Integrating Community Health Workers Within Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Implementation

Authors: Nadia Islam, PhD, Smiti Kapadia Nadkarni, MPH, Deborah Zahn, MPH, Megan Skillman, BA, Simona C. Kwon, DrPH, and Chau Trinh-Shevrin, DrPH

With the introduction of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (PPACA), a unique opportunity to integrate community health worker models into health care delivery exists. This article discusses several different strategies for integrating CHW models within PPACA implementation through facilitated enrollment strategies, patient-centered medical homes, coordination and expansion of health information technology (HIT) efforts, and also discusses payment options for such integration. The PPACA and current payment structures provide an unprecedented and important vehicle for integrating and sustaining CHWs as part of these new delivery and enrollment models that should be considered.