THE JOB WE DO

• Reduce costs to individuals and the overall community.

Problem
The National Association of Community Health Clinics (NACHC) has estimated that over $4 billion in savings could be achieved annually in the U.S. by delivering care in more cost-efficient primary care settings as opposed to hospital emergency departments. These excess costs drive up the overall cost of care and fuel the cost-shifting that has over time put upward pressure on health insurance premiums for employers and employees.

Solution
Utilizing MHD, communities can take an important step toward directing patients to the clinically most appropriate and cost-efficient care settings, thus reducing hospital losses and reducing overall health costs for the community. While MHD is only one part of the overall solution, we believe it can be an important part of making a difference in urban as well as rural communities struggling with how to care for growing number of uninsured and underinsured patients.

Example
A large urban medical center reports that 6.6 percent of its annual 50,000 emergency room visits are uninsured patients, and over 30 percent of those visits are for non-emergent needs that could be better served in a primary care setting. Based on an average loss of $150.00 per uninsured visit, these almost 1000 primary care visits generate an annual loss of $980,100 for the hospital. That loss, recouped through higher billed charges for commercially insured patients, drives up everyone’s cost of care and reduces available resources for the hospital.

Using MHD to cut the total number of non-emergent visits in half saves the hospital almost $500,000, or the equivalent of 8 full-time, fully-benefited nurses who can deliver more care.