Posted By Hope Alfaro On April 14, 2016
What’s in your Family Planning Annual Report? (FPAR)
For many Local Health Departments (LHD) and Community Health Centers including Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), there are nearly innumerable reports that must be filed on an annual basis for grant funding, special designations, or to attest for Meaningful Use to receive incentive money. Often these reports can be time consuming and burdensome on clinic and office staff and require a high level of detail on patient and financial information. Organizations who provide family planning services and receive grants under Title X also need to provide the Family Planning Annual Report (FPAR) to the Office of Population Affairs.
FPAR is the only source of uniform reporting by all Title X grantees and provides the data necessary for monitoring the services and population utilizing the grants. There are 15 FPAR reporting tables that provide consistent national and regional data on the characteristics of individuals receiving Title X services, the types of services provided, the providers that render care, and project revenue. The 1993 Government Performance and Results Act performance goals for Title X Family Planning funds include to prioritize family planning services to low-income individuals and families, access to cervical and breast cancer screenings, and access to HIV testing at Title X-funded clinics.
The data from FPAR is also important for financial planning and performance monitoring to respond to Congress on inquiries on how the funds are used. The Title X Family Planning Program was created in 1970 and is the only program dedicated solely to providing individuals with comprehensive family planning and preventative services. The data acquired from FPAR helps to prove the importance of the services rendered, as well as insure funds are allocated to the right places. While it may seem like just another tedious task required of healthcare bureaucracy, the data serves an important purpose. It is also imperative that it can get done quickly and effectively for Title X funds and Family Planning Clinics to continue serving their patients and communities. It isn’t something you should have to figure out for yourself and technology can make it easy. The right reporting options from your EHR can make an enormous impact on the amount of time you spend searching for and gathering data.
For more information on Title X and FPAR, visit the Office of Population Affairs website.