Medical Home

Women’s health and financial instability: Poverty affects choices
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Women’s health and financial instability: Poverty affects choices

The Center for Community Solutions, a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank focusing on health, social, and economic issues in Ohio, has concentrated on research, analysis, and advocacy to improve the wellbeing of Ohioans for the last 110 years. Angela Maher, Research Associate for The Center for Community Solutions, says that its success lies in its connection…

Overcoming obstacles to establishing a medical home
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Overcoming obstacles to establishing a medical home

People who have not established a medical home often have neglected to do so because they face obstacles that can seem insurmountable.  A medical home is the central provider (or group of providers) patients use for health care. A general practitioner serves as the fundamental health advisor, but other specialists—such as a dentist, optometrist, OB-GYN,…

CHWs in the community: a medical home for everybody
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CHWs in the community: a medical home for everybody

The Community Health Workers (CHWs) of Health Care Access Now (HCAN) recently got together to talk about the challenges they face connecting clients with medical homes—and the great things that can happen once clients receive regular preventive medical care. The challenges HCAN’s CHWs provide one-on-one care to vulnerable and/or marginalized community members by helping them…

Why some HCAN clients resist medical homes
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Why some HCAN clients resist medical homes

TRIGGER WARNING: References to health data and science experiments done on Black people. A recent scene in the HBO series Insecure shows Molly rushing to the hospital to meet her family. Her mother has just had a stroke. The doctor approaches them and says it’s time to say their good-byes. The family is shocked. The…

How Community Health Workers help clients establish medical homes
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How Community Health Workers help clients establish medical homes

Health Care Access Now (HCAN)’s clients often face obstacles—like lack of childcare or transportation—that keep them from seeing doctors regularly. In other words, they don’t have a medical home.  Lynniece Scurry, Community Health Worker (CHW) for HCAN, says it’s important to help her clients find a primary care physician that can act as a medical home because…

Medical home good for everyone: preventative care is better than emergency care
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Medical home good for everyone: preventative care is better than emergency care

When a person has a “medical home,” it means they have relationships with providers for all their health needs. They can see those providers for regular tests and preventative care, as well as when they’re experiencing health issues.  Having a medical home isn’t just about establishing primary care, but also dental and vision care, OB-GYN…

What is a medical home and why does it matter?
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What is a medical home and why does it matter?

A medical home is “when a patient sees a regular doctor, and the physician’s office has full knowledge of the client’s medical history,” says LaVerne Wiley.  As a Registered Nurse, Wiley was instrumental in the development of the Community Health Worker (CHW) education and certification program at Health Care Access Now (HCAN). Although she retired…