Bridging access gaps experienced by the underserved: the need for healthcare providers to look within for answers

BACKGROUND: Health and medical providers dedicated to serving the poor face daunting challenges, with the most obvious one pertaining to the provision of services with little or no expectation of remuneration. This hardship often is overlooked by broad society as many view the delivery of healthcare services to indigent populations to be covered fully by government health insurance programs or other forms of public assistance. This, however, is only partially true and, even when reimbursements or similar payments are provided, they often fall short of covering the actual costs associated with rendering services. DISCUSSION: With reimbursements from third parties often being unreliable, inadequate, and sometimes nonexistent, healthcare providers dedicated to serving poverty-stricken populations face quite a dilemma. As an institution which is devoted to addressing the disadvantaged, Willis-Knighton Health System has long sought remedies to bolster healthcare access for these vulnerable individuals. While public policy solutions ultimately are desired, historic and recent efforts continue to reveal fractures which in some cases have compelled providers to limit their exposure to indigent populations or withdraw from serving them altogether. Willis-Knighton Health System has addressed these challenges by operating as efficiently as possible, offering and successfully delivering a diverse service mix which permits a healthy margin that can support charitable care initiatives, and remaining steadfastly committed to shoring up indigent services in the community. CONCLUSIONS: Given the magnitude, scope, and expenditures associated with comprehensively addressing disadvantaged populations, public policy modifications appear to be the primary hope of remedying associated access gaps fully. Until effective measures are introduced, however, health and medical institutions dedicated to serving the indigent must look within for answers to associated challenges.