On July 17, 2025, C3EN and the UChicago Institute for Translational Medicine hosted a Community Based Organization Research Convening at Rush University focused on collaborating with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) for research.
Katie McAuliff, PhD, health services research scientist at AllianceChicago, opened with a presentation introducing FQHCs. Initiated in 1965 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty, FQHCs provide primary care and support services to 1 in 10 people in the United States and operate on a sliding scale to assist uninsured and low-income patients. FQHCs are about 20% funded by grants from Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act and are all required to report patient characteristics, services provided, health outcomes, and other data within a Uniform Data System. Some of the data collected is publicly available and can serve as a valuable starting point for research.
Fred Rachmann, MD, continued with an overview of Health Center Controlled Networks (HCCNs) as CEO of the HCCN AllianceChicago. FQHCs provide healthcare in settings that otherwise could not support hospitals, such as rural areas, and serve patients that are underrepresented in research. They are the largest and least costly health system in the United States. Because each health center is individually operated, which optimizes their ability to serve particular communities, health centers often lack brand recognition and clout. AllianceChicago was founded in 1997 as a collaboration between Erie Family Health Center, Heartland Alliance Health, Howard Brown Health, and Near North Health Service Corporation to share information to advance their missions, with an initial focus on implementing electronic health records in their systems. Now bridging health centers in 18 states, AllianceChicago continues to help health centers improve their quality of care by facilitating information exchange, data analysis, and information technology-enabled practice transformation, with 34 currently active research projects.
Doriane Miller, C3EN Community Engagement Core co-chair and professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, moderated a panel following the presentations, with McAuliff, Rachmann, C3EN Community Stakeholder Advisory Council co-chair and CEO of Chicago Family Health Sherry Pace, CSAC member and Executive Director of Research, Evaluation, and Innovation at Access Community Health Network (ACCESS) Dani Lazar, and C3EN co-director Elbert Huang.
It was noted that while FQHCs collect a great deal of data in the process of delivering primary care to large populations, they often lack the resources and capacity to analyze their data. Working with researchers can help FQHCs gain understanding, evaluate activities, and make suggestions for improvement. However, if findings do not have the goal of improving care, a research project is not likely to be of interest to FQHCs.
C3EN projects PORTAL-PTSD, which screens for PTSD using the electronic health record, and VIDA, a program of virtual group visits to educate and support patients with diabetes, were cited as successfully aligning research interests with the missions of FQHCs. “We have a large integrative behavioral health program at Chicago Family Health,” said Pace. “Having a screener available in the electronic health record helps identify people who need to be connected and improves the process for our patients.” VIDA enabled ACCESS to hire a dietitian to conduct group visits and counsel patients. “ACCESS likes to pilot things,” said Lazar, noting past work with research on the impact of community health workers.
The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which institutes new work requirements and enrollment standards for Medicaid, will affect day-to-day operations of FQHCs, as well as the populations they serve. Anticipating the budget cuts ahead, the panel urged optimism.
“It’s time to think creatively,” said Rachmann. “We have technology we haven’t even begun to use. We can take advantage of a disruptive time to design something new.”
“Policy takes a long time to implement,” added Huang. “We have lead time to prepare and document what happens as this policy rolls out.”
