Save time and money!

A trip to a primary doctor first for preventative care and non-emergencies may assist with avoiding a trip to an emergency room or urgent care to save you money. In fact, if everybody did this, we would save about $67 billion annually. [1] Primary doctors have many of the same resources to request medical tests as doctors of the emergency room. In addition, you gain a more personalized experience within a shorter time frame. Less time is spent explaining your medical background to a primary physician, leaving more time to focus on your present health concerns.

Get Specialist Referrals & Recommendations

We can think of the primary doctor’s office as a hotspot where we can go to get treated or connected to a specialist, via a referral or recommendation. If the doctor believes specific care and attention is necessary, they may assist you with finding a specialist. This courtesy is helpful as the doctor’s office most often has established a working relationship with the specialist to whom they’re referring you to, and you don’t have the burden of searching for specialists your own. In 2009, “Patient complaints that lead to the most referrals are related to vision (21 percent), gynecological (18 percent), gastrointestinal (18 percent), orthopedic (16 percent), dermatological (15 percent), and cardiovascular (15 percent).” [2]

Keep track of Medical Records

A primary doctor maintains a medical folder just for you! This comes in handy when trying to remember the details of past diagnosis’, test results, procedures, and immunizations. More importantly, you and your doctor can monitor your health throughout the years. Many offices, including HealthNet, have online systems that allow patient access to medical records, lab results, and medicine/prescription records.

Build A Long-Lasting Relationships

As time progresses, you may feel more comfortable consulting with your doctor. Whether it be that your finger feels weird or experiencing intermittent heart palpitations, you can feel free to bring up both minor and major concerns at primary care appointments.

As you go through life, having someone on your side to help advocate for you is beneficial. Make the most of the process by researching the best doctor for you. Check out our Find a Provider database here at HealthNet for updated information and biographies of our amazing primary doctors.

[1] https://www.primarycareprogress.org/primary-care-case/ [2] https://www.3mhisinsideangle.com/blog-post/specialist-referral-primary-care-providers-information-need/

Posted by: Akiliah Walker, Marketing and Communications Intern

From Martindale-Brightwood to Downtown, Fountain Square to Brookside or Broad Ripple, we appreciate the personality and flavor of each small community.

At HealthNet, we’ve been deeply invested in our neighborhoods for more than 45 years.

In fact, many of our health centers began with small groups of residents working to bring health care to their communities, when they didn’t have any doctors nearby. Creating a health care home starts right in our own neighborhoods, with primary care providers who maintain long-term relationships with their patients.

This month, we joined our eighth community and became a West 10^th Street neighbor!

The new HealthNet West Health Center opened full-time at 10^th St. and I-465, and will serve more than 3,000 people each year. HealthNet West is really an outgrowth of Southwest Health & Dental Center, which has been serving the West Side community for 41 years!

The outpouring of community support for HealthNet West has been tremendous.

We’d like to thank the West Side Chamber of Commerce, the Speedway Town Council, the Speedway Chamber of Commerce, IU Health West Hospital and all the civic groups, churches and schools that have welcomed us to West 10th St. Check out these photos from this month’s Grand Opening Community Celebration!

Learn more about the new HealthNet West Health Center!

How does one define the word “Family”?

The definition I found states, “Two or more people who share goals and values, have long-term commitments to one another, and reside usually in the same dwelling place.”

How does one define the word “Thrive”?  A definition I found states, “To grow or develop well or vigorously or to prosper; flourish.”

In my 34 years of living, there is one thing that I have been taught and tried to live on a daily basis and that is that one cannot grow, develop, prosper or flourish where there are no goals/values or where there is a lack of long-term commitments.

It is imperative that one not confuse “thriving” with money.  While money is needed and it is an important part of life, we must not equate our account balances with thriving.

Thriving or prospering occurs when we are in good health (mentally, spiritually, physically and emotionally).  Our thriving begins at home and it is shaped/developed by those people who share our goals and values and with those who are committed to us long term (our families).

My wife and I have multiple children and what we do on a daily basis is let them know how committed we are to them.  After long days of work, we spend time with them on their homework, we have dinner with them and after bathing them, we either read or just hang out until bed time.  We do our very best to let them know that we love them by displaying that love towards one another.  Our children prosper (mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually) because our marriage prospers through Grace and Mercy.

