Free Clinic Patient Analysis

Overview

As the number of uninsured Americans continues to rise, free clinics serve as the foundation in providing primary care for low income and uninsured individuals. This research group focuses on the characteristics and utilization of health services among patients at free health clinics that serve the Champaign, Illinois metropolitan area.

Research

Throughout the research, an emphasis is placed on the health disparities that exist among:

• Racial lines in the clinic population as well as society
• Traits and patterns found amongst users of free clinics
• The impact that lacking adequate health care has on their emergency department (ED) utilization
• Data have been analyzed and compared to the general population of Champaign county and national statistics regarding ED use

A previous component of this study was determining the emergency department cost and time savings that is possible when free primary health care is available for uninsured patients.

Click here to view the findings.

Mapping the Way to Better Health Care: an Analysis of Champaign County Free Clinics

The current study includes producing a geographical information systems (GIS) map of the client’s place of residence in the community in relation to the free clinic. The team collected medical record data from a free clinic, imported attributes for analysis, and is currently mapping the findings. From our results we will propose interventions for the County.

If you are interested in joining the team, please contact a member of the Core Research Group to apply.

Future Studies

Once determined what new information to collect from clients we will develop a new instrument to use via questionnaire in order to gather more accurate patient information and analyze new impacts.

Summary

• Analyze demographic characterizes of patients using free health centers, comparing these statistics to the general population in the county
• Assess patient emergency department (ED) utilization and how the frequency of free clinic patient visits to the ED compare to national averages
• Project potential cost savings by alleviating unnecessary ED visits
• Create a GIS map of patient's place of residence throughout the community
• Track disease prevalence in Champaign County and propose interventions as appropriate
• Determining what information to collect from clients in addition to developing new instruments to use

Research Team

Core Research Group

• Primary Investigator – Dr. Stephen Notaro (snotaro@illinois.edu)
• Faculty Researcher – Dr. Shevon Harvey (shevon@illinois.edu)
• Project Coordinator – Nina Byran (nabryan2@illinois.edu)
• Technology Supervisor – Kevin Fritz (kfritz2@illinois.edu)
• GIS Coordinator – John Kersh (kersh1@illinois.edu)

Student Team Members

• Antonio Quinones
• Ashleigh Swearinghen
• Christina Kim
• Claire O'Neill
• Crystal Amoah
• Danial Frias
• Faiza Yasin
• Hayley Glynn
• Huong Phu
• Kelly Hawthorne
• Marium Khan
• Mary Ayala
• Mary Grace Senseng
• Megan Eiten
• Phylicia Robbins
• Rachelle Tulley
• Ruth Chaney
• Stepanie Shaw

Previous Team Members

• Jenny Byelick
• Dhara Patel
• Neha Shah
• Bhanupriya Sirandas