Adolescents are often reported to have the lowest access to health care service use of any age group, and they are the least likely to seek care through traditional office-based settings. Additionally, coordinating care for children has been an ongoing challenge for working parents.
School-based health centers see children who otherwise would not get care, help students get back to the classroom faster, lessen the demand on parents to take time off to take children to well and urgent care needs, and improve students' health.
On Target for Oregon’s Triple Aim
With 25 years of experience, Oregon's School-Based Health Centers are at the forefront of our current and emerging health care delivery system. With a wealth of experience and "lessons learned," School- Based Health Centers can make important contributions to health care reform.
The Oregon Health Authority (OHA), the agency tasked with implementing health care reform in Oregon, has set goals to improve health care outcomes through three key initiatives known as "The Triple Aim." The three outcomes OHA is focusing on are: a healthy population, extraordinary patient care, and reasonable costs. Oregon's School-Based Health Centers hit the target in all three areas!
School-Based Health Centers evaluate the needs of the populations they serve with a particular focus on wellness, prevention and chronic disease management. SBHCs provide quality, person-centered care using a cost-effective care model that focuses on prevention.
For example, each center must provide comprehensive medical and psychosocial histories, physical exams, immunizations, age-appropriate risk assessments and patient education. Additionally, centers maintain demographic and encounter data. These data better inform program development at the state and local level to ensure youths' health care needs are being appropriately met.
SBHCs are creating healthier generations and empowering youth to be healthy!