A Quarterly Resource Digest from Capital Link                                                                                                     Summer 2019

Of Note...

Determining and Responding to Community Needs

PCAs and HCCNs can guide their member FQHCs, individually and collaboratively, to better meet the current and future healthcare needs of their communities. Statewide capital needs assessments and market assessments provide information to identify strategies for health center sustainability and growth.

Statewide Capital Needs Assessments

With so many new legislators, many PCAs and HCCNs have an opportunity to proactively measure and communicate the capital plans and needs of their member centers for potential state and local funding. Building off the national needs assessment completed in conjunction with NACHC and the 18 other NCAs, Capital Link conducts needs assessments (CNA) via electronic survey tools to help PCAs determine capital project plans, investment needs, sources of capital, projected funding gaps, and growth readiness to expand facilities to meet projected market need. We also ask member centers to provide details such as whether the project is to renovate or expand their existing facilities, open a new site, or augment their physical space to implement new services to meet patient/community needs. This information is then analyzed and PCAs use the resulting comprehensive report to help members identify potential funding sources and begin to strategize health center growth on a statewide basis.

Statewide Market Assessments

Capital Link conducts statewide market assessments to help PCAs and HCCNs determine the potential for growth, assess demographic trends, measure access, and identify gaps in care of target populations.

Key information includes:

• Demographic information on the low-income population (including race/ethnicity, employment, age, and location/zip code) including data on Medicaid enrollment and rate of uninsured. Typical data set includes demographic trend data, payer mix projections, and a market share analysis.

• Population projections for the next five years by specified geographies and historic population trends.

• Health status, health care, and social challenges of the state or region and by health center service areas, depending on available information. Capital Link analyzes the demographic information as well as additional data from medical societies, Medicaid, and other secondary sources to determine health and social needs, including an overview of the healthcare policy and economic outlook, and competition within the current market and/or potential markets for the locations specified.

• Supply of primary care, dental, and behavioral health providers and services. Based on our assessment of need, Capital Link provides an estimate of potential demand and the providers needed to serve that demand. We then identify any gaps in coverage.

• A mapping analysis to provide a visual understanding of the service area, including where patients live (by zip code) and where the highest concentrations of poverty and low-income residents can be found (by census tract or by zip code); location and supply of providers and the penetration of the low-income population by FQHCs and other partners (to the extent data is available) to identify unmet needs and/or gaps in care. 

For more information about Capital Link’s services or to sign up for an in-person meeting at the NACHC CHI, please contact Mark Lurtz, Director of Partnership Development, at 636-233-1515 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Our Services

Sustainability and Growth Planning

State and Local Market Assessments analyze service areas in geographic, demographic, and economic terms, helping health centers evaluate and determine current and future patient
needs and helping PCAs/HCCNs identify areas of unmet need in the state for future planning.

Scenario Modeling helps forecast the impact of changing patient care models and revenues based on payment reform. Evaluating potential scenarios helps health centers better plan for impacts on operations, including patient utilization, care delivery, and service offerings.

Strategic Planning Facilitation walks health centers through the process of assessing key opportunities and challenges, identifying environmental influences, examining operating systems, establishing objectives, mobilizing staff and other stakeholders, and distilling information into actions, using our toolkit.

Advancing Financial & Operational Strength provides health center staff at all levels with in-depth training and resources related to financial and operational benchmarking; revenue cycle management; aligning people, place and process; capital planning; and performance improvement (to name a few) to improve business operations and financial health. The program launched in 2015 in California and has expanded in partnership with PCAs in to Missouri, Massachusetts, Tennessee, and West Virginia.

CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT Alternative Payment Methodology tools and trainings to help health centers prepare for value-based reimbursement. 

Operations and Financial Management

Performance Evaluation Profiles provide multi-year performance trends, benchmarking the results against state, national, and peer medians across 73 financial and operational metrics.

Strategic Revenue Cycle Management training and technical assistance helps health centers to improve financial stability and operating performance.

Capital Project Financing

Capital Project Planning offers assistance in developing the rationale, feasibility, justification, and detailed plans necessary to complete a successful facilities project.

Financing Assistance helps health centers determine its plan of finance; complete its business plan and financial projections; obtain credit enhancement (if necessary); and structure and obtain the most favorable sources of financing through a variety of sources, including through USDA, New Markets Tax Credit financing and the HRSA Loan Guarantee Program.

Health Center Value and Impact

Value & Impact Analysis reports utilize key metrics from our database and IMPLAN economic modeling software to help health centers evaluate and communicate their value to payers,
policy makers, and community stakeholders.

 For more information about Capital Link’s services, please contact Mark Lurtz, Director of Partnership Development, at 636-233-1515 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. 

Our Resources 

Publications

We offer publications available for download free of charge on our website. Topics include national trends, performance improvement, capital project planning, capital project financing, and patient centered medical home. Access our publications here. 

Events and Webinars

Capital Link regularly exhibits and conducts presentations and education sessions at industry conferences for health centers and primary care associations. Find a list of our upcoming events here.

We offer webinars designed to offer useful information for health centers on a wide range of topics. The webinars have no charge, but participation is limited. Find a schedule of upcoming webinars here. Access recordings of any of our past webinars here. 

Learning Collaboratives

Capital Link’s Learning Collaboratives are designed to help increase the capacity of health centers in a peer-to-peer learning format. Conducted through a series of webinars and virtual discussions facilitated by Capital Link, our Collaboratives are focused on topics such as planning and financing capital development projects or forming non-traditional partnerships with organizations to address Social Determinants of Health. Learn more about our current and upcoming learning collaboratives here.