Project Overview
Congratulations are in order for the Health Care Alliance of Polk and the Polk County Board of County Commissioners, who were awarded $903,570 in funding from the Health Communities Access Program (HCAP) for the 2004 funding cycle.
On September 3, 2004, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) announced grants totaling almost $36.8 million to support 35 new HCAP awards and 10 competitive continuation grants for 4th year grantees. HCAP grants help communities in the United States link services delivered by local ’safety net’ health care providers into coordinated networks that serve both the uninsured and underinsured residents.
The HCAP grant was designed to increase access to health care by eliminating barriers to care and fragmented service delivery, improving efficiencies among the local providers, and focusing on greater private-sector involvement in the community. The Health Care Alliance of Polk was designed to enhance the health care delivery system for the low-income uninsured and underinsured in Polk County, Florida. The HCAP client information system is designed to improve linkages between health care providers, increase efficiency, ensure continuity of care, reduce duplicate testing and services, and achieve better health outcomes for patients. The Polk County program will also link health care and social service providers to maximize access to services and efficient distribution of already existing resources. The grant will expand the volunteer physician provider network, particularly in areas where none currently exists, and increase community awareness of the primary health care and social services currently available in the county. The voters of Polk County also recently voted on a sales tax dedicated specifically for indigent health care. This sales tax will help sustain the Health Care Alliance of Polk activities after grant funding has ended. Congratulations to the individuals and agencies who dedicated long hours to complete the successful grant. The hard work and persistence will help many uninsured and underinsured individuals receive necessary health and social services, which will improve the quality of life for these Polk County residents.
The Health Care Alliance of Polk (HCAP-Alliance)
was created to bring area health care leaders and providers
together to review and discuss the Health Communities Access
Program (HCAP) Grant.
The purpose of HCAP is to assist consortia of health care
providers and others to develop or strengthen integrated
community health care delivery systems that coordinate health
care services for individuals who are uninsured and
underinsured; and to develop or strengthen activities related to
providing coordinated care for individuals with chronic
conditions who are uninsured or underinsured.
The HCAP grant was submitted last year, but upon review, there
were several weaknesses, which prevented funding of the model
program in Polk County.
The Polk County Model for accessing health care was created to
integrate health care providers and services for those who are
uninsured or underinsured in the county. Ideally, the model
would function like this:
Example: A uninsured or underinsured person visits a social
service agency in Polk County where they are trying to access a
service. The person's data is input into a computer and
determines what further services they may be eligible for. The
person would be assigned to a primary care facility (such as
Central Florida Health Care) and referred out for specialty
care(agency like WE Care).
The integration of health services allows for easier access to
programs and services a person are eligible for. Keeping people
out of the Emergency Rooms and more into primary care will
reduce unnecessary ER visits and reduce costs.
The HCAP-Alliance has met three
times (January 14, 2004, February 3, 2004, & March 16,2004 ).
The HCAP grant has been discussed in great detail with the
group. The last meeting to review the HCAP grant prior to
submission will be held on March 30,2004 at 9 am at the United
Way in Bartow. Come join us!
An Ad-Hoc Technical Subcommittee
of the HCAP-Alliance was created to discuss possible software
for the grant. The first technical meeting of HCAP-Allicance
was held on February 10, 2004. The group then met on Wednesday,
March 24, 2004 at the Polk County Health Department. ServicePoint
presented their computer program to the group.