Prospering takes commitment.  We have had to limit the TV viewing to Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons only.  While that hasn’t gone over too well, our children are starting to understand the importance of 9-10 hours of sleep every night and how it helps them to maintain a healthy weight and how it helps them to focus better in school.  Also, we have cut back on the sweets, juice and junk foods. Again, it is not popular, but very necessary.  We are encouraging them to learn how to be wise when it comes to finances.  They are required to deposit any money that they receive (Christmas, birthday or even from the Tooth Fairy) into their banking accounts.  What?  That’s right even at ages 9, 7, 6 and 6!  We are teaching them to be savers and not spenders.

Finally, our children’s spiritual and emotional health are, from our perspectives, the most important component of their very being. We believe that the physical cannot function properly without a strong spiritual foundation.  So, we stress spirituality and daily prayer.

Does our family always get it right?  No.  Are we perfect? No.  But, we try our very best to invest into one another and we therefore are a thriving family.  Because of our Spiritual Foundation. Thoughts?

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What are some ways you help your family thrive? Share your tips with us!

School-based clinics are considered one of the most effective strategies for delivering high quality, comprehensive, and culturally-competent primary and preventive care to children and teens.”

The study was done in Denver, CO – ‘using administrative databases maintained by Denver Health (DH) and Denver Public Schools (DPS)’.  Denver Health is Denver’s primary “safety-net” institution caring for many of the city’s uninsured.  Similar to us here at HealthNet, Denver Health is composed of 11 school-based health centers (SBHCs), 9 community health centers, 2 urgent care centers, and a tertiary care hospital with an emergency department.  HealthNet operates 6 community health centers, 3 specialty care centers, and offers school-based services in 8 schools.

The most interesting fact about the study is that the comparison was between students who use SBHCs and students who use community health centers and NOT a school-based health center.

The findings were clear!

School-based users were less likely to be insured, either by Medicaid or another form of insurance; however, they were more likely to have made greater than 3 primary care visits and half as likely to use emergency care for health maintenance.

The results show the importance of having a health center present in schools.  School-based health centers help boost access to quality care for underserved and uninsured students.

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What do you think about the having access to primary care within schools?
Would it benefit students even if they are NOT in underserved areas?
Leave you comments below!

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To read the full research study click here – the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

 Well, we JUST became a Far Eastside neighbor!!

At HealthNet, we’ve been deeply invested in our neighborhoods for more than 40 years. In fact, many of our health centers began with small groups of residents working to bring health care to their communities, when they didn’t have any doctors nearby. Creating a health care home starts right in our own neighborhoods, with primary care providers who maintain long-term relationships with their patients.

This week, we joined our seventh community and became a Far Eastside neighbor! The new HealthNet Eastside Health Center opened at 38^th Street and Post Road, and will serve more than 2,000 people each year — many living below the federal poverty level.

It’s great to be neighbors with the Community Alliance of the Far Eastside (CAFE), LaPlaza, and other groups at the Far Eastside Neighborhood Center that provide much needed services for this community.

The Far Eastside’s story of involvement and advocacy started in the 1980s, when four local women sat around a kitchen table to discuss the needs of the community. The health center’s staff is excited to be a part of these ongoing efforts to make the Far Eastside a better place to live!

Take Maricela, for example, who began working at HealthNet 11 years ago as a Spanish medical interpreter. She loves what she does, and went back to school to become a medical assistant and later a childbirth educator. Now she’s excited to share her skills and experiences to help Spanish-speaking patients at the new health center.

Susan was a pediatric nurse practitioner for 31 years in Muncie before joining the HealthNet team. She, too, is looking forward to using her talents to help families that have had difficulty getting care.  “This is a very good fit for me,” she said with a smile.

Brandi worked at the Marion County Health Department for many years and is one of the health center’s medical assistants.  “I just completed mytraining to become an MA, so I’m looking forward to the challenge and to doing something different,” she said. “It’s exciting to be a part of the start of this new center.”

Want to be a good neighbor to the Far Eastside? Here’s how you can help:

• Read more about how you can be involved in creating a Quality of Life plan for this community.
• Help CAFE win a 2 KW Solar Renewable system for the Far Eastside Neighborhood Center. It just takes a few clicks!
• Help start a Patient Assistance Fund for the new health center. $25 can help patients with emergency medical needs such as medications, food, shelter, or transportation to and from their medical appointments.
• Sign up for regular updates about the HealthNet Eastside Health Center!

