AccessHealth Spartanburg

In Spartanburg County, South Carolina, approximately 38,848 people have no access to health insurance. To help address this issue, a diverse group of community organizations partnered together to create AccessHealth Spartanburg (AHS) in 2010. Funded by the Duke Endowment, a network of partners, and individual donations, AHS strives to provide quality care management, navigation, and connection to needed services for its eligible clients.

It is important to note that AHS is not a medical clinic. Instead, after an initial assessment of needs, it connects clients to a medical home at one of more than 100 primary healthcare providers. In addition, AHS also connects each client to community resources designed to improve quality of life.

To become eligible for AccessHealth Spartanburg's services, an individual must be a resident of Spartanburg County, have no health insurance (including Medicare, Medicaid or VA benefits), and be living at or below 150% of the Federal Poverty Level.

AccessHealth Spartanburg's mission is to improve access to healthcare for the uninsured of Spartanburg County, SC.

AHS reduced inappropriate emergency room use and inpatient caseloads while increasing access to healthcare services for its clients in Spartanburg County. Furthermore, the organization reported a $17 to $1 ROI.

In 2014 alone, AHS received 1,060 new clients in addition to 1,451 clients already active. 8,967 appointments were scheduled for 1,859 patients. Furthermore, 1,028 clients received prescription assistance and 233 clients were enrolled in smoking cessation programs.

An evaluation of hospital inpatient (IP) and emergency department (ED) utilization by the S.C. Office of Research and Statistics reports that AccessHealth network participants who used hospital services had less costly visits due to shorter inpatient lengths of stay and fewer admissions. Combined ED and IP costs were reduced by 42.42%, while admissions were reduced by 31.46%