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The Costs of Operating a Student-run Free Clinic.

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Title: The Costs of Operating a Student-run Free Clinic.
Authors: Min, Eric1 eric.min@osumc.edu, Ekeocha, Chinwe2, Howarth, Madeline1, Keller, Tricia1, Shah, Ziniya2, Shah, Summit3, Cooper, Robert4
Source: Journal of Community Health. Dec2023, Vol. 48 Issue 6, p926-931. 6p.
Subject Terms: *Health facilities, *Medical students, *Cost effectiveness, Equipment & supplies, Hospital costs, Transportation of patients, Cost control, Primary health care, Advertising, Marketing, Hospital laboratories, Cost analysis, Budget, Telemedicine
Abstract: Introduction: Free clinics provide care for those who may otherwise not have access. While this care is often free for patients, it is not free to operate such clinics. This review will provide a budget and breakdown of all expenditures at a student-run free clinic along with average costs of services provided to patients. Methods: Accounting data was used to categorize all expenses and generate an annual budget. An inventory tracking system was developed to measure the costs of all medical supplies and services accurately, providing information on costs per clinic and costs per patient for each provided service. Results: The average cost per clinic was $53.55 (per patient: $2.14) for general clinic supplies, $43.74 (per patient: $7.29) for telehealth, $278.47 (per patient: $12.66) for laboratory services, $247.25 (per patient: $10.75) for pharmacy services, and $8.30 (per patient: $1.19) for social work. These costs contributed to a relative minority (< 33%) of the total costs to run a free clinic, where the highest costs were for volunteer appreciation and administrative overhead. Twelve categories of expenditures (administrative overhead, volunteer appreciation, medical and lab supplies, conferences and special projects, advertising and marketing, telehealth, pharmacy, specialty clinics, chronic care, patient transportation, social work, and accounting services) were ranked in order of necessity, and methods for cost reduction were discussed for each category. Conclusions: Categorizing costs can show where cost savings and cost-effective additions may be implemented. This study may serve as a financial and budgeting reference for other clinics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Journal of Community Health is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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  Data: The Costs of Operating a Student-run Free Clinic.
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  Data: &lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;AR&quot; term=&quot;%22Min%2C+Eric%22&quot;&gt;Min, Eric&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;relatesTo&gt;1&lt;/relatesTo&gt;&lt;i&gt; eric.min@osumc.edu&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;AR&quot; term=&quot;%22Ekeocha%2C+Chinwe%22&quot;&gt;Ekeocha, Chinwe&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;relatesTo&gt;2&lt;/relatesTo&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;AR&quot; term=&quot;%22Howarth%2C+Madeline%22&quot;&gt;Howarth, Madeline&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;relatesTo&gt;1&lt;/relatesTo&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;AR&quot; term=&quot;%22Keller%2C+Tricia%22&quot;&gt;Keller, Tricia&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;relatesTo&gt;1&lt;/relatesTo&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;AR&quot; term=&quot;%22Shah%2C+Ziniya%22&quot;&gt;Shah, Ziniya&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;relatesTo&gt;2&lt;/relatesTo&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;AR&quot; term=&quot;%22Shah%2C+Summit%22&quot;&gt;Shah, Summit&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;relatesTo&gt;3&lt;/relatesTo&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;searchLink fieldCode=&quot;AR&quot; term=&quot;%22Cooper%2C+Robert%22&quot;&gt;Cooper, Robert&lt;/searchLink&gt;&lt;relatesTo&gt;4&lt;/relatesTo&gt;
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  Data: Introduction: Free clinics provide care for those who may otherwise not have access. While this care is often free for patients, it is not free to operate such clinics. This review will provide a budget and breakdown of all expenditures at a student-run free clinic along with average costs of services provided to patients. Methods: Accounting data was used to categorize all expenses and generate an annual budget. An inventory tracking system was developed to measure the costs of all medical supplies and services accurately, providing information on costs per clinic and costs per patient for each provided service. Results: The average cost per clinic was $53.55 (per patient: $2.14) for general clinic supplies, $43.74 (per patient: $7.29) for telehealth, $278.47 (per patient: $12.66) for laboratory services, $247.25 (per patient: $10.75) for pharmacy services, and $8.30 (per patient: $1.19) for social work. These costs contributed to a relative minority (&lt; 33%) of the total costs to run a free clinic, where the highest costs were for volunteer appreciation and administrative overhead. Twelve categories of expenditures (administrative overhead, volunteer appreciation, medical and lab supplies, conferences and special projects, advertising and marketing, telehealth, pharmacy, specialty clinics, chronic care, patient transportation, social work, and accounting services) were ranked in order of necessity, and methods for cost reduction were discussed for each category. Conclusions: Categorizing costs can show where cost savings and cost-effective additions may be implemented. This study may serve as a financial and budgeting reference for other clinics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: &lt;i&gt;Copyright of Journal of Community Health is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder&#39;s express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.&lt;/i&gt; (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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        Value: 10.1007/s10900-023-01252-2
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Health facilities
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Medical students
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      – SubjectFull: Cost effectiveness
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      – SubjectFull: Equipment & supplies
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      – SubjectFull: Hospital costs
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      – SubjectFull: Transportation of patients
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      – SubjectFull: Cost control
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      – SubjectFull: Primary health care
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      – SubjectFull: Advertising
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      – SubjectFull: Marketing
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      – TitleFull: The Costs of Operating a Student-run Free Clinic.
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              Text: Dec2023
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