Biomedical subjects

Michael Beachler

Publications and source records attributed to Michael Beachler.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Southern Rural Access Program: an overview.

Rural residents experience significant disparities in health status and access to care. These disparities and access barriers are particularly prevalent in rural communities in the South. The Southern Rural Access Program, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, was designed as a long-term effort to improve access to basic health care in 8 of the most underserved states in the country. The program was launched in 1998 with 3 goals: (1) to increase the supply of providers in underserved areas, (2) to strengthen the health care infrastructure, and (3) to build capacity at the state and community level to solve problems. The first 3-year phase of the program made $13.8 million available to communities in the 8 target states, and a January 2002 reauthorization of the program will make an additional $18.9 million available in the next 4 years. This article will provide an overview of the Southern Rural Access Program, focusing on the development and evolution of the program during its first 3-year phase. The article will also highlight some of the refinements that the foundation has made during the 2002-2006 second phase of the program.

Community Health Planning↗

PubMed2003

Improving access to capital for health care infrastructure: the experience of the Southern Rural Access Program's revolving loan fund.

Lack of access to affordable capital is a formidable barrier that compromises rural health care infrastructure development in poor rural areas. Commercial lending institutions are often limited in their ability to respond to those needs due to traditional lending criteria: creditworthiness, equity, management ability, experiences, and cash flow or profits. In the Southern Rural Access Program, a development model more frequently used in other sectors has been successfully applied to health care to help clear these hurdles. This paper describes the 5 operational loan funds in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and West Virginia receiving support from the Southern Rural Access Program. Two models of loan funds have evolved: those led by health agencies and those led by community development finance institutions whose mission is rural economic development. This paper outlines major distinctive features of these 2 approaches and describes major implementation challenges these loan funds face. Key accomplishments are high-lighted, including the ability to leverage additional resources from state, federal, philanthropic, and private sources through these funds. These loan fund programs provide models for other states interested in improving access to capital to help build the rural health care infrastructure while making health care more economically viable through integration with other community development initiatives.

Capital Financing↗

PubMed2003

Lessons learned in phase I of the Southern Rural Access Program.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Southern Rural Access Program has been an important investment of philanthropic funds to augment resources and improve health care access in underserved rural communities. The program's first phase has taught important lessons about building capacity in rural health care. This article uses a variety of data to document the program's major accomplishments and most significant challenges to date. The program's revolving loan fund efforts are promising. The program has also played a catalytic role in stimulating rural health network development in the South and has helped stimulate partnerships with Southern philanthropies and multiple local, state, and federal agencies. Challenges have included the broad geographic and programmatic focus of the initiative as well as changing and often difficult state policy environments. Additional challenges include maintaining interagency coordination over time and managing staff and lead agency turnover. Overall, the experience suggests that a concentrated regional approach has merit.

Community Health Planning↗

PubMed2003

The Arkansas River Valley Rural Health Cooperative: building a three-pronged approach to improved health and health care.

This paper describes the Arkansas River Valley Rural Health Cooperative (ARVRHC), one of the Arkansas networks jump-started with support from the Southern Rural Access Program (SRAP). The initial goal of the network was to develop a subsidized health insurance program to provide affordable medical services for the uninsured population (23%) in the 3-county service area. When planning efforts called for the network to address broader needs, the ARVRHC crafted a more comprehensive 3-pronged program model consisting of 3 interrelated programs: (1) the Health Care Access Program (HCAP), (2) the Health Education and Disease Management Program (HE&DMP), and 3) the Information and Assistance Program (I&AP). The HCAP is designed to address the financial barriers to access through a community-based health plan. The HE&DMP focuses on improving the health of individuals through education, counseling, and preventive care. The I&AP links low-income families to existing public assistance programs (e.g., Medicaid) and social support services. The Prescription Drug Assistance Program is one of the I&AP programs that helps individuals without prescription coverage obtain drugs at no cost. A key lesson learned is the importance of combining technical assistance with funding. The ARVRHC has been successful in leveraging funding, having received over $1.7 million in grant funds since 1999. A critical challenge facing the network today is the need for ongoing subsidy funding. Proposed legislation for a federal demonstration of the HCAP and similar programs would enable full implementation and evaluation of this model.

Arkansas↗