Primary Care Development Corporation

FAQs

General FAQs

What is primary care?
How does primary care improve health outcomes and reduce disparities?
Why is primary care critical to achieving successful healthcare reform?
How does PCDC help providers optimize their existing capacity and improve access to primary care?
What is your approach/philosophy?
What kind of success have you had?
Does PCDC work outside of New York State?

Capital Financing FAQs

Who qualifies for loans?
What is the loan application process and how long does it take?
How can the loan funds be used?
What are the maximum and minimum loan amounts that can be borrowed?
What are the interest rates?
What are the minimum and maximum term lengths for PCDC loans?
How do I know which loan is best for me?
What is the source of PCDC’s loan funds?

Performance Improvement FAQs

What is your approach to Performance Improvement?
What is the time and staff commitment expected from a client?
How much do your services cost?
What if my performance improvement needs don’t fit your menu of services?
How are you different from a consulting company?
What is a PCDC Learning Collaborative?
What is a Patient Centered Medical Home and why does PCDC support this model?
What is PCDC’s medical home expertise?
What is value of Health Information Technology for primary care providers and their patients?
What does “meaningful use” mean?
Why is emergency preparedness important to health center operations?
How does Emergency Preparedness impact the community?

General FAQS

What is primary care?

For most people, primary care is the first point of access when they need medical care. Whether the provider is a family physician or a nurse-practitioner in a community health center, hospital clinic, or a private practice, primary care providers address health concerns, prevent illness, and manage medical conditions so patients avoid long-term disability, financial distress and even premature death.

How does primary care improve improve health outcomes and reduce disparities?

Primary care is one of the best ways to improve long-term health. Increased access to preventative services has been shown to reduce the incidence of chronic and costly diseases by engaging patients in preventative care programs and managing conditions before they become serious. The result is that areas with a higher number of primary care providers see lower mortality rates.

There is a direct relationship between primary care physicians supply and health outcomes; specifically there is a decline in mortality from cancer, stroke, and heart disease, and in infant mortality rates.

Minority and low-income communities suffer from a lack of high-quality primary care facilities. Minority patients have fewer primary care options than white patients, and the care they do receive is poorer in quality than the care white patients receive. When poverty is present, those disparities in quality and access only grow. Racial and ethnic disparities can be significantly reduced and eliminated through the investment and expansion of primary care in low-income and minority communities. Higher quality primary care levels are associated with reduced racial and ethnic disparities in health status, as measured by self-rated general and mental health. This relationship is particularly pronounced for the racial and ethnic minorities living at or below poverty level.

Why is primary care critical to achieving successful healthcare reform?

With chronic illness reaching epidemic proportions, access to primary care is key to reducing healthcare costs, particularly those that result from avoidable emergency room visits and hospital stays. (Today, fewer than 20% of emergency room visits involve true medical emergencies.) New healthcare reform measures will provide insurance for millions of people currently uninsured. This means that millions of people will demand access to primary care if they can get an appointment, yet the primary care sector is undersized and underdeveloped. To meet this new demand, it is essential that we increase the number of primary care providers and ensure that they can operate efficiently.

How does PCDC help providers optimize their existing capacity and improve access to primary care?

PCDC Capital Financing program deploys capital to areas in New York most in need of primary care. PCDC's investment goes to communities with high unemployment and low income. We offer affordable and flexible financing so providers can expand and upgrade facilities to serve more patients. In addition, our Performance Improvement services help providers redesign operations so that patients spend fewer days waiting for appointments, fewer hours in the waiting room, and more time with their personal physicians. As a result, centers are able to see more patients, increase revenue and improve the patient experience.

What is your approach/philosophy?

PCDC brings an integrated approach that addresses both the emerging trends and needs of the primary care sector, and the challenges facing individual primary care providers. Years of work with providers has given us a real world understanding of the challenges. This experience guides our strategies to help individual health centers build robust patient centered operations. It also informs our efforts to strengthen and expand the field. Our approach to delivering program excellence is driven by several core values. All of PCDC's programs and services focus on: achieving our organizational mission, delivering high-impact and measurable results, providing highly professional expertise, and ensuring that our client's results are sustainable.

What kind of success have you had?

PCDC has created an investment of $240 million in 77 health center projects that improve and expand primary care facilities. We have strengthened operations at hundreds of health centers to expand access and improve care. And we have successfully advocated to strengthen New York State’s commitment to primary care. To learn more about our accomplishments, read about our Achievements & Outcomes and our Success Stories.

