Achieving Better Health through Quality of Care by Gretchen Bayer

At All Care Health Center, increasing access to healthcare goes hand-in-hand with improving the quality of care for every patient. As a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), we are committed to delivering high-quality healthcare to our community. One of the key ways we measure our impact is through the Uniform Data System (UDS), an annual report required by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) that tracks patient demographics, clinical quality, and financial performance. This data helps us evaluate our services, identify areas for improvement, and ensure accountability to our patients and funders.

In 2024, we made significant strides in patient care, improving performance on 13 out of 16 clinical quality measures. Notably, our efforts to support patients with chronic disease management. This led to remarkable progress in hypertension control, which increased from 53% to 66.5%, meaning more patients are keeping their blood pressure within a healthier range. Diabetes management also improved, with the percentage of patients experiencing poor blood sugar control dropping from 34.25% to 27.1%. Other gains include increased access to statin therapy (85.2% to 88.32%) and better mental health outcomes, with depression remission rising from 9.4% to 18.18%.

Preventive care saw meaningful improvements. To detect cancer when it’s most treatable, cancer screenings rose across the board with colorectal cancer screening increasing from 31% to 38.54%. HIV screening showed a significant jump from 33% to 50.55%, allowing for earlier detection and access to life-saving treatments. Significantly more adult patients have a healthy BMI or a follow-up plan to address a low or high BMI, increasing from 43.5% to 69.93%; and 3% more patients are nonsmoking or receiving support to quit smoking. Additionally, preventive dental sealants for children increased from 14.29% to 66.67%, providing critical protection against cavities. These improvements reflect our team’s dedication to increased patient engagement and follow-up and enhancements to our systems, including electronic health record processes, improved workflows, and focused monitoring of progress throughout the year.

Looking ahead, All Care is committed to ongoing quality of care improvements through enhanced data and monitoring and continued workflow advancements. All Care will further strengthen preventative and chronic disease management by expanding integrated care and increasing case management, while continuing to improve financial assistance programs to ensure patients can access the care they need. These achievements are a testament to our incredible staff’s hard work and collaboration—because quality patient care is truly a team effort.