Federally qualified health centers reduce the primary care provider gap in health professional shortage counties.

BACKGROUND: Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) were designed to provide care in medically underserved areas. Substantial and sustained federal funding has accelerated FQHC growth.

PURPOSE: To examine temporal trends in primary care provider supply and whether FQHCs have been successful in reducing the gap in provider supply in primary care health professional shortage areas (HPSAs).

METHODS: Retrospective cohort study design using national county-level data from 2009 to 2013. Primary care providers included physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants.

FINDINGS: Partial-county HPSAs had the highest average provider supply and the greatest increase, followed by non-HPSA counties and whole-county HPSAs. The provider gap was larger in whole-county HPSAs compared with partial-county HPSAs. Counties with one or more FQHC sites had a smaller provider gap than those without FQHC sites. An increase of one FQHC site was statistically significantly associated with a reduction in the annual provider gap.

DISCUSSION: FQHCs reduced the gap in primary care provider supply in shortage counties and mitigated uneven distribution of the primary care workforce.