INTEGRIS Health — INTEGRIS Baptist Community Clinic

Overview

INTEGRIS Health is the state's largest Oklahoma-owned health system with hospitals, rehabilitation centers, physician clinics, mental health facilities, independent living centers and home health agencies throughout much of the state. INTEGRIS Health operates 13 hospitals, led in the Oklahoma City area by INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center and INTEGRIS Southwest Medical Center. Collectively, the entities within INTEGRIS Health maintain more than 1,900 licensed beds and have medical staffs that number more than 2,500 physicians.

To better address specific community needs such as access to care, education, and crime prevention, INTEGRIS Health created a community health improvement department in 1992. The INTEGRIS Baptist Community Clinic was established as a primary component of those efforts. Opened in 1993, the Baptist Community Clinic is the largest free, all-volunteer medical clinic in Oklahoma. Staffed and operated by at least 40 volunteer physicians, nurses, pharmacists and clerical workers, the free clinic is open to the public three nights a month. Services include medical, dental, eye and pharmaceuticals as well as referrals for additional medical care. In 2003, the clinic added a women's health program to reduce the incidence of breast and cervical cancer through early detection. A joint venture between the clinic and the Oklahoma University School of Nursing, the program includes free clinical breast exams, Pap tests, mammograms and follow-up referrals.

With a desire to reduce the incidence of breast and cervical cancer through early detection, the Baptist Community Clinic quickly became one of six “Take Charge!” sites in Oklahoma City when the program began in 2005. Women 19 through 64 years old are eligible for clinical breast exams, Pap tests and follow-up referrals. Women age 40 through 64 are also eligible for mammography screening. The program serves women who earn 185 percent below the federal poverty level and who are uninsured or have a high deductible.

Impact

The clinic sees an average of 110 patients each night, with more than 3,600 patients visiting the clinic in 2008. Anecdotal reports show a decline in ED visits at INTEGRIS Health's Oklahoma City hospitals since the clinic opened. Also in 2008, 116 patients came in for lab work. Of the 116 patients; the average cholesterol level had decreased to 191 compared with 231 in 2007, a 17 percent decrease. Over the same period of time, the average glucose level had decreased to 140 compared with 197 in 2007, a 21 percent decrease. The final test to be monitored was hemoglobin A1C. The average hemoglobin A1C had increased to 8.90 compared with 8.17 in 2007.

Challenges/success factors

The most important lesson learned through the medical services program is to focus on prevention as well as treatment. Most individuals served by the clinic do not have a primary care physician, so the medical services program acts as a stop-gap for primary health care in the community. Teaching prevention will help build generations of healthy individuals in the community served by the clinic. Clinic leaders also learned to provide translators for their Spanish-speaking patients, and to focus and build on what they can do rather than get discouraged over the gaps they are unable to fill.

Future direction/sustainability

Today, the community health improvement department has an annual operating budget of $2 million and a staff of 10 that run programs addressing such diverse issues as access to care, education, aiding the emerging Hispanic population, and crime prevention. Because of the increasing number of uninsured Oklahomans, clinic leaders are planning to open the clinic, including the medical services program, a fourth night each month.

Advice to others

The needs for the uninsured and the underinsured can be enormous. Organizations that attempt programs like this should make sure they have all necessary follow-up mechanisms in place to help those in need.

Contact: Lisa Reed
Community Health Improvement Specialist
Telephone: 405 -717-9872
E-mail: lisa.reed@integrisok.com