title: Improving access to care for uninsured patients at an academic medical center: The Access Partnership.
abstract: Uninsured individuals face great challenges in accessing both primary and specialty care. The Access Partnership (TAP) is a novel collaboration between primary and specialty care providers at an urban academic medical center to provide care coordination and facilitate access to specialty services for uninsured patients. We reviewed administrative data and performed phone surveys of the 213 patients who entered the program over a one-year period. Specialty care visit attendance was analyzed from administrative data for these patients. We then surveyed patients by phone (60% response rate). Patient-reported access to care and satisfaction with care were significantly higher after TAP (33% vs. 87%, p&lt;0.001 and 41% vs. 91%, p&lt;0.001, respectively). 89% of referrals were completed within 90 days among TAP patients, a rate similar to studies involving insured patients. TAP enrollment was associated with significantly decreased patient-reported barriers to specialty care as well as improved access to and satisfaction with care.
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Block
authors.forename: Sai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Emerson
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Langley
authors.forename: Desiree
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: de la Torre
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Noronha
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015142:Baltimore; D003159:Community-Institutional Relations; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017057:Medically Uninsured; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D019037:Urban Health Services; D055815:Young Adult