Four Hawai‘i Federally Qualified Health Centers, a Managed Care Organization, and the Hawai‘i Primary Care Association established a partnership to pilot a unique Patient-Centered Health Care Home model. All sites were successful in implementing care coordination and a patient registry. A cohort of 432 patients with a diagnosis of diabetes and/or depression was activated into the program. Sixty percent of the cohort was Native Hawaiian, Other Pacific Islander, or Asian. Patients with uncontrolled diabetes lowered their HbA1c by one point (p < .05), and patients with severe depression lowered their PHQ-9 scores by 4.6 points (p < .05).

Pay for performance (P4P) and health information technology (HIT) have been used to improve health care quality, but few studies examine interventions combining P4P with HIT support at federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). An intervention comparison, pre-post study was conducted to determine the effect of a P4P+HIT intervention on emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations. While ED utilization decreased in both intervention and comparison groups, there were no significant differences in ED or hospital utilization between intervention and comparison groups. Additional time or support above and beyond P4P+HIT may be necessary to improve the health care provided by FQHCs to underserved communities in Hawai‛i.

Research conducted to benefit communities is often done without community involvement, threatening its relevance for the groups the studies purport to serve. A great need exists for education of both researchers and community members on how research can be more appropriately conducted in partnership with community members. This paper presents Community Criteria for Research Participation developed by community health centers (CHCs) with input from academic partners to support CHCs’ capacity to conduct research of community significance.