Health Care Access, Inc.

Lawrence, Kan.
Grant Amount: $20,737

Health Care Access, Inc., established in 1988, provides health care services to any Douglas County, Kansas resident with limited financial resources and without access to a regular source of care.  When new patients are screened for eligibility, the clinic refers them to appropriate programs when available, such as HealthWave and Kansas’s SCHIP, and provides on-site assistance to complete those programs’ applications if needed.

Patients must earn less than 185 percent of the federal poverty guidelines to be eligible; while the clinic requests a $10 clinic fee, no patient is denied care due to an inability to pay.  With in-kind and volunteer support in excess of $3 million, the clinic served 1,589 patients through 3,758 visits last year – a record in its 20-year history.

A grant of $20,737 will be awarded to the clinic for its Full Access through Services and Technology (FAST) Track to ending Health Disparities project.  The FAST project uses technology to facilitate more productive interactions between patients and providers, supports key changes in work flow and the use of clinic space, and sets the foundation to implement an Electronic Medical Record by deploying new computer work stations and health IT.

Specifically, funds will be used to support one year of dictation and transcription services, six Thin Client System work stations at all points of care throughout the clinic, one year of managed care services for the Thin Client System, six refurbished laser printers, and hardware for three exam rooms due to the shifting of staff offices to a centralized location.