Community Health Quality Recognition (CHQR) badges recognize Health Center Program awardees and look-alikes (LALs) that have made quality improvement achievements in:
- Access
- Quality
- Health Outcomes
- Health IT
CHQR badges are awarded yearly based on the latest Uniform Data System (UDS) reporting period.
To earn a CHQR Badge, health centers must meet CHQR Badge Eligibility and the criteria outlined for each CHQR badge.
Jump to:
- CHQR badge eligibility
- CHQR badge criteria, measures, and targets
- National Quality Leader (NQL) badges
- NQL – Behavioral Health badge
- NQL – Cancer Screening badge
- NQL – Diabetes Health badge
- NQL – Heart Health badge
- Health Center Quality Leader (HCQL) badges
- Other CHQR badges
- Improving Health Care Access badge
- Advancing Health Information Technology (HIT) for Quality badge
- View badge awards
- Request high-quality images of the badges
CHQR badge eligibility
To be eligible for CHQR badges, health centers must:
- Be an active Health Center Program awardee or look-alike.
- Submit complete and on-time Uniform Data System (UDS) data by the February 15 deadline each Calendar Year (CY).
- Receive an acceptable UDS table ratings from UDS Reviewer.
- Resolve any progressive action conditions by June of the CY.
- Report on clinical quality measures (CQMs) and patient populations. Use an electronic health record (EHR) to do this. EHRs must be installed at all sites and used by all providers.
New CHQR Badge Criteria, Measures, and Targets
Changes to all CHQR badges, which will be awarded in Calendar Year (CY) 2025 for the 2024 Uniform Data System (UDS) reporting period, include:
- Updated thresholds, which determine the health centers that earn badges.
- Where applicable, Top Quartile Thresholds for each badge will be based on 2023 UDS data.
- Minimum clinical quality measure (CQM) patient threshold of 30 patients, or where applicable, 16 patients.
- Updated criteria for National Quality Leader – Behavioral Health badge
HRSA Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC) intends for Calendar Year (CY) 2025-2027 CHQR badge criteria to remain constant. 2024 UDS data will determine CY 2025 CHQR badges; 2025 UDS data will determine CY 2026 CHQR badges; and 2026 UDS data will determine 2027 CHQR badges.
National Quality Leader (NQL) badges
To earn NQL badges, health centers and LALs must:
- Meet or exceed national benchmarks for one or more of the clinical quality measures (CQM) groups that promote:
- Behavioral health
- Cancer screening
- Diabetes health
- Heart health
- Report a minimum number of 30 patients in a CQM denominator for all NQL badges.
2025 NQL - Behavioral Health badge
Criterion to earn NQL – Behavioral Health badge:
Meet at least two of the three measure targets
| Measure | Target |
|---|---|
| Depression remission at twelve months | 18% (Top quartile of 2023 UDS Data) |
| Screening for Depression and follow-up plan | 85.8% (Top quartile of 2023 UDS Data) |
| Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) (Proportion of all patients receiving SBIRT) | At least 5% |
2025 NQL – Cancer Screening badge
Criterion to earn NQL – Cancer Screening badge:
Must meet at least two of the three cancer screening targets
| Measure | Target |
|---|---|
| Breast Cancer Screening | 80.3% (Healthy People 2030 Target) |
| Cervical Cancer Screening | 79.2% (Healthy People 2030 Target) |
| Colorectal Cancer Screening | 72.8% (Healthy People 2030 Target) |
2025 NQL – Diabetes Health badge
Criterion to earn Diabetes Health badge:
Meet or exceed two of the three measure targets
| Measure | Target |
|---|---|
| Adult Body Mass Index (BMI) screening and follow-up plan | 86% (Top quartile of 2023 UDS Data) |
| Weight assessment and counseling for nutrition and physical activity for children and adolescents | 85% (Top quartile of 2023 UDS Data) |
| Diabetes: Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) Poor Control (>9.0%) - Inverse Measure (uncontrolled diabetes) | 11.6% (Healthy People 2030 Target) |
2025 NQL - Heart Health badge
Criterion to earn Heart Health badge:
Meet or exceed three of the four measure targets, which are based on the Million Heart Goals (PDF - 976 KB)
| Measure | Target |
|---|---|
| Tobacco use: screening and cessation intervention | 80% |
| Ischemic Vascular Disease (IVD): use of aspirin or another antiplatelet | 80% |
| Statin therapy for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease | 80% |
| Controlling High Blood Pressure (hypertension control) | 80% |
2025 Health Center Quality Leader (HCQL) badges
To earn HCQL badges, health centers must have the best overall CQM performance based on average Adjusted Quartile Rankings (AQR). AQR calculations use data from the most recent Uniform Data System (UDS) reporting period. We award HCQL badges to health centers with AQR averages in the top three tiers (top 30%).
| HCQL Badge | Decile of AQR Average |
|---|---|
| Gold | 1st tier (top 10%) |
| Silver | 2nd tier (top 11-20%) |
| Bronze | 3rd tier (top 21-30%) |
Note: We use the latest UDS data to calculate AQRs each year. Tier cutoffs may change every year, and adjusted quartiles may not be consistent from year to year.
Other CHQR badges
2025 Improving Health Care Access badge
Criteria to earn Improving Health Care Access badge:
- Achieve at least one of these:
- Earn at least one HCQL or NQL badge.
- Improve by at least 15% in one or more CQMs in back-to-back UDS reporting years.
- Increase by at least 5% in back-to-back UDS reporting years.
- Total patients.
- Patients receiving mental health, substance use disorder, vision, dental, or enabling services.
How did health centers qualify?
We used data from the last two UDS reporting periods (Table 5: Staffing and Utilization (PDF - 271 KB)).
2025 Advancing Health Information Technology (HIT) for Quality badge
Criteria to earn Advancing Health Information Technology (HIT) for Quality badge:
- Submit any UDS+ data on patient sociodemographic characteristics.
- Offer telehealth services.
- Exchange clinical information online with key providers' health care settings.
- Engage patients through health IT.
- Collect data on patient health related social need.
How did health centers qualify?
We used UDS data from the latest reporting year (Appendix D: Health Center Information Technology Capabilities and Appendix E: Other Data Elements (PDF - 171 KB).)
How do we view badge awards?
- Health Center Program UDS Data – View all CHQR badges we award to each health center. (We base this on the latest UDS reporting year.)
How do we request a high-quality image of our badge?
Fill out the BPHC Contact Form. Select:
- Uniform Data Systems (UDS)
- Community Health Quality Recognition Badges (CHQR) Badges
- Requesting a badge image or certificate
What if we have a question?
- Review the Community Health Quality Recognition Frequently Asked Questions
- Fill out the BPHC Contact Form. Select:
- Uniform Data System (UDS)
- Community Health Quality Recognition (CHQR) Badges
- Verifying CHQR badge eligibility or criteria