AHRQ’s Health Care Innovations Exchange Focuses on Community-Wide Initiatives To Enhance Access for Vulnerable Populations

The latest issue of AHRQ’s Health Care Innovations Exchangefeatures three profiles about community-wide initiatives to increase access to health care for vulnerable populations. One featured profile describes a community-funded, nonprofit organization called Doctors Care that matches eligible uninsured and underinsured patients in a three-county area outside of Denver County, CO, with providers who agree to serve them at a discounted rate. High levels of participation among area providers and enhanced patient access to care has led to a 15 percent rate of emergency department visits by Doctors Care patients, well below the 21 percent national average for uninsured patients. Other innovation profiles and tools related to collaborative efforts to enhance access for vulnerable populations are located on the Innovations Exchange Web site, which contains more than 825 searchable innovations and 1,550 quality tools.

AHRQ Innovations Exchange

Community Partnership Connects Low-Income Patients With Providers Who Serve Them at Discounted Rates, Enhancing Access and Reducing Emergency Department Use | AHRQ Innovations Exchange

Innovations

Bicultural, Youth Development Program for At-Risk Latino Families Enhances Overall Health, Teen Birth Control Use, and Family Communication2/12/2014

A multidisciplinary team of bilingual providers helps Latino youth and their parents access culturally appropriate resources and coaches the youth to avoid risky behaviors, leading to increased use of birth control, reduced incidence of depression, enhanced overall self-reported health status among youth, and improved communication skills and greater awareness of and comfort with available community resources among parents.

Community Coalition Connects Medical Practices to Community Resources, Leading to Improved Asthma and Diabetes Outcomes in At-Risk Populations2/12/2014

King County Steps to Health connected medical practices to community resources by encouraging organizations to work together to identify common messages, leverage resources, and develop programs for populations at risk for diabetes, asthma, and obesity.

Countywide Partnership Promotes Culturally Appropriate Outreach and Education, Leading to Increased Breast Cancer Screening and Earlier Detection in Underserved Minorities 2/12/2014

A community partnership developed culturally appropriate outreach and education, leading to enhanced access to breast cancer screening and earlier detection of the disease in African-American and Hispanic women.

Kidney Transplant Center Required Completion of Education Class Prior to Medical Assessment, Leading to More Patients Completing Evaluation 2/12/2014

A transplant center established a mandatory education session for newly referred patients, leading to a significant increase in the percentage of patients (particularly African Americans and people of lower socioeconomic status) completing the enrollment process.

Medical Outreach to HIV Patients in Unstable Housing Increases Use of Care and HIV-Related Medications and Improves Patient Perceptions of Quality2/12/2014

The Medical Outreach Program enhanced services provided to unstably housed, minority individuals with human immunodeficiency virus by including physicians on the community outreach team who provide general medical consultation, triage, acute care, evaluation, and prescriptions for needed medications.

View all Innovations (187)...

Show Innovation Attempts OnlyShow Innovation Attempts
Show Innovation AttemptsShow Policy Profiles

QualityTools

National Survey of Children's Health: Data Resource Center 2/12/2014

This data query tool provides immediate access to the National Survey of Children's Health data, as well as resources and assistance for interpreting and reporting findings.

Maximizing Health Care for Colorado’s Underserved 2/12/2014

This operational handbook for safety-net medical homes describes the experience of Doctors Care, a community-funded, nonprofit organization that helps underserved children, adults, and families receive the medical attention they need.

Asthma Care Quality Improvement: A Resource Guide for State Action12/18/2013

This 151-page resource guide was developed as a learning tool for State officials who want to improve the quality of health care for people with asthma in their States. The guide is designed to help officials assess quality of care, using State-level data, and fashion quality improvement strategies suited to State conditions.

Improving the Quality of Home and Community Based Services and Supports, Work Book 12/18/2013

This workbook helps States improve the quality of home- and community-based programs and supports (HCBS) programs. It will help users understand, design, implement, document, and monitor the components of a quality improvement process for HCBS programs.

Reengineered Discharge Toolkit 4/24/2013

This toolkit was developed to facilitate the Project RED intervention.

View all QualityTools (10)...