The Health Of A Nonprofit Health Care Clinic

Millions of dollars are spent on healthcare every year in USA but the health of the beneficiaries has not increased accordingly. Just providing healthcare is not enough; quality healthcare with long term benefits should be the aim of the healthcare providers. I have studied and worked in certain multi-specialty hospitals and government facilities in my home town. I have seen corruption and frauds happening at various levels and hence wanted to study about how such non profit and

For the last five weeks research has been done on Kaiser Permanente, an organization that contains Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Permanente Medical Groups in eight regions. Since its inception in 1945, Kaiser Permanente has become the largest not-for-profit, integrated health care delivery system in the United States, serving 8.6 million members in eight regions: Northern and Southern California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, the Mid-Atlantic States, Ohio, and the Northwest. About three quarters of the members are in California, the organization’s birthplace. It is the largest nonprofit integrated health care delivery system in the United States. Its mission is to provide affordable, high-quality health care services to improve the health of their members and the communities they serve. For the purpose of this research, focus will be on Northern California in a randomly selected hospital.

This case study is based on the Metrolina Health Center, which was started by Dr. Charles Warren. Williams and several medical colleagues with a $25,000 grant typically from the Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Williams is the first African American to have services on this category of staff; Charlotte’s Memorial Hospital, which is undoubtedly the Charlotte’s largest hospital. The main concern of Dr. Williams is the health care needs of poor people in the area. He had always focused on making the word a better place, especially for the people who feel less fortunate. The doctor also went ahead with enlisting the aid of a local dentist, Dr. John murphy among other professionals including the director of the Sickle

8. Establishes community support and involvement. "Any hospital that develops a free clinic in conjunction with local businesses, governmental units and, in some cases, religious organizations, realizes significant new community support and involvement," he

Ozark Medical Center (OMC) in West Plains, Missouri is one of them. It is considered a Disproportionate Share Hospital or ‘DSH’ and provides charity care. As Jennifer Davidson describes it in her Health and Wealth Update story on KSMU, “Charity care is healthcare that isn’t paid for, usually because the patient doesn’t have money or insurance” (p.1). Today the DSH designated hospitals do not receive the same amount of federal funds (DSH payments) they did before the ACA from 2010 was enacted. A supreme court decision in 2012 ruled the forced Medicaid expansion, which was included in the ACA, unconstitutional for all states and as a result the expansion is now an option for the states. However, Jennifer Davidson explains that when the remaining parts of the ACA were passed, “it included a 75 percent cut in those DSH payments. That’s because another part – the Medicaid expansion part – was supposed to make up for that reduction. So: more people covered by Medicaid, less charity care – and less need for DSH payments” (p.1). There are also cuts in the ACA to Medicare payments, which in addition to the reduced DSH payments could affect a hospitals finances by a large percentage. In Jennifer Davidson’s story, Ozarks Medical Center’s CEO David Zechman explained that “OMC could see a 60% reduction in its bottom line if Medicaid doesn’t get expanded”. OMC is not the only small rural hospital in Missouri which sees

I am interested in joining CHHMP because I want to make a longitudinal and serious commitment to improving access to medical care through my time in medical school – particularly for such an underserved group as is the homeless population. The idea of a free clinic to me was always appealing, but the people that walk through its doors are entitled to good quality medical care - not just access to any sort of medical care. Is it unfair that free clinics use medical students that are often transitional workers? Is there something problematic about treating impoverished populations as practice? What type of medical care are free clinics actually providing? The reason why I want to join CHHMP (and why it is the only clinic that I will be applying

Throughout the Edgewater and Rogers Park community, my focus was on the physical health and well being of the members of the community. The assets identified were doctor’s offices, small clinics and clinics that are a part of a larger chain. Each of these assets show the diversity in the medical care offered in the Edgewater and Rogers Park community. For example, the assets that we found were mostly privately owned and the clinics that are part of a larger chain such as the clinics in Walgreens or CVS, were small and run by only a few people. There weren’t any assets that were part of a large medical institution such as Advocate or Nova health. There was only one hospital which is Methodist Hospital which is one of the largest assets we found. This illustrates how in the Edgewater and Rogers Park community, smaller and more convenient methods of receiving healthcare is emphasized more than larger scale hospitals.

The organization I choose is Dignity Health Mercy Medical Center Redding (MMCR), located in Northern California. MMCR 2014 Community Health Needs Assessment Report is easy to read and understand. They provided the picture of the community they are serving and what are the problems that need priority. The hospital catered on communities in Shasta, Tehama and Trinity County. What I noticed is that the community they are serving is mostly Caucasian (79.6%), only 11% Hispanic. Out of the 209, 900 population, 17.3% were uninsured, 21.7% on Medi-cal with 10.9% unemployment rate. Most of the people seeking medical help go to the Emergency Department for non-acute medical services. MMCR priority is to have a community-based collaboration with other non-profit organization will address the existing problem the community is facing and to provide a long-term plan that will benefit the community in the future.

“The U.S. spends nearly twice as much money per capita on health care as other developed nations, yet the metrics show that Americans end up with worse care and poorer health.” (Hill) The rising cost of healthcare has pushed some non-profits to become for-profit organizations.

For- profit health care and organizations have a misconception that this automatically means higher costs and a lower level of quality. There are several studies that directly contradict this assumption. In a study that was conducted by Blue Cross, the findings showed that there was not an increase in costs and that there was not a negative effect on the availability of health care.

Providence Health & Services is the third largest not-for-profit health system in the US and are committed to providing for the needs of our communities, especially those who are poor and vulnerable. They cover

Health care is something that affects every person in this country, and the rising cost is making it nearly impossible for people to afford. In The McDonaldization of Society, George Ritzer shows how the health care industry is changing and how the phenomenon of McDonaldization is effecting how we receive health care. Healthcare has become more efficient, calculable, predictable, and controlling. In the following sections, I will explore further these aspects of McDonaldization and how they relate to the health care industry.

The “Community Resource Sheet” is list of organizations that may or may not provide you with the medical services that a client needs. Some of these organizations provide their services free of charge, where as others charge based on the individual’s ability to pay, (i.e., based on an individual’s income). But these philanthropic measures have not improved the plight of the “working poor,” retirees, nor those left homeless by the recession, minimum wage jobs that do not offer health insurance, or a living wage, illnesses, on the job injuries, accidents, or marital separation and divorce. These are just a few reasons people find themselves in dire straits medically, and financially.

Non-Profit hospitals can often assist potential patients to care for the uninsured in their community (Kovner & Knickman, 2008).

Healthcare system provides services to those who can pay for them; unfortunately, not all people can afford to have insurance and get medical care when they need. There are many poor people who are left behind this system and something needs to be done in order to provide these people with appropriate care and equal opportunities. Opening a free clinic is a way out of the situation as it will allow people without insurance rely on the system of healthcare in the country and significantly improve the their life quality. This project needs to include the analysis of economic issues and special needs in order to develop a coherent outline for further steps in project implementation.