University of South Carolina Beaufort.
Volunteers in Medicine, Hilton Head, SC.
Perm J. 2020;24. doi: 10.7812/TPP/19.022. Epub 2020 Mar 13.
Providing high-quality health care to poor and uninsured individuals has been a challenge to the US health care system for decades. Often, patients do not seek care until they are in a crisis, or they seek care at a health care system while not addressing their primary care needs.
To report on a community that has sought to change this dynamic with the development of an all-volunteer practitioner-run clinic model.
Perspective on a successful volunteer-run safety-net clinic.
Volunteers in Medicine on Hilton Head Island, SC, provides free health care, with more than 28,000 eligible patient visits annually, for the underserved population. This clinic is self-funded through donations and charity events and accepts no federal money. The patients are not asked to pay a fee for service. Most medical specialties are represented at the clinic, and many partnerships are in place for referrals for more advanced procedures such as surgery. All health care clinicians are volunteers, including physicians, nurses, dentists, and mental health professionals.
The quality of care meets or exceeds national recommendations on many measurements, including mammography and Papanicolaou test screening rates.
Safety-net clinics such as Volunteers in Medicine are a needed and viable option to the provision of health care to the vulnerable, often unseen members of society.
几十年来，为贫困和没有保险的个人提供高质量的医疗保健一直是美国医疗保健系统面临的挑战。通常，患者只有在处于危机中时才会寻求医疗服务，或者在不满足其基本医疗需求的情况下寻求医疗保健系统的医疗服务。
报告一个社区如何通过开发全志愿者医生管理的诊所模式来改变这种状况。
对一家成功的志愿者经营的安全网诊所的看法。
南卡罗来纳州希尔顿头岛的志愿者医疗组织为服务不足的人群提供免费医疗服务，每年有超过 28000 名符合条件的患者就诊。该诊所通过捐款和慈善活动自筹资金，不接受任何联邦资金。患者无需为服务付费。该诊所提供了许多专业的医疗服务，并且为更高级的手术等程序建立了许多转诊合作关系。所有医疗临床医生都是志愿者，包括医生、护士、牙医和心理健康专业人员。
在许多方面，包括乳房 X 光检查和巴氏试验筛查率，该诊所的护理质量都达到或超过了国家建议的标准。
像志愿者医疗组织这样的安全网诊所是向社会中弱势、往往未被关注的人群提供医疗服务的一种必要且可行的选择。
