History

HCCNs arose out of the health centers' need to operate more efficiently by working together to form a business structure that would enable them to maximize the purchasing power of their limited dollars by sharing the costs of services.

HCCNs, in their formation, are defined by the specific needs of the health centers in a given marketplace; therefore, HCCNs have a variety of organizational structures and areas of focus. As HCCNs mature, the cooperative skills developed through interaction with peers and the evolving needs of the health centers results in the addition of new functions in an effort to gain even greater economies.

Operational Networks are those that are more mature and in which an essential, mission-critical function is performed at the network level, enabling the member health center to perform its business and clinical operations more efficiently. This means that the activity is either shared or integrated at the network level and is not duplicated at the member/collaborator level.
Operational Networks typically demonstrate the following characteristics:

• formal structure that has been in place for a minimum of two years (articles of incorporation, bylaws, etc….),
• existence of leadership structure and core network staff (e.g. exec. Management staff),
• core function (administrative, clinical, finance, managed care and/or IS) is currently fully integrated and functioning for organizational members at the network level,
• evidence of outcomes achieved through the integration of the function, a strategic plan in place that outlines the long range (multi-year) goals and objectives of the network, and
• evidence of a declining dependence on federal funds for the network activities.

Regardless of the maturity level of a network, there are two elements common to all networks – in terms of governance, each is majority controlled by health centers (or FQHCs), and there are high levels of collaboration among network members.