We can gleen information from the community health care model

Triggers to community health centers

Recent economic changes have prompted an increase and a need for reorganization at many community health clinics across the United States. Many health clinics base their prices on a sliding fee scale in order to better serve the needs of patients who have very little or no insurance. With the current economic problems many people have found the need to utilize the services of community health clinics. For these reasons, the number of patients has increased within these organizations prompting a different approach to the way patients are seen.

In a time where many companies are struggling community health clinics have seen a dramatic increase in patient volume. With this increase in volume providers and staff must reflect this with increased productivity. While other companies are laying off employees many clinics see the need to increase associate numbers to better serve the increasing number of patients. Economic factors are not the only triggers that encourage change at community health clinics.

Less dramatic, but no less significant, increases in patients can also be seen annually around the holidays and the winter months. Many community health clinics offer more than just medical care, such as homeless outreach and medication assistance programs. The cold winter months trigger more people to utilize the services of homeless shelters and community services. This increase can be seen directly in many community health clinics with dramatic changes in the number of outreach clients and level of involvement, by staff, at local homeless shelters. While this trigger has less of an impact on the number of clients than economic factors, this trigger can be seen and anticipated each year. Economic problems are far less predictable.

Not-for- profit organizations are in many ways regulated and funded by government involvement. For

this reason, government officials must also react to triggers that affect these community health clinics. With

our recent economic problems the government has agreed to assist many companies in order to recover

the economy and community health clinics have been included in this aid. Government officials realize that

the health care system is in serious need of reform and also realize that community health clinics provide

services that attempt to answer these problems. Therefore, the house of representatives is currently

reviewing a stimulus package that will provide $1.5 billion in appropriations for community health clinics. T

The poorest people in our nation are the most affected by economic failure and our government realizes

this. It is not just bankers and CEOs that need this assistance. The American population struggling to attain

preventative health care could possibly stand the most to gain from economic stimulus. This is an important

first step in the reform of the American health care system.