Community Health Worker Certification and Financing

Using multi-disciplinary clinical teams is an important way to increase access to primary care, eliminate health disparities, and achieve the Triple Aim of better quality of care, better health for populations, and lower costs. In particular, community health workers (CHWs) are well positioned to help reduce health inequities and increase providers’ cultural competence and quality of care. This document provides an overview of possibilities for CHW certification and financing, and offers recommendations for state and territorial health agencies to cooperate effectively with other stakeholders in planning, policy development, program design, strategy implementation, and evaluation to promote health system transformation and health workforce innovation involving CHWs.