No. In order to continue to receive HRSA funding, FQHCs and FQHC Look-Alikes must be in compliance with the program requirements which are outlined within the Health Center Program Compliance Manual and the Site Visit Protocol. The HRSA program requirements are the foundation on which a health center can build upon. This does not mean that a health center cannot strive to move past the foundation (continuous compliance with the HRSA program requirements) and adopt practices that are considered industry best practices. Industry best practices are normally standards/clinical practices that fall within the upper quartile in the healthcare industry. For example, a health center is no longer required to present providers for credentialing and privileging to the Board of Directors; industry best practice would support the continuation of this practice for Licensed Independent Practitioners (LIPs) to keep the Board informed and mitigate the risk of malpractice.
Regulators are no longer satisfied with documentation alone; they want evidence that your compliance program actively prevents, detects, and corrects risk. Investigators expect to see how issues are identified early, investigated thoroughly, corrected effectively, and monitored over time. Boards demand measurable insight, and leadership needs confidence that exposure is managed before it becomes a liability. The standard has shifted from activity to impact.