[T]his major reduction will — in this year alone — negate the ability to provide basic health care services to over 5 million of our most vulnerable Americans, and will seriously undermine the ability of health centers to provide services to 40 million people by 2015.” – press release from the National Association of Community Health Centers

This cut in health center funding has received mixed feelings from people everywhere.  The good thing is that, according to Congressional summaries, no health center SHOULD have to close its doors and funding to continue services as is will remain.  However, with the good, comes the bad.  Community health center expansion is halted. This will affect the millions of people in this country who, today, cannot access basic primary and preventive health care services in their local communities. It also affects health care costs, as these underserved communities must continue relying on expensive visits to the emergency room for their basic primary care. With cuts in appropriations, the Department of Health and Human Services will have to redirect funds from the Affordable Care Act in order to simply maintain operations as they are today.

Feel free to research the links above to learn more about the state of the Health Center Program TODAY, but as advocates giving a care about health centers in Indianapolis, the state of Indiana, AND throughout our nation, we need to keep forging ahead.

Here are three ways to help community health center expansion despite the funding cuts.

1.  Continue to call, email, and fax letters to your legislators
   - Remind your Representatives and Senators that even the slightest setback will not discourage us from emphasizing the importance of health center funding.  This will give us more clout and respect as an advocacy group, and our Congressmen will have to continue to take us seriously.
2. Educate your friends and family about community health centers.
   - Plenty of people STILL do not understand the mission and role of community health centers.  Spreading the good news of the work done in our centers, the money the health care system saves, and the number of lives touched by FQHCs can only help gain more advocates who will be easily persuaded to sign a petition or send and email when called upon to do so.
3. Keep working with the same amount of passion.
   - Whether you are a front desk worker, a physician, a nurse midwife, or finance staff person, continue to approach your job with the same passion day in and day out.  Our funding may have been cut, but that should not mean that our quality of care has been cut. The passion of CHC staff is what makes advocacy easy!

 What is one project that you would like to see done to help with Health Center Advocacy?  Share your ideas below!!

Image from UWPHI Website. Click to learn more!

The County Health Rankings report was just released by the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. This report ranks each county in each state in overall health calculated by factors such as individual health behaviors, education

and jobs, quality of health care, and environment.  This report is a great call to action to take a step back and try to understand HOW we can get healthier and what factors may contribute to the lack of health in Marion County.

Marion County – 77th out of 92 Indiana counties.

Only ahead of 15 counties in the entire state for overall health, Marion County is ranked 15th in the state for clinical care, a category that factors in the percentage of uninsured adults, ratio of population to primary care providers, number of preventable hospital stays, and percentage of diabetic and mammography screenings for Medicare enrollees.  How does a county ranked so high in clinical care, rank so low in overall health?

Access to AFFORDABLE health care.

Marion County is 89th out of 92 in the Social & Economic Factors category:

• 60% high school graduation rate; state average = 70%
• 24% of children live in poverty; state average = 18%
• 44% of households are single-parent; state average = 31%

All of these factors can point to financial stress.  Out of all of Marion County’s adult population, 16% are uninsured, leaving a barrier to health care access.  Federally Qualified Health Centers, such as HealthNet, aim to provide affordable, quality primary care to those who are uninsured or underinsured.  According to UWPHI, “While having health insurance is a crucial step toward accessing the different aspects of the health care system, health insurance by itself does not ensure access. It is also necessary to have comprehensive coverage, providers that accept the individual’s health insurance, relatively close proximity of providers to patients, and primary care providers in the community.[1]”

Marion County is NOT very healthy in terms of overall care, but a major factor may be the affordability and access to health care.  What are your thoughts on why Marion County (and the state’s capital) rank so low?

To learn more about HealthNet and what it does to increase access to care, click here.  Indiana also has two initiatives aimed at bettering the health of our populations. Learn more about INShape Indiana and the Indiana Healthy Weight Initiative.

One year ago tomorrow, President Obama signed into law the Affordable Care Act.

Community Health Centers now serve 23 million patients and provide care for one-fourth of all primary care visits for low-income citizens in our country.  The Affordable Care Act has been one more step towards health centers throughout the nation caring for 40 million patients by 2015.  The two greatest statistics that show the effectiveness of community health centers are

1. Cost per patient per day is nearly a dollar lower than all physician settings ($1.67 v. $2.64)
2. Medicaid beneficiaries who choose health centers for primary care are 19% less likely to use the ER for unnecessary visits and 11% less likely to be hospitalized.

