Increasing Medicaid clients' access to care. Church, state, and private providers collaborate

Medicaid clients often have difficulty obtaining a physician referral and thus seek treatment for nonemergent conditions in hospital emergency rooms. A committee with representatives from Alexian Brothers Health System, Inc., Elk Grove Village, IL, and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Rolling Meadows, IL, has collaborated with six other organizations to put an end to this misuse of the healthcare system in Chicago's northwest suburbs. Catholic Charities Physician Referral Service came about as the result of research conducted by the committee which indicated that persons on public aid have limited resources available to secure primary healthcare. The committee also reviewed a United Way needs assessment and a survey of healthcare professionals and community leaders which substantiated that the community needed a referral service. In the past, Medicaid clients often had to make numerous futile telephone calls to locate physicians who would accept them. Through this service, however, Medicaid clients simply call Catholic Charities Physician Referral Service (which has information on participating physicians' specialty, location, and hospital affiliations) and then call the physician to whom they are referred. When physicians join the referral service, they specify the number of Medicaid patients they are willing to treat during the year. Catholic Charities will help the participating physicians secure payment from the Illinois Department of Public Aid for the health services they have provided.