Community Free Clinic Newsletter
Prescription for Success
Volume 1.1 - January 2007
This is the first edition of what will become a regular monthly newsletter for The Dr. Garabed A. Fattal Community Free Clinic. “Prescription for Success” will be used to provide clinic news and information about changes at the Community Free Clinic.
The year 2006 has brought many changes to our Community Free Clinic. Some of the more significant changes include:
- New computer hardware and software (developed specifically for free clinics) to store patient information, build a fund-raising database, track volunteer hours, and manage our drug inventory.
- A web site (http://upstate.edu/fattalclinic) to provide basic information to the public about the clinic and the services we provide.
- An online process for recruiting new clinic volunteers through the Volunteer Match system.
- The capability to accept monetary contributions online.
While these changes have been (and may continue to be) uncomfortable at times, our clinic is poised for growth. With this expansion, we are sure to experience growing pains. We appreciate the cooperation and support of our loyal volunteers in the past, and look forward to a bigger, brighter future for our Community Free Clinic.
The number of patients requiring our services has increased steadily over the past 10 years. The cost of medications required for each patient (especially those with chronic conditions) continues to rise for many reasons which are beyond our control. The focus of this first newsletter will be on ways we can all help to have a positive impact on the clinic budget.
Fund Raising Highlights
On October 19, 2006, the Broome County Legislature resolved to provide an annual grant to the Community Free Clinic in the amount of $103,000 for year 2007. We are extremely grateful for this continued support from Broome County.
The Skirball Foundation approved a $20,000 planning grant for the Community Free Clinic to explore alternative solutions to our clinic space problems. Other local foundations making contributions this past year included:
- George A. and Margaret Mee Foundation
- Sarkisian Brothers Foundation
- Victor and Esther Rozen Foundation
- Jacob and Rose Olum Foundation
- Botnick Family Foundation
- Russell Phelps Trust
Several direct mail campaigns were used to solicit funds from individuals last year. This was our first attempt at direct mail fund-raising. Over $ 45,000 was raised this year from these mass mailing campaigns.
As a result of increased fund-raising efforts, the total amount of money contributed to the Community Free Clinic in 2006 was the largest ever. We hope we can count on volunteers to help develop and implement an even more aggressive fund-raising campaign for 2007.
Patient Assistance Program
As of December 31, 2006, over 50 Community Free Clinic patients were approved to receive their medications through pharmaceutical company patient assistance programs. We are happy to report the drugs received this past year represents a savings of over $41,000 (approx. 16% of our total drug expenditures in 2006). While this is certainly a significant first step for us, we believe there is tremendous potential for expanding our PAP program in 2007. Our goal is to enroll an additional 100 patients in 2007. Through processing refill applications for our current enrollees, and submitting new applications for 100 more patients, we anticipate PAP savings of at least $200,000 in 2007. With everyone's help, this is a realistic goal for our clinic.
Processing applications and acquiring drugs through the patient assistance programs is but one part of maximizing our potential PAP savings. Another important factor is the effective dispensing of these medications once they arrive at the clinic. We are instituting what we call the “Brown Bag” procedure. It’s called “Brown Bag” because the drugs are placed in a simple brown paper bag with the patient and drug names clearly labeled, and stored in a special “Brown Bag” section of the pharmacy. This procedure will help ensure that drugs acquired through the patient assistance programs will be dispensed to the appropriate patient when available, while addressing script writing issues in general. Reminders of this procedure will be posted prominently in the clinic.
Current Drug Abundance
Another way to reduce the drug costs at the Community Free Clinic is to make use of donated medications which we may currently have in abundance. These drugs come to us from a variety of sources: through our membership in the National Association of Free Clinics, through the kindness of local private practice physicians, and through the generosity of area drug company representatives. These are usually name brand drugs that you would not normally prescribe because they may not be on our clinic formulary or would be cost-prohibitive if we were required to purchase them. This list will change monthly. Please check this list, and consider prescribing these medications when appropriate for your patient.
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