The Project: The American Health Initiative (www.americanhealthinitiative.org) has announced the initiation of TAP-IN, a program to help meet critical needs of Free Clinics through the volunteer engagement of senior health professionals to care for the uninsured. Intended to be a national program, TAP-IN was introduced in the Spring of 2006 in Virginia and North Carolina in partnership with both the Virginia and North Carolina Free Clinic Associations. The program is supported by a two year initiating grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies.
TAP-IN is designed to boost Free Clinic volunteerism among six groups of retired healthcare professionals: physicians, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, psychologists, and social workers. It will focus initially on recruiting physicians over age 55 that are retired or semi-retired, linking them with the over 100 Free Clinics operating in Virginia and North Carolina. The program will then be expanded to include other retired health professionals and Free Clinics in other states.
The Need: The program will assist Free Clinics in recruiting volunteers to help serve the more than 46 million Americans currently without health insurance. At present these uninsured turn to a complex safety net that includes physician offices, hospital emergency rooms, Community Health Centers, and Free Clinics. Some 1000 Free Clinics operating in 50 states are an increasingly important part of that safety net, accounting for more than 8.9 million patient visits annually. Free Clinics, staffed primarily by actively practicing and retired volunteers, now turn away thousands of patients each week due to a lack of volunteers. This program will focus on tapping into the hundreds of thousands of retired healthcare professionals to help Free Clinics meet their growing need for volunteers.
The Opportunity: Current estimates of retired health professionals in the United States include 164,000 physicians, 510,000 nurses, 32,000 dentists, 23,000 mental health providers, and 63,000 social workers. Many are interested in using their clinical skills to assist the uninsured as well as to stay active professionally and remain in contact with peers. Until now there has been no organized national program to link them to such opportunities. TAP-IN will provide that linkage.
How TAP-IN Works: TAP-IN, in partnership with state and regional Free Clinic associations, will work with regional marketing firms to identify and reach out to the retired and semi-retired health professionals living in and around communities with Free Clinics. Health professionals and Free Clinics can learn about and register for the program through the Web site www.tap-in.org or through the Help Desk @ 877-605-3250. Interested volunteers will be matched with clinic needs, ideally leading to agreement between the volunteer and clinic to proceed. Program participants will have access to an online community to share ideas, interests and experiences. Clinics will have access to free primary source credential verification for retired volunteers recruited by TAP-IN.