Health Network—Bridging Care for Mobile Patients

There are an estimated 25 million migrant and mobile underserved individuals in the United States. This multi-cultural population consists primarily of immigrants from Mexico and Central America, and consists of workers in a growing number of occupations.

Providing care to individuals who move is one of the many challenges faced by those who work in healthcare settings that serve this population. Not only does mobility represent a challenge and a frustration to those who provide care to this population, but the impact on health outcomes can be significant, especially for those whose healthcare needs require ongoing care.

The Migrant Clinicians Network, a multi-disciplinary organization of clinicians who provide care to migrants, has operated a “bridge case management” program called Health Network since 1996 to help to address the challenge of continuity of care for mobile patients. Health Network is a free service that provides records transfer and care coordination for patients under care for tuberculosis, diabetes, cancer screening or treatment, and pregnancy to help ensure that there are no gaps in health care. After more than 12 years of operation, the Health Network system has learned important lessons about providing quality care to mobile, underserved people traveling both within the United States as well as internationally.

This presentation will discuss the structure of the Health Network system and how that has changed as the program has matured. Case presentations will be utilized to illustrate the impact that continuity support services have had on selected patients.