• Lacey Johnson, David T Liss, Paula Carcamo, Mita Sanghavi Goel, Bridget G Magner, Ta-Yun Yang, and Josephine Llaneza.
• Erie Family Health Centers, Chicago, IL, USA. LJohnson@eriefamilyhealth.org.
• J Gen Intern Med. 2024 Jan 1; 39 (1): 128132128-132.

BackgroundPrograms to screen for social and economic needs (SENs) are challenging to implement.AimTo describe implementation of an SEN screening program for patients obtaining care at a federally qualified health center (FQHC).SettingLarge Chicago-area FQHC where many patients are Hispanic/Latino and insured through Medicaid.Program DescriptionIn the program's phase 1 (beginning April 2020), a prescreening question asked about patients' interest in receiving community resources; staff then called interested patients. After several refinements (e.g., increased staffing, tailored reductions in screening frequency) to address challenges such as a large screening backlog, program phase 2 began in February 2021. In phase 2, a second prescreening question asked about patients' preferred modality to learn about community resources (text/email versus phone calls).Program EvaluationDuring phase 1, 8925 of 29,861 patients (30%) expressed interest in community resources. Only 40% of interested patients were successfully contacted and screened. In phase 2, 5781 of 21,737 patients (27%) expressed interest in resources; 84% of interested patients were successfully contacted by either text/email (43%) or phone (41%).DiscussionUnder one-third of patients obtaining care at an FQHC expressed interest in community resources for SENs. After program refinements, rates of follow-up with interested patients substantially increased.© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Society of General Internal Medicine.

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