An analysis of individuals seeking care at the Physicians Free Clinic
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The Ohio State University / OhioLINK
2006
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| Online Access: | http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1407149099 |
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ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-osu14071490992021-08-03T06:26:42Z An analysis of individuals seeking care at the Physicians Free Clinic Jones, Koren Elizabeth Public Health The Physicians Free Clinic (PFC) in Columbus, Ohio, is a philanthropically funded organization that provides free, episodic healthcare to individuals within the community who do not have health insurance. In recent years, the clinic has been experiencing a demand in excess of its capacity and no longer has the resources to provide primary care to all visitors seeking care. The number of patients seen at PFC depends on the number of volunteer physicians on a specific evening the clinic is open. When this limit is reached, PFC redirects remaining individuals seeking care to other free clinics in Columbus. Little information is known about the visitors seeking care who are turned away from PFC. This study was developed to learn more about this population.The purpose of this study was to (1) count the number of individuals seeking care who were turned away from PFC each evening the clinic was open; and (2) survey visitors to determine if differences existed between individuals seeking care who were turned away from PFC and those who were able to receive care. Comparisons between these groups were made of the following factors: (1) previous health insurance status; (2) purpose of the clinic visit; (3) urgency status classification; (4) arrival time; (5) history of previous attendance at PFC; (6) future plans for care; and (7) survey language.Visitors seeking care who attended PFC each Monday evening the clinic was open from October 3rd, 2005 thru January 30th 2006 were surveyed. A logistic regression model was built to determine the odds of an individual seeking care being seen based on urgency status classification (USC) and the following variables: (1) previous health insurance status; (2) purpose of the clinic visit; (3) arrival time; (4) history of previous attendance at PFC; (5) future plans for care; and (6) survey language.The main findings of the study were: (1) PFC was indeed turning away individuals seeking care; (2) urgent and semi-urgent cases were among those turned away; (3) the proportion of urgent, semi-urgent and non-urgent cases that were seen were similar; and (4) early arrival time was the only significant predictor of being seen at PFC.The results of this analysis indicated that PFC was not treating all of the most urgent cases. However, PFC’s intake system was not based on a system of triage. Although the majority of individuals who were turned away had alternative options for care, timely care was not readily available at PFC. 2006 English text The Ohio State University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1407149099 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1407149099 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws. |
| collection |
NDLTD |
| language |
English |
| sources |
NDLTD |
| topic |
Public Health |
| spellingShingle |
Public Health Jones, Koren Elizabeth An analysis of individuals seeking care at the Physicians Free Clinic |
| author |
Jones, Koren Elizabeth |
| author_facet |
Jones, Koren Elizabeth |
| author_sort |
Jones, Koren Elizabeth |
| title |
An analysis of individuals seeking care at the Physicians Free Clinic |
| title_short |
An analysis of individuals seeking care at the Physicians Free Clinic |
| title_full |
An analysis of individuals seeking care at the Physicians Free Clinic |
| title_fullStr |
An analysis of individuals seeking care at the Physicians Free Clinic |
| title_full_unstemmed |
An analysis of individuals seeking care at the Physicians Free Clinic |
| title_sort |
analysis of individuals seeking care at the physicians free clinic |
| publisher |
The Ohio State University / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2006 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1407149099 |
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AT joneskorenelizabeth ananalysisofindividualsseekingcareatthephysiciansfreeclinic AT joneskorenelizabeth analysisofindividualsseekingcareatthephysiciansfreeclinic |
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