PRIORITY #2: ACCESS TO CARE AND HEALTH DISPARITIES |
| Identify
and eliminate access to care barriers that contribute
to health disparities. |
|
| GOAL
I |
Improve
access to 4C’s Clinics' ambulatory healthcare services
and operate at maximal capacity. (See
Priority 7, Goal I). |
| Objective One: Track and trend
measurable objectives and key indicators of clinic access
to care. |
| Activities: |
- Regularly evaluate and report the above indicators
(to the 4C’s Governing Board and other appropriate
committees).
|
| Objective Two: Research best practices
and identify barriers in 4C’s clinic flow. Establish
short-term and long-term improvements which will result
in improved clinic flow and clinic productivity rates. |
| Activities: |
- Assess and make improvements in the clinic appointment
system.
- Explore the use of technological tools such as
the use of e-mail by appointment clerks, and a communications/paging
system for “Patient Care Teams”, etc.
that can be utilized to make needed system improvements.
- Visit other community health centers to identify
best practices.
- Implement measures to greet patients who arrive
to the clinic, as well as trouble-shoot their specific
issues and needs.
- Review nursing triage policies and protocols and
make recommendations for improvement.
- Explore and implement measures which will move
staff to patients instead of moving patients throughout
the clinic.
- Explore and implement staff cross-training so patient
services are as efficient and cost-effective as possible.
- Establish patient-friendly, recognizable, and easily
understandable signage or other means to direct patients
to various clinic services.
|
| Objective Three: Simplify providers
job responsibilities and tasks such that their time is
focused on patient care duties that only a licensed provider
can perform. |
| Activities: |
- Develop a list of clinic duties that only a licensed
physician/mid-level can perform, and develop a list
of other necessary clinic duties for assignment to
other appropriate clinic personnel.
- Implement patient care teams and establish roles
and responsibilities for each member.
- Develop roles and responsibilities for the patient
care teams and for each member of the team; assign
primary and backup responsibilities to appropriate
team members; provide training to staff prior to implementing
the new job expectations.
- Provide training to providers and patient care
teams on their responsibility to properly document
diagnoses to ensure that accurate coding and clinic
reimbursements can take place.
- Assure key system changes are included in a monthly
monitoring report.
|
| Objective Four: Establish a program
to reward and recognize employees who exceed expectations
to improve clinic capacity |
| Activities: |
- Develop and implement a senior health incentive
program.
- Conduct meetings with employees to identify measures
than can be taken to improve working conditions and
to address employee concerns.
- Develop a program to recognize and reward
employees and patient care teams who implement
improvements within measurable objectives and
indicators
|
| GOAL
II |
Increase community awareness
of the healthcare services provided by the 4C’s
Clinics. (See Priority 1, Goal
II
and IV,
Priority 7, Goal II).
|
| GOAL
III |
Identify and eliminate
barriers in the system of referring 4C’s patients
for specialty evaluations, hospitalizations, and other
types of referrals. |
| Objective One: Develop a comprehensive
system to monitor, standardize, and track referrals.
|
| Activities: |
- Develop and implement a tracking and monitoring
system for referrals.
- Develop and implement clinic practice guidelines
for the most common referral types.
- Work with community partners to develop a system
to receive specialty and referral records on 4C’s
patients in a timely fashion.
|
| Objective Two: Explore and implement
use of new technologies to meet the intent of this goal. |
| Activities: |
|
| GOAL
IV |
Improve fiscal management
and healthcare financing of the 4C’s Clinic.
(See
Goals in Priority 4). |
| GOAL
V |
Strengthen the partnership
between the 4C’s Clinic and local resource organizations
in order to link 4C’s patients to a variety of
existing community and social service resources that
may more comprehensively meet their needs. |
