State Provides Financial and Technical Support to Underserved Communities Designated as Health Enterprise Zones, Leading to Enhancements in Primary Care Capacity | AHRQ Innovations Exchange

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State Provides Financial and Technical Support to Underserved Communities Designated as Health Enterprise Zones, Leading to Enhancements in Primary Care Capacity | AHRQ Innovations Exchange



August 27, 2014 Issue
Enhancing Primary Care Access and Capacity

This issue includes

Innovations:

State Provides Financial and Technical Support to Underserved Communities Designated as Health Enterprise Zones, Leading to Enhancements in Primary Care Capacity

Snapshot

Summary Maryland's General Assembly passed legislation authorizing the State's Health Enterprise Zones initiative, which is administered jointly by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission. Through a competitive application process, this program has designated five communities as “health enterprise zones,” making them eligible for various forms of financial and technical support, including grants, tax credits, and loan repayment assistance. To date, the program has expanded primary care capacity within the five communities, which in the program’s first 6 months collectively opened or expanded 8 delivery sites, recruited 43 new practitioners (above the first-year goal of 38), and added 87 jobs. It is too early to determine the program’s impact on various health-related outcomes being monitored as part of the initiative, which will be determined in program years 2 through 4. Evidence Rating (What is this?) Suggestive: The evidence consists of post-implementation data on the number of newly opened or expanded primary care sites, new primary care recruits, and new health care practitioner jobs in the five communities since being designated by the State of Maryland as health enterprise zones. Developing Organizations Maryland Community Health Resources Commission; Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; Maryland General Assembly; Maryland Health Quality and Cost Council Date First Implemented 2012 The authorizing legislation was signed into law in April 2012; program implementation began shortly thereafter. Patient Population Vulnerable Populations > Impoverished; Medically uninsured; Racial minorities; Rural populations; Insurance Status > Uninsured; Vulnerable Populations > Urban populations