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PEOPLE'S COMMUNITY HEALTH
CENTERS, INC,
S.O.S. VOLUNTEER HEALTH CORPS
People's ongoing affiliation with
Johns Hopkin's Univertsity pre-medical program continues
to thrive. In 2004, approximately 18 students have been active
volunteers at People's centers, supplementing the workforce
as patient advocates while attaining valuable experience in a
community health environment. People's was awarded two
Community Health Services Grants (JHU Alumni Association funded)
through the efforts of two senior volunteer students.
People's continues to be a sought-after site for
clinical rotations for physician assistant students,nurse practicioner
students, nursing students, and medical students. The students' presence
allows the clinicians the opportunity to draw upon their own strong academic
backgrounds to inspire and teach. New affiliations during 2004 include the first
group of Ambulatory Medicine Clerkship 3rd year Medical Students from Johns Hopkins
School of Medicine. Nursing students from the University of Maryland engaged in their
community health rotations performed home visits and established a patient library at
People's Greenmount Avenue location.
- People's
Community Pharmacy is a licensed EPIC Pharmacy
that provides low cost brand and generic drugs
to People's patients. Assist
patients without prescription coverage
access free medications from pharmaceutical
companies. Act as liaison to Maryland's
MEDBANK program for hard to find medications.
Collaborate with pharmaceutical representatives
to provide patient education materials
and samples. Learn about common medications,
their indications and side effects. Study
some pharmacology. Educate patients on
proper adherence to medications. Track
People's sample program and monitor documentation
based on JCAHO standards.
- Patients often face
many challenges as they navigate through
our healthcare system. A proactive approach
is often appreciated by patients because
it shows that someone cares. Why did they
miss their last appointment? No transportation?
No money? Someone else is sick? Are they
becoming homebound? Volunteers on this
team will be given "high risk" patients
to follow and coordinate care with the
assistance of our Clinicians, Licensed
Case Social Workers and Nurses. Volunteers
will work directly with physicians/clinicians
to investigate reasons for poor adherence
to medical therapy/office visits. Community
resources will be discovered and utilized
to strategically care for patients at
highest risk for adverse events.
- Participate
in a National Chronic Disease Management
Collaborative sponsored by The Bureau
of Primary Care. Volunteers will learn
about health education and teaching self-management
skills to patients living with diabetes.
After proper training, volunteers will
become "Sugar Buddies" and work 1 on 1
with patients who participate in Diabetes
Group Visits. They will educate, support
and most importantly, help patients identify
self-management goals in order to better
control their diabetes. Intense lifestyle
intervention has been shown to reduce
the morbidity and mortality associated
with diabetes. Document patient progress
utilizing our Diabetes Electronic Management
System. Demonstrate that your interventions
have improved your patient's outcome (parameters
of diabetes care such as Hemoglobin A1C,
weight loss, etc.).
- Health education
and tracking. Follow patients from referral
to testing for cancer prevention (colorectal
screening, pap tests, prostate and mammograms).
Conduct a study to determine if intensive
education and monitoring leads to better
outcomes vs. a routine referral system.
How well is People's doing in referring
patients for screening? How well is People's
doing in following up on normal vs. abnormal
results? What are some of the barriers
to patient adhering to their appointments?
- Another
health prevention project targeted to
patients in the journey towards cessation.
Assist in Group Visits to support and
educate patients on the perils of tobacco.
Follow patients as they struggle to achieve
relief from nicotine addiction. Learn
about smoking related illnesses and develop
strategies to help individuals commit
to quitting. Teach patients/parents on
allergen prevention and asthma self-management.
- Develop a patient
oriented newsletter with monthly health
topics of interest. Work with clinicians
to develop special articles in their field
of care. Develop a "Patient Appreciation
Committee" that would send Birthday letters
(also a good time to remind them to follow-up
for a health check-up!). Plan a Patient
Appreciation Festival. Conduct patient
satisfaction surveys and analyze results.
Develop a plan for change, work with key
staff to institute the change, then study
the results again (a quality management
paradigm called "rapid cycle improvement").
Represent People's at a local school or
church to discuss health related topics
and share your newsletter.
- Volunteers will help develop
an adolescent-friendly "sub-clinic" to
promote health maintenance and education.
Develop a Peer program to help adolescents
cope with issues relating to their health:
sex ed/HIV prevention; contraception choices;
drug use/addiction; smoking cessation;
weight management; depression; etc. Be
a People's "ambassador" to nearby schools
to give talks on these and other health
topics.
- Study the care of
our HIV positive patients/patients living
with AIDS. Develop a program that will
support patients in adhering to their
medical therapies. Learn about comorbid
conditions associated with HIV: Hepatitis
C, substance abuse and mental illness.
- Identify cultural
challenges facing both patients and clinicians/staff
members as they interface with each other
in medicine. How we can we deliver more
culturally competent care? Volunteers
can conduct a needs assessment and then
develop a curriculum to promote improved
cultural sensitivity and competency in
order to improve patient care.
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Learn about the business side of medicine.
(They won't teach you this in medical
school!) What are ICD-9 and CPT codes?
Why are they so important? Learn about
the billing process, managed care organizations
and reimbursement. What is "Re- engineering
the Patient Visit?" Why is one clinician
a "rabbit" and another a "tortoise" when
it comes to patient volume/"productivity".
What is an ideal staff ratio? How is technology
working for/against the practice? Analyze
patient satisfaction surveys. Work at
our reception desk, answer some calls...
what are the challenges and strengths
of our front desk staff? Work with our
practice management team to study and
improve practice efficiency. Work in our Mis
department developing technological solutions
to communication and workload problems. Develop
recommendations for change.
More about volunteering at
www.nachc.com.
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