Does PCDC work outside of New York State?

Yes. PCDC's Performance Improvement programs work with cities and organizations to use new technologies, streamline operations and implement patient-centered approaches to care. We have conducted emergency preparedness workshops for the city of Baltimore, and worked with nonprofits and local government in San Francisco and Los Angeles to redesign patient visits so that they are streamlined and effective.

PCDC's Capital Financing activity is currently limited to lending in New York State only. However, the PCDC financing model is replicable and adaptable as a means of enhancing primary care development or reducing healthcare costs throughout the country. PCDC has worked with organizations in several regions, including California, District of Columbia and West Virginia, on ways to successfully strengthen primary care capacity.

Capital Financing FAQs

Who qualifies for loans?

Applicants must be not-for-profit Article 28-licensed Diagnostic & Treatment Center (DTC) and hospitals serving underserved communities in NY State. Additional requirements may apply depending on the loan product.

What is the loan application process and how long does it take?

Please contact PCDC and a lending professional will walk through the project's eligibility and the process for application. Timing depends on the stage of the project and we encourage you to contact us as early as possible, even at the concept phase. Typically, PCDC will require a project narrative and budget as well as the last three years the borrower's audited financials as a starting point for review. You can contact us at capitalaccess@pcdcny.org or complete our Loan Inquiry Form.

How can the loan funds be used?

PCDC loan funds can be used to complete the pre-development process required to plan and complete a capital project, construction and/or renovation of health care facilities, or acquisition of equipment. PCDC also offers bridge funds for borrowers facing specific funding hurdles or receiving state reimbursement grants.

What are the maximum and minimum loan amounts that can be borrowed?

PCDC loan products range in size from $30,000 to over $40 million. The eligible loan amount is directly related to project need and feasibility and borrower financial capacity. Other underwriting and eligibility requirements may apply. Read Explore Financing Options or Contact Us to find out what loan products fit your needs.

What are the interest rates?

The interest rates vary, largely dependent on the loan term. The rates are calculated based on an index rate plus a fixed margin. Index rates include LIBOR or the London InterBank Offered Rate, Prime or the Prime Lending Rate as published by the Wall Street Journal, or US Treasury.

PCDC’s New Markets Loan Fund offers health centers located in economically distressed communities, long-term financing at below market interest rates.

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What are the minimum and maximum term lengths for PCDC loans?

PCDC loan terms typically range from three years to twenty-eight years, depending on the loan product. PCDC also provides bridge loans that have flexible terms that accommodate borrower needs.

How do I know which loan is best for me?

PCDC offers a range of loan products appropriate for different situations. Read the Explore Financing Options page to identify the best option for your health center or practice. Then complete the Loan Inquiry Form to start the process.

What is the source of PCDC loan funds?

PCDC leverages public and private resources including federal funding through the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund and private dollars from leading financial institutions and the bond market.

Performance Improvement FAQs

What is your approach to Performance Improvement?

We begin by conducting a comprehensive assessment to understand each client’s needs. Then we identify key areas for change and develop an action plan to redesign their system to be more effective and sustainable. But our work doesn’t stop when we deliver the plan. PCDC provides on-the-ground training, coaching and project management so that health centers can implement the plan, make course corrections as necessary, and ensure that the program effectively addresses the needs with sustainable tactics.

What is the time and staff commitment expected from a client?

The time and staff commitment can vary from six to eight weeks or up to nine months, depending on each client’s needs. For example, an organizational assessment of a site’s clinical operation requires 6-8 weeks on average, while a more intense project such as a Learning Collaborative, Emergency Preparedness project, or HIT Lifecycle project could entail 6-8 months of work. Each project is custom-designed to address the specific needs and challenges that individual sites face.

PCDC’s most successful Performance Improvement projects include three to five staff members at all levels of the organization working as a team with PCDC staff. Our project teams typically include Medical Directors, physicians, nurses, clerical staff, and site managers. Support from the center’s leadership is essential to create and maintain organizational buy-in and motivate staff.

How much do your services cost?

The cost of services depends upon the size of your project, (number of sites, staff required, geographic location) and the type of project. Please Contact Us so we can give you an estimate for your project.

What if my performance improvement needs don’t fit your menu of services?

