The Clinics
For years community clinics (FQHCs and privately-funded clinics) had to negotiate with doctors and hospitals to get treatment and diagnostic testing for their uninsured patients. It was a hit-or-miss approach. Clinicians often called the same few physicians and spent time making phone calls instead of seeing patients.
Enter Project Access. It recognizes the caring medical community that always existed in Wichita-Sedgwick County. Physicians who previously said no to the clinics were now saying yes to a well-managed system that proposed a well-defined percentage of donated care. The formerly informal handshake agreement is now an official, codified system that has helped move people from crisis management into a coordinated system of comprehensive care.