As part of its
effort to increase access to quality health care for all Americans, the GE
Foundation is continuing to generously support the AmeriCares U.S. Medical
Assistance Program. The grant expands the reach of GE’s Developing Health
program which drives GE’s “healthymagination” initiative, a commitment to help
change the world’s approach to health care by lowering costs, touching more
lives, and improving quality.
The
partnership represents an investment from GE of IT expertise, marketing
resources, and financial support. It has led to a dramatic increase in the
number of free clinics served by AmeriCares. New efficiencies have allowed
AmeriCares to more accurately address the urgent needs of the uninsured and resource
gaps within the U.S. health care safety net.
Together we
have taken great strides toward realizing our shared commitment of better
health for more people. The success of the program is directly linked to the resources
provided by the GE Foundation. We will continue to focus on increasing the
capacity of free clinics, sharing expertise, increasing resources, and
redefining chronic disease management for uninsured Americans.
Our
productive partnership will continue to build on the strategic program
initiatives achieved to date. Milestones include:
- Launch
of U.S. Access
, an online product ordering system that displays AmeriCares
inventory in real time to increase the efficiency and accuracy of clinic
requests and allow clinics to match inventory against their medical supply
needs
- Development
of Free Clinics Today, an interactive website providing free
clinics with a resource library of how-to guides, case studies, and tools to
support program planning and expansion
- Establishment
of a Chronic Disease Initiative to
increase access to essential medicines and educational materials for the
treatment and management of chronic diseases
- Completion
of site visits to over 50 clinics in 22 states to better understand the needs
of our partners
The GE Foundation also funded a recent
AmeriCares report, Addressing Resource Gaps in the U.S. Health Care Safety Net. More than 300 clinics were
surveyed and results confirmed the increasing needs of the uninsured and
underinsured patient population. The data are being used to inform the
continued expansion of our U.S. Medical Assistance Program and to highlight the
needs of our free clinic network.
GE is a
long-time supporter of AmeriCares. In 2010, GE partnered with AmeriCares to construct
a transitional field hospital in Angol, Chile after an 8.8 magnitude earthquake
destroyed an important regional hospital. The hospital is now fully operational
with a 50-patient capacity primarily supporting maternal and infant health care
needs.
Click here to read
the report.
