What is Project Access Network (PAN)?

Northwest Family Services is proud to administer a program that creates access to donated specialty care and provides “Health For All – Salud Para Todos”. A successor program to the previous Project Access led by the Marion Polk County Medical Society’s foundation, Project Access Network has formed to continue the vital work of coordinating donated care to those who have exhausted all their options.

What is Currently Happening?

Imagine being ineligible for insurance and having a new medical diagnosis that requires specialty treatment but having to pay out of pocket to access it. If you are fortunate enough to pay the consult fee to be seen, imagine that you now have to coordinate with upwards of 10 medical provider offices to figure out how you are going to pay for your bills before they go to collections. In the best-case scenario, maybe a handful of the clinics you are working with offer financial assistance and some offer payment plans. While dealing with your new diagnosis, treatment schedules and a reduced quality of life due to your health, now add the time it takes to navigate each billing office not in your native language. It may not come as a surprise that some give up in the face of what feels like insurmountable odds, and end up facing their condition with less than adequate resources and support.  

What To Do?

This is current reality for many low-income uninsured patients across our region. In many cases, access to specialty care is nonexistent at worst and discouraging, time-consuming and complicated at best. Project Access Network (PAN) is the response to this. Health systems, safety net clinics and private specialty care providers have joined their efforts to create a better process for the low-income uninsured. Through a Network of specialty care providers, PAN enrolls and assigns patients to designated specialty care “slots” free of charge to the patient. PAN provides a solution for the patient and helps providers target their efforts in treating the low-income uninsured.

Current PAN partners and/or sponsors include:

• Kaiser Permanente
• Legacy Health
• Marion County Public Health
• Northwest Human Services
• Oregon Oncology Specialists
• Polk County Public Health
• Salem Free Clinics
• Salem Health
• Santiam Hospital
• Willamette Family Medical Center
• Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic

The new Project Access Network model features:

• Enhanced care coordination support services to patients including interpretation and transportation to/from appointments, with an expected patient show rate of 95%
• A flexible model that seeks to create or build on specialty provider capacity to treat the low-income uninsured
• A referral process that leverages the relationship between primary provider, patient, and care coordinator/patient navigator
• A partnership model that utilizes organizational strengths so as not to duplicate efforts resulting in enhanced support and coordination for the patient

Fast Facts: Highlights during our Program Launch:

• 16 clinics have been identified and onboarded as referral sources
• 16 specialty provider organizations have committed to provide specialty care “slots” for program participants, with more being added on an ongoing basis
• Health system partners are in the process of identifying specialty care “slots” and are currently providing ancillary services available through their charity care programs
• Medical leadership is being developed and program objectives and efforts are currently being actively promoted in the provider community