An article in the June 9 issue of Triad Business Journal describes an emerging partnership between Randolph Hospital and the faith community. The article points to the results of looking at three-month’s worth of visits to the hospital’s emergency department.
The three-month study identified 510 superutilizers, who accounted for 2,005 emergency department visits during that period. Those figures, taken to an annual basis, mean that superutilizers account for about 20 percent of all emergency department visits, [vice president Devin] Griffith said.
Working from the notion that, as Griffith puts it, “ proactive mercy is better than reactive charity,” a variety of strategies have emerged:
…including embedding a case manager with Partnership for Community Care, the regional Medicaid management organization, in the emergency department, and working with superutilizers to connect them with a primary care medical home.
The FaithHealthNC partnership is another strategy, and involves engaging churches and faith communities around caring for high-risk individuals both in their own congregations and in the surrounding community.
That can involve providing financial assistance, providing transportation to and from medical appointments, assisting with improving home environments and more, Griffith said. FaithHealthNC helps provide orientation for those participants and coordination.