The expansion of HealthNet’s Southwest Health & Dental Center, People’s Health & Dental Center, and the soon-to-be Barrington Health & Dental Center has benefited the Indianapolis area greatly.  These expansions will allow HealthNet to reach a greater number of underserved areas and provide services to more patients who otherwise would go without primary and preventative health care or unnecessarily use the ER.

However, there are still areas of HealthNet (not supported under ACA) that need expansion.  Areas such as

• Homeless Initiative Program – serving more than 3,200 homeless persons in Indianapolis
• Better Indy Babies/Healthy Families – making more than 14,720 visits to families in at-risk homes in Marion County
• Social Services – providing support to families living below the poverty level which is one in every 16 people in Marion County
• Radiology/Mammography Assistance – helping uninsured women who are less likely to be screened for breast cancer
• School-based Services – assisting more than 3,320 students in receiving health care and health education in 8 public and charter schools in Marion County
• Health Promotions – a free service that includes a dietitian, tobacco cessation counselor, and childbirth specialist

In light of the one-year anniversary of the signing of the ACA into law, we want to highlight the successful expansion of our community health centers throughout Indianapolis, but also ask for our COMMUNITY’S help in expanding our outreach services to reach further and build a healthier neighborhood for everyone.

You can help us reach those in need by making a quick donation online or by mail.  Visit our donation page to learn more about these programs and ways to assist HealthNet

In Indiana, two new health centers will close and more than 85,500 patients will lose access to care. Nationally, health centers will lose the capacity to serve 11 million patients and 127 health centers across the country will have to close their doors. (this according to IPHCA and NACHC)

This is what could happen if Congress approves a $1.3 billion spending cut to the Community Health Centers Program, in its effort to finalize a national budget for FY2011.  Without community health centers like HealthNet, few options remain, forcing patients to use local emergency rooms for primary care. Not only is ER care expensive, but it also leaves the patient without a medical home for ongoing care.

Funding cuts to Health Centers represent:

• Greater cost to taxpayers and insured patients
  • $1.67 per patient per day at a FQHC; $2.64 average at all physician offices
• Less patients receiving preventative care
  • Requiring more frequent trips to the ER
• Up to $122 billion of health care costs to the American people
  • Taxpayers get a significant return on that investment with FQHCs
• Hospitals have to waste time on primary care
  • Rather than saving lives of the seriously ill and injured

For the uninsured – whose ranks include the poor and the well-off, the employed and the jobless – the issue is more than just a political debate. It is very personal.

Where do I go for care for my family?

The numbers of people who need health care has not decreased, and in denying them access to affordable care, we confront a crisis that poses an even greater risk to our nation’s health — higher rates of chronic disease, higher health-care costs, more needless illness and deaths.

If you give a care about keeping Indianapolis a healthy place to live, take five minutes TODAY to help our city:

1.  Sign up to be a health care advocate.

2. Call or email your Representatives to support all community health centers in Indiana by maintaining level funding for the Health Centers Program for fiscal 2011.

On behalf of the 50,000 patients we serve, thank you for making a difference!

Last year, a reported 50 million Americans between the ages of 18-64 were without health insurance for the entire year.  This, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is an increase of “1.1 million people each year, over the past several years,

and middle-income people account for half of that increase.”

Access to health care is essential to these people who no longer seek preventative or regular services because of its cost.  Prevention is MORE important than treatment in terms of getting and staying healthy, and now people are coming to the doctor only in times of serious illness or emergency.  This delay can lead to poorer health in the long-run, and people battling with disabilities and chronic illnesses are affected the most.

This reality of more and more people becoming uninsured heightens the importance of greater access to care.  The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), reported an increase of 36% for the number of uninsured patients who visited health centers nationwide.  The need is growing, and the access to care must grow with it.

Preventative care is available through community health centers that can provide multi-service primary care to those who are uninsured, underinsured, or those who do not qualify for other forms of aid.  And the good news is that community health centers around the nation are set to expand as a result of more federal funding.

However, you can help your OWN community by supporting HealthNet‘s community health centers continued efforts to expand and reach those who need it within Indianapolis.  Vistit our website, indyhealthnet.org or donate directly by clicking here.