Safety Net Providers and Underserved Populations
The Center conducts extensive research and program evaluation of laws, policies, and services affecting low-income medically underserved, and vulnerable populations and the health care providers and institutions that serve them. Strong emphasis is placed on projects that assess the structure and process of care within publicly supported health care delivery systems and the role that these systems play in addressing the basic and specialized health needs of vulnerable populations. Initiatives include:
- Urgent Matters, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that conducts local safety-net assessments and provides technical assistance to help hospitals relieve emergency department crowding. Urgent Matters has produced a series of safety net assessments in 10 communities and a cross-cutting national report, all examining issues impacting safety nets in our country.
- Monitoring federal health policy developments that impact safety-net providers.
- Analyzing federally funded health centers and their patients and services.
- Research on the education, training and supply of health professionals in the private sector and public health arena, with a focus on the needs of the underserved.
