Hospitals offer free preventative care

One way or the other, you're going to end up treating the uninsured. So why not cut your losses, and along the way, salvage your bottom line? That seems to be the thinking behind an emerging practice in which some forward-thinking hospitals are providing free preventative care to uninsured working poor patients who don't qualify for public medical funding. One proponent of this approach is the Seton Family of Hospitals, an Austin, TX-based Roman Catholic hospital network. Through its three community medical centers, Seton provides care for about 5,000 of the working poor in its community, the Times reports.

To find these patients, Seton takes several steps, including finding frequent ED visitors who don't quality for state assistance and improving disease management for these "frequent fliers." This program has saved Seton hundreds of thousands of dollars by avoiding emergency care for chronic conditions like diabetes, officials there said. Public health systems in New York and Denver are also testing this approach. Denver officials say that for every $1 they spend on prenatal care for uninsured women, they save $7, according to the Times.

To get more background on this trend:
- read this article in The New York Times