PCDC frequently partners with providers on special projects that fit well with our expertise and experience. Please Contact Us if your goals seem too specialized or specific in comparison to our performance improvement offerings.

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How are you different from a consulting company?

PCDC seeks to strengthen the primary care sector in order to enhance the capacity and quality of primary care in underserved communities. This commitment guides us as we work with individual health centers and practitioners to improve and expand their programs.

Our focus on is both short term success and long term sustainability. Because we look at the broader sector, we are skilled at identifying and addressing emerging trends. We work with clients over time to ensure that plans are implemented, course corrections are made and patient experiences improve.

Our programs will strengthen your practice financially and operationally, allowing you to maximize the manpower and capital resources you already have on hand to deliver better care and higher satisfaction to your patients than ever before. They enable clients to see more patients, take in more revenue, and strengthen internal lines of communication and cooperation.

What is a PCDC Learning Collaborative?

The Learning Collaborative is PCDC’s best-known, proven approach to guiding health center transformation. We bring together teams from various health centers together to study, test and implement major improvements in specific areas of their operations. Modeled after the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Breakthrough Series Model, the Learning Collaborative includes Pre-work Sessions, Learning Sessions and Action Periods.

Health center teams work together over six- to nine-months to understand their challenges, analyze the causes of those challenges, learn and test new strategies and share what they have learned with co-workers and colleagues from other institutions. During that time, experienced PCDC consultants are on-site weekly and always available via phone and email.

What is a Patient Centered Medical Home and why does PCDC support this model?

A Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) is a model that emphasizes coordinated, comprehensive care, including an ongoing relationship with a healthcare provider, a team approach to patient care, coordination of care across the healthcare system, the use of electronic medical records, 24/7 access to clinical advice, and the use of e-mail and telephone consultations. PCMH has been highly effective in achieving better health outcomes, reducing costs, and eliminating outcome disparities between socioeconomic groups. PCDC helps providers become recognized PCMHs and advocates for the adoption of this model.

What is PCDC’s medical home expertise?

PCDC's Performance Improvement team utilizes the Patient-Centered Medical Home principles as a driving force behind its holistic approach to correcting and enhancing primary care systems. We have helped dozens of providers impellent care coordination models that increase revenues, reduce no-shows, cycle times, and waits for appointments; help attract and retain patients; and establish the operational elements of a medical home. To learn more, read Become a Medical Home.

What is value of Health Information Technology for primary care providers and their patients?

Health Information Technology (HIT) refers to the use of a variety of electronic methods for managing information about the health and medical care of individuals and groups of patients. HIT most frequently translates into EHR’s (Electronic Health Records), EMR’s (Electronic Medical Records) and the set of supporting hardware and ancillary support systems commonly referred to as infrastructure. HIT enables the use of valuable tools such as Health Information Exchange, e-prescribing, electronic labs, patient portals, and more.

These systems are challenging to put to work and often require major changes in the way practices operate, but in the long term lead to enhanced quality of care and meaningful use" of health information, particularly by utilizing electronic health records (EHR). Overall, HIT enables proper coordination of care across provider settings, collection and monitoring of patient data, evaluation of treatments and outcomes, enhances the quality and accessibility of information, and above all, enhances the provider-patient experience by connecting the patient with a care team that communicates with the patient outside the office setting.

What does “meaningful use” mean?

The goal of meaningful use of an Electronic Health Record is to enable significant and measurable improvements in population health. The ultimate vision is one in which all patients are fully engaged in their healthcare, providers have real-time access to all medical information and tools to help ensure the quality and safety of the care provided, while also affording improved access and elimination of health care disparities.

Why is emergency preparedness important to health center operations?

Participation in the PCDC’s Emergency Preparedness program enables health centers to create effective responses to various types of emergencies, then hone their plans through regular drills and systematic evaluation. The training gives staff a well-rehearsed action plan and an increased sense of confidence when faced with the possibility of catastrophic disaster, whether a pandemic, flood, black out, disease outbreak or terrorist attack occurs.

How does Emergency Preparedness impact the community?

No single entity can effectively and efficiently respond to an emergency or disaster without the assistance of community partners. By working as a team, community partners can develop comprehensive, community-wide networks that keep vital health centers running ad preserve emergency rooms for real emergencies. PCDC's Emergency Preparedness program brings together key stakeholders to develop an emergency preparedness plan to protect the health and safety of the entire community.