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Oregonian News Update: Lane County health care effort sees results.
Background:Three years ago, Lane County leaders set out to make health care available to every resident, including 60,000 uninsured.
United Way created the Lane County 100 Percent Access Coalition, which enlisted volunteer doctors, hospital and insurance executives, political and community leaders, safety-net clinic workers and a 30-member steering committee.
The coalition, and others like it across the state and nation, expand healthcare by building networks, that emphasize giving rather than profits. Agencies share resources. Doctors donate care. Laboratories provider free tests. Specialists take pro bono referrals. Radiologist produce free X-rays. Drug companies fill free prescriptions.
Update:
The coalition is producing results. Health care providers are communicating better so more uninsured residents are being steered to safety-net clinics rather than hospital emergency rooms for primary care. The Volunteers in Medicine clinic in Eugene, for example, has seen a 10 percent increase in patients, roughly 70 more patient visits a month, said Susan Whitehouse, executive director.
Volunteers are using a Stanford University program to teach the uninsured how to manage chronic conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, back pain and emphysema. So far, nearly 300 people have taken the six-week course.
The coalition also teaches people who work in schools, social services and nonprofit agencies how to help eligible low-income residents sign up for the state’s health care plan or its health insurance subsidy. It also just completed a study that shows how and why people use hospital emergency rooms.
PacificSource Health Plans of Springfield chipped in $500,000 to help establish a community health care fund that will be used to support safety net clinics, prescription drugs and other health services for the uninsured. “We can achieve more by working together,” said Susan Stearns, coalition director.
What’s next:
In October, the coalition will begin serving some county residents who lack insurance and access to care. It is prepared to work with state and national leaders on health care reform, Stearns said. “They haven’t fixed anything yet,” she said, “so there is plenty for us to do locally.”
--Bill Graves
