• 401 Frederica Street, B-203
  • Owensboro, Kentucky 42301
  • (270) 685-2652 | FAX (270) 685-6074
Pages
  • 1
    • Introduction
  • 2
    • Local Facilities and Programs
  • 3
    • Local Options for Serving the Uninsured
  • 4
    • Other Options
  • 5
    • Other Statistics
  • 6
    • Learn More
  • 7
    • Sources

Care for the Uninsured:

Examining local options to meet the growing need

Local facilities and programs that attempt to meet the need

OMHS Emergency Department

Print

The OMHS Emergency Department is the prominent provider of health care for the uninsured in our area. OMHS is required by law to accept all patients – emergency and non-emergency. The facility is open 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
The OMHS Emergency Department served 63,500 patients in fiscal year 2005 (ending May 31); 34,000 were unduplicated patients. More than one in five patients, or 22 percent, were uninsured: 7,480 uninsured patients through 13,970 emergency room visits.
Eighty percent of the Emergency Department patients are Daviess County residents; 20 percent come from the 10 other counties in the hospital’s service area.

Only 10 percent of the Emergency Department uses relate to critical care, or true emergencies. Intermediate/moderate care comprises 45 percent of the volume and non-emergency care the remaining 45 percent.
The Emergency Department employs 75 full-time staff. This does not include 10 emergency physician specialists and four physician assistants hired on contract who do their own billing of Emergency Department patients.
OMHS spends approximately $5 million annually to operate the Emergency Department. This does not include the physician/physician assistant contract or the many ancillary services that are available to the Emergency Department: x-ray, lab, pharmacy, testing equipment, etc.

In 2002, the American College of Emergency Physicians reported a national average of $400 per patient visit in an emergency room. Assuming a 15 percent subsequent annual increase, the current cost would be $580.
In fiscal year 2005, OMHS absorbed $28.6 million in uncompensated care ($13.6 million in bad debt, $15 million in charity care) and $5.5 million in uncompensated care in the Emergency Department.
To assist those who cannot afford their medications, OMHS staff helps patients qualify for public and private prescription assistance programs.

Free Clinic

The Free Clinic provides free treatment and medications for the “working poor” who are uninsured. The clinic is open three and one-half hours per week (3:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Mondays) in new facilities provided at no cost in the Daviess County Health Center which opened October 2004. The Free Clinic serves approximately 500 individual patients through 1,900 office visits per year. Patients come from Daviess and seven surrounding counties.

The Free Clinic has service contracts with three staff: executive director; director of nursing; medical/office assistant. The clinic benefits from 85 volunteers; approximately 14 are needed each week for two-three hour shifts: physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and screeners.

The 2005 budget is $96,850, or $194 per patient served, $51 per office visit. This does not include a $98,000 federal grant for medications, supplies, and computers. Free Clinic revenue comes from city and county government, businesses, churches, and other contributions and grants.

McAuley Clinic

The McAuley Clinic provides free services for the uninsured, whether or not they are working. The clinic is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday in facilities located in the Daniel Pitino Shelter near downtown Owensboro. The clinic serves 2,500 individual patients through 8,000 office visits: 90 percent are Daviess County residents; 10 percent come from the region.

The McAuley Clinic employs four full-time staff: physician, two nurses, and a case manager. Nearly 30 administrative staff and one nurse practitioner volunteer at the clinic. Ten physicians are available to fill in when needed, and most area specialists accept referrals from the clinic.

The annual budget is $232,000, or $93 per patient served, $29 per office visit. The clinic is funded by OMHS and Catholic Healthcare Partners. In 2004, the McAuley Clinic distributed $1.2 million in medications directly through samples donated by physicians and the Kroger pharmacy.

Reach Clinic

The REACH Clinic provides health services for patients covered under Medicaid, Medicare, and discounted services for those who are uninsured. The fee schedule ranges from $15 to $55 per office visit. The clinic is open from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Mondays and 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday at the Daviess County Health Center.

The clinic is a complement to the Daviess County Community Access Project (DC-CAP) that coordinates health care for the uninsured through donated services of physicians, pharmacies, and other support services. DC-CAP staff also manages the REACH Clinic.
Since opening in October 2004, the REACH Clinic has served 480 individual patients through 738 office visits. Approximately 50 percent (or 240 individual patients) of those served at the REACH Clinic have no health insurance; others are covered by Medicare or Medicaid.

In its first six months, the REACH Clinic served Daviess County residents exclusively. The clinic now serves patients from surrounding counties. Five full-time staff members are employed at the clinic: clinic director, nurse practitioner, nurse, and two support personnel. A part-time physician, who also serves as medical director for the seven-county Green River district, also works at the clinic.

Clinic expenses total $182 per patient served, $119 per office visit. (This does not include salaries for the nurse, physician, and nurse practitioner that are absorbed in the district health department budget.) The clinic is financed by the Daviess County Health Department and a federal government grant. Space is provided at no cost by the health department. REACH provides free prescription drugs through prescription assistance programs and free samples donated by pharmaceutical companies, local clinics and physicians.

Physicians and Other Private Providers

Most local physicians provide care for the uninsured at free or reduced charges. Some acknowledge this publicly; most prefer to provide such services discreetly and anonymously. Pharmacies, labs, and other allied health facilities also provide products and services at free and reduced charges.

Some health care providers register and coordinate uncompensated care through programs such as Daviess County Community Access Project (DC-CAP) or Health Kentucky; others work independently. In a brief period of time, DC-CAP has attracted 64 participating physicians – 10 primary care physicians and 54 specialists (representing 13 specialties). Through DC-CAP, 81 uninsured patients have been assigned to a doctor – 66 to primary care doctors; 15 to specialists.

Local health care professionals estimate an average local physician patient case load of 1,200 and that uninsured patients represent an average of three percent of their practices. With 192 physicians in Daviess County, 6,912 uninsured patients are served through private physician practices annually – 36 uninsured patients per physician per year, or three per month.

Through the Health Kentucky program, several local physicians and the Kroger pharmacy donate care and medications to patients with incomes under the federal poverty level, but data was not available.

2
Copyright ©2005 Public Life Foundation of Owensboro
Site Development by Red Pixel Studios