to launch a pilot program to evaluate the quality of women’s health and reproductive services provided by FQHCs in New York.

Under this grant, Public Health Solutions aimed to measurably improve FQHCs’ family planning care and reduce unintended pregnancies through high-quality family planning—offering advice on a wide range of approaches from abstinence to pharmaceuticals. NYHealth funding supported Public Health Solutions in improving contraceptive services at four New York City FQHCs. Public Health Solutions provided content expertise and training and worked with quality improvement consultants to ensure the site-implemented operational changes aligned with evidence-based standards of care.