scholarly journals Filling Gaps and Setting Boundaries: Examining Utilization of Health and Social services at JeffHOPE Student Run Clinics

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 215013272110375
Author(s):  
Roy Wang ◽  
Amanda Guth ◽  
Alyssa Tate ◽  
Michele Ly ◽  
James Plumb

The objective of this study was to describe the frequency that healthcare and social support services offered by JeffHOPE, a student run clinic for people experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia, PA, were utilized by patients. This study also aimed to investigate where patients would seek medical care on a given day had they not been able to access JeffHOPE. This study was conducted via mixed methods consisting of retrospective chart review of patient encounter records and a patient survey conducted weekly throughout 2019, both at a single clinic site, and retrospective chart review of January through March 2020 records at 5 clinic sites. This study found that the frequency of services utilized varied between clinic sites, and that Pharmacy and Procedure committees were the most utilized when examining the combined clinic data. Additionally, the survey found that JeffHOPE provided medical care to those that otherwise would not have sought it. Clinics also served as an alternative to accessing care for non-emergent issues in an Emergency Department (ED) for some patients, but for others it replaced seeing their primary care provider (PCP). This study confirmed that the services offered by JeffHOPE are well-utilized by patients experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia. It also revealed that while the organization’s medical services filled care gaps and potentially decreased unnecessary ED visits, they were also sometimes accessed in lieu of a PCP visit. A focused effort on linkage to formal primary care services for all JeffHOPE patients and expanding collection of more granular data to all clinics represent important future endeavors for this student run organization.

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 94 (3) ◽  
pp. 284-290
Author(s):  
Paul C. Young ◽  
Yu Shyr ◽  
M. Anthony Schork

Objective. To determine the roles of primary care physicians and specialists in the medical care of children with serious heart disease. Setting. Pediatric Cardiology Division; Tertiary Care Children's Hospital. Subjects. Convenience sample of parents, primary care physicians, and pediatric cardiologists of 92 children with serious heart disease. Design. Questionnaire study; questionnaires based on 16 medical care needs, encompassing basic primary care services, care specific to the child's heart disease and general issues related to chronic illness. Results. All children had a primary care physician (PCP), and both they and the parents (P) reported high utilization of PCP for basic primary care services. However, there was little involvement of PCP in providing care for virtually any aspect of the child's heart disease. Parents expressed a low level of confidence in the ability of PCP in general or their child's own PCP to meet many of their child's medical care needs. Both PCP and pediatric cardiologists (PC) were significantly more likely than parents to see a role for PCP in providing for care specific to the heart disease as well as more general issues related to chronic illness. PC and PCP generally agreed about the role PCP should play, although PC saw a bigger role for PCP in providing advice about the child's activity than PCP themselves did. PC were less likely to see the PCP as able to follow the child for long term complications than PCP did. PC were more likely than PCP to believe that PCP were too busy or were inadequately reimbursed to care for children with serious heart disease. Only about one-third of parents reported discussing psychosocial, family, economic, or genetic issues with any provider, and PCP were rarely involved in these aspects of chronic illness. Conclusions. Primary care physicians do not take an active role in managing either the condition-specific or the more general aspects of this serious chronic childhood illness. With appropriate information and support from their specialist colleagues primary care physicians could provide much of the care for this group of children. Generalists and specialists are both responsible for educating and influencing parents about the role primary care physicians can play in caring for children with serious chronic illness.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 169
Author(s):  
Jarman Alqahtani ◽  
Daniel West

OBJECTIVE: The study has aimed to explore the process, outcomes of primary care, and barriers that make the primary care access difficult for the patients. DESIGN & SETTING: The study has utilized quantitative and qualitative approach and collected data from the clinic and patients. Patient survey was conducted to ask the patients about the possible reasons, which prevent them from accessing primary care services in the past. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 46 years, among which majority (65%) were males. The results showed that education was the significant factor in determining the health status of a specific population. The clinic was successfully integrated into the behavioral health care setting. Many patients had been enrolled in the clinic for the first time with the help of a care manager that facilitated the identification of those patients. Most commonly, transportation was the main barrier for those populations for not seeking the primary care services. Emergency department use significantly declined after the implementation of the new model that reduced the cost of health services dramatically in a short period of time i.e. 6 months. CONCLUSION: There are susceptical gaps within the fragmented care due to high rates of physical health conditions. Majority of the patients in the study sample were satisfied with the new model; therefore, the new model was termed as effective and efficient.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabelle Gaboury ◽  
Mylaine Breton ◽  
Kathy Perreault ◽  
François Bordeleau ◽  
Sarah Descôteaux ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The Advanced Access (AA) Model has shown considerable success in improving timely access for patients in primary care settings. As a result, a majority of family physicians have implemented AA in their organizations over the last decade. However, despite its widespread use, few professionals other than physicians and nurse practitioners have implemented the model. Among those who have integrated it to their practice, a wide variation in the level of implementation is observed, suggesting a need to support primary care teams in continuous improvement with AA implementation. This quality improvement research project aims to document and measure the processes and effects of practice facilitation, to implement and improve AA within interprofessional teams. Methods Five primary care teams at various levels of organizational AA implementation will take part in a quality improvement process. These teams will be followed independently over PDSA (Plan-Do-Study-Act) cycles for 18 months. Each team is responsible for setting their own objectives for improvement with respect to AA. The evaluation process consists of a mixed-methods plan, including semi-structured interviews with key members of the clinical and management teams, patient experience survey and AA-related metrics monitored from Electronic Medical Records over time. Discussion Most theories on organizational change indicate that practice facilitation should enable involvement of stakeholders in the process of change and enable improved interprofessional collaboration through a team-based approach. Improving access to primary care services is one of the top priorities of the Quebec’s ministry of health and social services. This study will identify key barriers to quality improvement initiatives within primary care and help to develop successful strategies to help teams improve and broaden implementation of AA to other primary care professionals.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 158-158
Author(s):  
Constanca Paul ◽  
Susana Sousa ◽  
Pedro Santos ◽  
Rónán O’Caoimh ◽  
William Molloy

Abstract Neurocognitive Disorders (NCD) is an increasingly common condition in the community. The General Practitioner (GP) in Primary Care Services (PCS), have a crucial role in early detection of NCD and is usually the first professional to detect the signs of MCI. The objective of this study was to test the feasibility and utility of the cognitive screening instrument QMCI in Primary Care. A community sample of 436 people 65+ living in the community was randomly selected from a larger group of old people with mental health concerns (N=2734), referred by their GPs. The mean age of the sample was 75.2 years (sd 7.2), with 41.3% men and 58.7% women; 60.4% married followed by 28.7% widows. The education level was low with 21% illiterate and 69,8% people with 4 years education. The QMCI mean was 37.1/100 (sd 16.2). The amount of people screening positive for cognitive impairment QMCI (<62/100) was 94.2%. In the distribution of people with cognitive impairment by Global Deterioration Scale (GDS) three recoded categories, of the 286 people 76,1% where classified as having very mild or mild impairment, 19,4% moderate or moderately serious and 4,5% severe or very severe impairment. These results confirm the perception of GPs about their clients having mental health concerns and the ability of QMCI accurately discriminate MCI. The QMCI is very brief (3-5mins) fitting the short time of GPs to assess cognitive status and timely refer clients to nonpharmacological interventions that could postpone NCD symptoms.


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