Improving health outcomes for North Carolinians served by health care safety net organizations

Vision

North Carolinians receive the medical care they need, when they need it, in a high quality, local, culturally sensitive environment.

Target Population

Eligible target populations include low-income, uninsured and medically underserved individuals receiving health services from safety-net organizations. We prioritize our work to focus on adults aged 18-64, often referred to as the working poor.

Measurable Results

Consideration is given as to whether the project has high potential for sustainability and will create lasting environmental or policy change. Programs that underwrite the cost of care without policy changes that enhance sustainability are considered on an extremely limited basis. For guidance on screening programs, please consult the Eligibility Guidelines.

The Foundation assumes as a baseline that programs tailor care to the cultural differences of patients and as appropriate, those with limited English proficiency or low health literacy. In addition, organizations should be actively engaged in, or at a minimum supportive of, collaborations such as Care Share Collaborative Networks in their communities.

Highest priority is given to applicants using strategies that will achieve measurable results in multiple areas outlined below:

1. Increase quality, supply of and access to (medical and dental) health care

• Increase coordination and continuity of care in or among health care safety net organizations
• Increase the number and/or availability of providers serving vulnerable populations
• Increase provider use of evidence-based protocols and quality improvement measures
• Enhance operations and infrastructure of health care safety net organizations

2. Increase appropriate use of health care resources and improve individual health behaviors

• Increase patient use of preventive health care guidelines
• Increase patient use of programs to treat and control chronic conditions with a focus on diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer
• Reduce avoidable hospitalizations and the number of visits to emergency departments for non-urgent care

Examples

1. A safety-net prescription program is expanding a free medication management program. As a result they are reducing multiple unnecessary visits to the emergency department. In order to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of the program they are also developing a plan to improve community visibility, attract potential donors and develop collaborative relationships within the local hospital.
2. A safety-net clinic that sees high-risk OB-GYN patients referred from many clinics throughout the county is underwriting the cost of providing follow-up care to women with abnormal Pap tests while building a network of providers that will provide this service for free in the future through the local Project Access network. As a result, they’re increasing the number of women with a normal result on subsequent Pap tests and increasing ongoing access to free services for uninsured women.
3. A community outreach program is reducing the incidence of late-stage identification of prostate cancer among at-risk African-American men. They are identifying and serving at-risk African-American men who have never been screened for prostate cancer and securing commitments from local providers to continue providing free community screenings on an annual basis.