Fact: Twelve percent of Tennesseans and 13.6% of Shelby County residents are uninsured, according to 2019 data from the Sycamore Institute.
Fact: Our country faces a mounting physician shortage that could be as high as 124,000 physicians, according to a report published by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).
Question: How do we take care of our most vulnerable, the uninsured, in the most efficient and cost effective way possible.
Question: How do we enable physicians, many of whom entered their profession to take care of this population, to take care of these fellow citizens in a way that doesn’t take advantage of their time and resources?
There are many more challenges to be addressed in the area of taking care of those who do not have insurance. Until then, a group of four local medical societies and a hospital system are leading the way to expand and coordinate that care across the state of Tennessee.
How are they doing that? Through a statewide network called Project Access.
