Access to Primary and Preventive Care
Preventive care is a type of health care whose purpose is to maintain wellness and good health instead of treating sickness or disease. Preventive care occurs before you feel sick or notice symptoms, and is designed to prevent or delay the onset of illness and disease. Prevention includes personal choices such as a healthy lifestyle, exercise, and diet, but it also includes health care services such as physical exams, screening, laboratory testing, counseling, and immunizations. Preventive health care services are important to maintaining good health. By doing so it can reduce both the burden and cost of disease on individuals and the health care system as a whole.
One such example is the specific important of preventive services for maternal and child health; women and young infants attendance at pre-natal, post-natal, and well-baby/child visits is vital to healthy pregnancies and births.
Health care’s focus on preventive services increased after the passage of the Affordable Care Act which requires all health insurance plans to cover 10 essential health benefits, one of which is Preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management. By working with health care entities to ensure access to preventive services, mobility professionals can support health and well-being across the spectrum of care: from prevention of disease, to management of disease, to treatment and recovery.
Transportation to Pregnancy-Related Services.
This NCMM video follows a 2015 Grantee team in Buffalo, NY as they increase access to maternal care.
For further investigation . . .
Transportation to Healthcare Destinations: How A Lifeline for Patients Impacts the Bottom Line for Healthcare Providers
This document outlines the connections between transportation and healthcare, providing context and suggestions that will enable transportation providers to engage in conversations with healthcare agencies and make the case for more collaboration between the two sectors.