As part of our Laboratory program’s goal to improve health access for patients at health clinics throughout the United States, a new point-of-care lab will be installed at Charis Health Center, Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, this week.
The HHI lab program aims to improve patient outcomes by implementing timely and accurate treatment protocols. Many Americans delay medical care due to cost and transportation barriers. HHI addresses these challenges by installing point-of-care laboratories in clinics allowing for quick, on-the-spot testing and results, enhancing diagnoses and patient outcomes.
When a point-of-care lab is installed at a charitable health clinic, patients don’t have to make additional arrangements for transportation or pay the typical high costs associated with lab testing. Lab tests performed at the time of clinic visits allow for more efficient workflow processes, expeditious decision-making and a better treatment plan.
This approach effectively reduces barriers, provides frequent testing at a patient’s health clinic promoting a higher level of engagement between the patients and their healthcare providers, and increases the likelihood of patients following clinical and treatment advice. Immediate availability of results allows patients to be treated and on their way to recovery.
Charis Health Center Executive Director Dr. Courtney Johnson stated: “The addition of our new point-of-care lab allows providers to make faster, more informed treatment decisions—especially for chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension—greatly improving efficiency and delivering better outcomes for our uninsured patients who can’t afford to wait.”
HHI Senior Vice President of Programs Tena Tiruneh said: “This partnership embodies our commitment to the goals of our laboratory program and supports our mission of improving access to equitable healthcare in medically under-resourced communities.”
This program is only possible with support from BD, Henry Schein Cares, and National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics. HHI Director of the Laboratory Program Heidi Schutz added: “With our point-of-care lab program, Charis Health Center will gain the instrumentation, reagents and supplies, training, and mentoring needed to enable them in providing rapid, accurate laboratory results to aid in diagnosis and treatment decisions for their patients all within the same visit.” This is all provided for the first 12 months of the program, and then the equipment becomes the clinic’s permanent property.