• Reducing Barriers to Health Care: A Public-Private Solution

NEWSWISE -  Virginia- Usa  -  (Rutgers University-New Brunswick) -  Rutgers University is teaming up with Quest Diagnostics to provide no-cost laboratory tests over the next year to diagnose and manage acute and chronic diseases for uninsured and underinsured patients of the university’s H.O.P.E. Clinic in Plainfield, N.J. This will include lab tests for chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, sexually transmitted infections and Lyme disease.
Under the program, clinicians send laboratory orders directly to a nearby Quest patient service center, which allows patients to visit immediately after their appointment. The results are transmitted directly back to the clinic for follow up with the patient.
Gianella Burga, a physician assistant student at Rutgers who volunteers at the H.O.P.E. Clinic, which is owned and operated by the Rutgers School of Health Professions, knows first-hand how difficult it is for people without insurance to access even the most basic medical care such as lab tests.
“Many of my family members are uninsured and struggle to get testing for conditions like diabetes or high cholesterol. It’s difficult for them to take a day off from work for a doctor’s visit and then another day for tests,” said Burga. “This is why I went into medicine: To address these gaps in care.”
Burga is one of about 75 students who volunteer at the H.O.P.E. Clinic, which provides free primary care to hundreds of uninsured adults in Plainfield... >>>