Hospitals trying preventive care for uninsured

With the number of uninsured people in the United States reaching a record 46.6 million last year, up by 7 million from 2000, a small number of hospital systems around the country to have done the math and acted on it. Officials decided that for many patients with chronic diseases, it would be cheaper to provide free preventive care than to absorb the high cost of repeated emergencies.

“Patients can have better care and we can reduce the costs for the hospital,” said Dr. Melissa Smith, medical director of three community health centers run by Seton, a Roman Catholic hospital network that uses its profits and donations to provide nearly free care to 5,000 of the working poor. Smith has seen many patients medical bills have been cut nearly in half.

Reaching out to uninsured patients, especially those with chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, congestive heart failure or asthma, is a recent tactic of “a handful of visionary hospital systems around the country,” said Karen Davis, president of the Commonwealth Fund, a foundation in New York that concentrates on health care. These institutions are searching for ways to fend off disease and large debts by bringing uninsured visitors into continuing basic care.

“For most preventive efforts there is an upfront expense,” said Alan D. Aviles, president of the corporation. “But over the long term it saves money.”

Courtesy of NY Times

Steve - wow! This piece says a mouthful. It is a breath of fresh air to see a few hospitals catching on. Unfortunately, the reason is not because of improving patient care, it is because they see the monetary savings. Regardless of the reason, they are seeing improvement in their patients' health. That is all that matters.