Developing a Dynamic Toolkit and Evaluating Evolving Needs Among FQHCs Providing Primary Care via Telemedicine During th

The researchers at UCSF’s Center for Vulnerable Populations and SOLVE Health Tech, in partnership with the Center for Care Innovations, intend to rapidly identify, evaluate, and address evolving challenges faced by federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) and public hospital systems delivering primary care by telehealth during and following the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal is to deliver practical and actionable tools that can be rapidly implemented. There are two aims of the project: 1) identify opportunities and gaps faced by safety-net clinics providing primary care via telehealth to diverse, vulnerable populations, and 2) address urgent resource gaps with a rapidly developed, iterated, and dynamic online toolkit. To accomplish the aims, the researchers will survey and conduct follow-up interviews with sites with telehealth programs of diverse levels of maturity of telehealth capability; and develop a publicly accessible telehealth online resources toolkit that will be iterative to adapt to new information and to address evolving real-world needs. These resources will leverage preexisting partnerships and work to inform provision of telehealth for vulnerable patient populations. They will survey the entire CCI membership, including FQHCs and primary care public hospital clinics, on their experiences with telemedicine.