Free clinic
[2] Free clinics are non-profit facilities, funded by government or private donors, that provide primary care, preventive healthcare, and additional health services to the medically underserved.
[9] In the United States, free clinics are a way to address this inequality and lack of universal healthcare, and as part of a health safety net.
[12] These clinics coined the phrase, "health care is a right not a privilege" and they served vulnerable veteran populations after the Vietnam war, many of whom struggled with drug abuse.
[13] The Haight Ashbury Free Clinic revolutionized the practice of handling substance abuse issues by holding national conferences and working directly with the Food and Drug Administration and other government agencies to create comprehensive policies and to destigmatize mental health conditions related to drug abuse.
Their efforts played a key role in social reform in health care that ultimately led to the passage of the Medicare and Medicaid act of 1965.
[19] In 2010, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed as a reform that aimed to make healthcare insurance more accessible to low and middle-class families.
It also incentivized employers to provide coverage to low-income employees, and made it mandatory for states to expand Medicaid to include non-disabled and young people with incomes that were below 138% of the federal poverty line.
[21] Of the 41 million uninsured people in the United States, the 355 officially registered free clinics in the country are only able to provide services to about 650,000 of them.
Combined, these factors suggest that free clinics will require additional resources in order to meet the rising demands of their patient population.
[31] Free clinics function as health care safety nets for patients who cannot afford or access other forms of healthcare.
[36][37] This ensures a more comprehensive approach to patient care which has been deemed necessary by many health studies conducted on the work of free clinics.
Since free clinics serve as a resource for marginalized groups, it is essential that their practices provide comprehensive care that reflects the concerns of their patients.
Even when free clinics offer the services of a social worker, a significant number of patients do not avail themselves of these resources.
Research findings suggest that a primary factor contributing to the underutilization of social work services is the insufficient emphasis placed on them compared to acute medical care within clinic settings.
To optimize the effectiveness of this model, it is crucial to establish a balanced presence of both social workers and medical staff within the clinical setting, with equal recognition of their importance to overall health.
To be eligible the clinic must be an IRS recognized nonprofit, that does not accept payments from insurance companies, the government, or other organizations for the services it performs.
These programs allow those who are unable to pay for their medications to receive prescription drugs for free or at a greatly reduced cost.
For example, with a Free Clinic in central Texas, there is a heavy emphasis with partnering with local mental health programs in their area.
[49] Student-run clinics (SRC) are an increasingly prevalent part of US medical school curricula, and they are designed to improve health-care delivery to underserved populations.
At free clinics, medical student volunteers learn to listen to the full history of their patients and treat them as a whole rather than a list of symptoms.
[50] Additionally, working in SRCs exposes students to the realities of healthcare delivery in under-served communities, which allows them to foster a deeper understanding of the social determinants of health and to develop cultural competency.
An example of a student-run free clinic that addresses the social determinants of health treatment is one in the University of Washington, called Students in the Community (SITC).
This allows the sharing of ideas, collaborate on research, information about funding resources and encourages the expansion of existing clinics as well as the cultivate of the new ones.
Due to their small size, their organization tends to be more egalitarian and less hierarchical, which allows for more direct exchange of information across the clinic.
[56][57] Furthermore, research conducted within SRCs contributes to the body of knowledge on effective strategies for addressing healthcare disparities and advancing health equity.
[58][59] By leveraging research findings, SRCs can advocate for resources, inform best practices, and continuously improve their services to better meet the needs of under-served populations.
One proposition towards overcoming these challenges involves the creation of a national foundation that officially assists and connects free clinics, allowing them to evolve as necessary.
In most cases they are located near other nonprofits that serve the same target community such as food-banks, Head Start, Goodwill Industries, the Salvation Army and public housing.
[62] Contrary to a common assumption, currently existing free clinics were not necessarily established to respond to an increase in the number of individuals who cannot afford healthcare in a given community.
Furthermore, the lack of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and other safety-net providers within a certain area often becomes the perceived need that motivates community leaders to establish a free clinic.
