Peer Responses:

Citations: At least two high-level scholarly reference in APA per post from within the last 5 years

• Relate/Compare other journal reading.
• Peer response to Vanessa
• At the primary care clinic where I’m doing my hours, many patients are seen in collaboration with the interdisciplinary group, such as cardiologists, GI specialists, dermatologists, endocrinologists, psychiatrists, and many others. This primary care clinic works together with specialty clinics for the best outcome for the patient. Recently, we have contacted specialists for our patients at this clinic, such as cardiologists, endocrine, pulmonologists, ortho, and psychiatry. Our patients are seeing a correlation with these, especially in offices, due to their chronic conditions. However, some patients are referred to a specialist due to their chronic condition but fail to set up appointments with them. One of the barriers these patients face is the high cost of this specialist office or the “co-pay,” which is why some insurance companies will not cover their visits. Another barrier is the lack of communication from the referred office. Some specialty clinics do not immediately follow up with their referred patient and take weeks to contact the patient and make an appointment for them. Lastly, the language barrier is the most common, at least what I have experienced. Spanish-speaking patients at this practice prefer to be seen by Spanish-speaking providers. Finding a specialty clinic that speaks Spanish is very challenging. At this clinic, on every appointment, the provider follows up with the patient who has been referred to ensure they have set up an appointment with the referred clinic. There was one case where the patient was referred to the dermatologist for a new mole on his head that was growing, and the provider herself contacted the clinic, explained the situation, and advocated for her patient. This provider scheduled this patient an appointment at the dermatologist's office for her patient.

Some resources can help this patient with some barriers to exceptional care. These are:

Non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) is a service for Medicaid patients who need transportation to their appointments with their healthcare providers.

https://portal.ct.gov/dss/health-and-home-care/non...
Another useful resource for patients is CHOICE (Connecticut’s program for health insurance assistance, outreach, information and referral, counseling, and eligibility screening). This program provides health insurance assistance for patients with disabilities, low-income families, and individuals whose English is not their primary language. It also provides counselors and free in-person assistance to help patients make informed choices.
https://portal.ct.gov/aginganddisability/content-p...