The Need for Need-Based Care

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Apr 18, 2023, 08:44 ET

New White Paper Explores the Relationship between Poverty and Health

COLUMBIA, Md., April 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AbsoluteCare, a healthcare organization that provides care beyond medicine for its members, is pleased to announce the release of "The Need for Need-Based Care," by Anoop Raman, MD, MBA, the company's Chief Medical Officer, Complex Care.

The new paper explores the connection between poverty and health. Lower income Americans, research shows, are more prone to diseases like diabetes, stroke, depression, and heart disease. They're more likely to have severe complications from COVID. Infant mortality is higher, and life expectancy is lower.

How do we give these Americans a fair shot at excellent health? "I think the answer lies in providing care based on need rather than ability to pay, which is exactly what we do here at AbsoluteCare," said Dr. Raman, the paper's author. "Private practice physicians have focused on seeing as many patients as possible. Value-based healthcare has changed all that, focusing on patient outcomes rather than volume." It's quality over quantity, in other words, and that one change is a major step toward health equity.

Another is addressing physical, behavioral, and social issues all at once. Patients who can't afford time off for medical care are less likely to attend follow-up appointments and preventive screening visits. They're also less likely to visit the physician when they have no transportation.

"Housing, transportation, and food are a huge part of healthcare. These are things many of us take for granted," said Mike Radu, AbsoluteCare CEO. "Without a place to store medications, healing foods, and rides to appointments, it's unlikely that a person with a chronic condition has an equal opportunity to get well. That's why we address social drivers of health in our comprehensive care centers and in the communities we serve."

Read "The Need for Need-Based Care" here: https://bit.ly/ABC_need-based-care_WP

About AbsoluteCare
Headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, AbsoluteCare is a leading value-based integrated healthcare provider. We go beyond medicine™ to provide comprehensive and preventive care to the most vulnerable populations. AbsoluteCare offers health services using a risk-bearing, PCP-driven care model. We treat the most clinically complex members of the communities we serve—many of whom face behavioral health, substance use, and SDoH challenges. AbsoluteCare tends exclusively to the needs of the high-risk population who persistently represent a disproportionate amount of unnecessary utilization and cost, regardless of whether they are engaged with other PCPs. We deliver this care in our Comprehensive Care Centers as well as in the communities we serve. In our more than 20 years, AbsoluteCare has consistently achieved unprecedented outcomes by addressing medical and psychosocial issues, as well as life's hardships that exacerbate chronic health conditions and complicate access to care. AbsoluteCare currently operates in seven markets: Baltimore and Prince George's County, MD; Cleveland and Columbus, OH; New Orleans, LA; and Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, PA.

For more information, visit absolutecare.com.

Contact: Lauren Cutruzzula
410-504-6971
[email protected]

SOURCE AbsoluteCare