El Paso County Medical Society Home Page

c/o El Paso County Medical Society

730 Citadel Drive East, Suite 206

Colorado Springs, CO 80909

719-591-2424

                                                                        

Coordinated Access To Community Health (CATCH)

and

Volunteers in Physician Service (VIPS)

powered by:

PracticeNet Solutions 

Implement and Track a Coordinated System of Supported Volunteer Physician Services

to Address the Health Care Needs of Low-Income, Uninsured People

in El Paso and Teller Counties, Colorado in Collaboration with the CATCH Project

 

PNS is a business approach to supporting physicians and reducing the current burdens imposed on physician volunteers and their staff. PNS will support the implementation and tracking of reforms that will expand health care access and improve health outcomes for citizens of El Paso and Teller counties, and demonstrate the value of community collaboration in an accountable health care project that utilizes the charitable gifts of a network of volunteer providers.

 

To enable physicians and their staff to provide care in an efficient and effective way, PNS will:

  • coordinate physician volunteer commitments centrally to assure equitable distribution of patients among all participating physicians and assure that pledges are not exceeded.

  • coordinate volunteer physician activities with a patient enrollment plan for CATCH through an online, database-driven referral system containing the entire inventory of available charity care and other medical services available to CATCH participants.

  •  facilitate matching physician volunteers to local clinics that have met criteria established by CATCH and approved by VIPS.

  • develop an online, database-driven enrollment system for volunteer physicians, allowing them to select the setting where their donated care can be used in the most effective/efficient manner. 

  • establish relationships with community partners to provide laboratory, x-ray, diagnostic services, pharmaceuticals, and hospital care.

  • maintain a database of the value of services donated by PNS volunteer physicians and provide reports and data to document the amount of charity care given to the community and publicize that data in a prominent way.

  • work with Community Health Partnership (CHP) to use the data in a manner that will lead to real reforms in the delivery of health care to the low income and uninsured of our community, involving business, community leaders and elected officials in designing that reform.

Tracking and Outcomes Measurement

 

PNS has been established in El Paso/Teller County with the clear goal of demonstrating impact and achieving self-sufficiency. This goal will be achieved by implementing a comprehensive tracking mechanism alongside the implementation of our coordinated program. We will benefit in this tracking effort from experiences and tools developed in medical societies around the country.

 

Key data to be tracked by PNS include the following:

 

  • Number of physicians recruited to PNS and the percentage of El Paso/Teller County physicians recruited.

  • Range/distribution of medical specialties represented by recruited physicians.

  • Value of charity care provided by PNS physicians.

  • Value of prescription drugs funded by El Paso/Teller County.

 

Note: The only data that will be made public is the value of the health care community’s effort.

 

PNS was established through a grant to the El Paso County Medical Society Foundation awarded by the Physicians’ Foundation for Health Systems Excellence/Innovations. PNS is a collaborative program of the El Paso County Medical Society (EPCMS), the Dallas County Medical Society (DMS) and the Travis County Medical Society (TMS – Austin, Texas.)  Recent funding in support of PNS and the PASS program has been received The Edmondson Foundation and Caring For Colorado.