Paying for Value and Health Equity in Community Health Centers

Community health centers (CHCs) face substantial obstacles to participation in value-based payment models, in which payers reward performance on health outcomes. Further, these models rarely measure and reward efforts toward population health equity, a central CHC goal and outcome. In this issue brief, we recommend ways to promote and enhance CHC participation in value-based payment, and strategies to align these efforts with health equity goals. We base these recommendations on a series of focus groups and conversations with frontline CHC leaders, payers, and payment policy experts.