News
- Dr. George Lundberg To Lead TAP-IN's Top Advisors
- TAP-IN Sponsors Clinical Track at NCAFC Annual Meeting
- Amy Forsyth-Stephens Named TAP-IN Corporate Development Officer
- TAP-IN Celebrates Recruiting 100th Senior Volunteer for Free Clinics
- National Program Taps Senior Virginia Physicians for Volunteering: TAP-IN.org connects doctors to information and opportunities
- NC PBS program highlights TAP-IN
- What the clinic ordered: doctors
- Clinic seeks more docs; pilot program may help
- TAP-IN Program to Pair Physicians with Volunteer
Opportunities in Virginia and North Carolina
- Two region clinics selected for TAP-IN
- Looking for a few doctors: Free clinic part of test program
- Partnerships with North Carolina and Virginia Free Clinic Associations
- TAP-IN Program Awarded Major Grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies
Dr. George Lundberg To Lead TAP-IN's Top Advisors
June 2008
TAP-IN Co-Directors David Reynolds, PhD, and William Straub, MD, announced this month that George D. Lundberg, MD, Editor in Chief, Medscape Journal of Medicine and eMedicine has agreed to chair the organization's high level advisory board. The newly formed advisory board will provide guidance to TAP-IN's senior leadership to assure development of high-quality programs that enhance the volunteer experience and promote lifelong learning for retired healthcare professionals.
Dr. Lundberg's career-long focus on issues essential to reform of our healthcare system makes him a valued advisor to TAP-IN, a program which focuses its efforts on engaging retired healthcare professionals in volunteer work at the nation's free clinics. As the number of uninsured surpasses the 47 million mark in the US, free clinics are playing an increasingly significant role in providing care to these individuals. Relying heavily on volunteers, free clinics are in great need of healthcare professionals willing to donate their time.
TAP-In works to connect our nation's most experienced healthcare professionals with opportunities to use their skills and talents. In addition, the program is developing offerings such as continuing medical education in order to further assist retired healthcare professionals in their endeavor to maintain their clinical expertise.
Dr. Lundberg will lead an advisory board comprised largely of health professionals that will provide counsel to TAP-IN on program development and will facilitate collaboration with professional associations that share a commitment to address the critical healthcare challenges present in the US.
Dr. Lundberg is particularly noted for his skilled editorial leadership of the Journal of the American Medical Association over a 17-year period, covering some of the most dramatic transformations in American healthcare. He is widely published in the scientific and lay press and appears frequently on internet video with respect to healthcare issues.
TAP-IN was conceived by The American Health Initiative in late 2004. This innovative program reaches out to retired and near-retired physicians, nurses, dentists and other health professionals and currently focuses its recruiting efforts in Georgia, Texas, North Carolina and Virginia. The formative program was supported by a two-year initiating grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies, which, along with others, continues to support the growth and development of the program.
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TAP-IN Sponsors Clinical Track at NCAFC Annual Meeting
April 2008
TAP-IN sponsored 3 clinical sessions as part of the North Carolina Association of Free Clinics Annual Meeting held in Raleigh-Durham Apr 10-11, 2008. The speakers addressed the diagnosis and management of three chronic diseases commonly encountered in free clinics: diabetes, COPD, and asthma. Over 40 retired and active clinicians attended the sessions which were eligible for CME/CE credits. This was the first time that a full clinical track has been offered as part of the NCAFC Annual Meeting. Last year TAP-IN sponsored a CME program exclusively for retired physicians that was held just prior to the NCAFC Annual Meeting.
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Amy Forsyth-Stephens Named TAP-IN Corporate Development Officer
March 1, 2008
As Corporate Development Officer, Amy Forsyth-Stephens has primary responsibility for TAP-IN’s resource mobilization strategy to facilitate value creation for stakeholders including health conversion foundations, hospital corporations and major donors. In this capacity, she works in close coordination with TAP-IN marketing operations in order to guide message and brand development consistent with stakeholder interests and the expansion of TAP-IN programs in major metropolitan markets. Amy brings to the TAP-IN executive leadership team more than a decade of successful fundraising and medical services management experience, including securing corporate support for civic issue programs and expanding health and dental care in remote and underserved communities.
Previously Amy served as Executive Director of the Free Clinic of the New River Valley, a joint position with the Mental Health Association, where she led health care safety net organizations through a period of tremendous growth, greatly increasing access to health care services in the rural Appalachian region of Southwest Virginia. She also formerly served as Executive Director of the Mental Health Association of the New River Valley in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Amy has recently been instrumental in the design and execution of community recovery efforts in response to the April 2007 shooting tragedy at Virginia Tech University. She was honored as “Citizen of the Year” in her local community in 2006 and in 2004 Pfizer featured her in its publication The Faces of Public Health. In 1997 Amy helped develop one of the nation’s first mental health Free Clinic programs, which won national acclaim as an innovative model for extending critical mental health services to low income, uninsured persons and was subsequently expanded under a federal Rural Health Outreach Grant. Amy earned her Master of Social Work degree with a specialization in Program Evaluation from Florida State University.
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TAP-IN Celebrates Recruiting 100th Senior Volunteer for Free Clinics
-- Local clinics, clinicians, and uninsured benefit from volunteerism --
September 18, 2007
This week, TAP-IN, an innovative new program which connects senior
physicians
with Free Clinic volunteer opportunities, recruited its 100th volunteer to serve those without medical care in North Carolina and Virginia. With the goal of engaging
physicians
ages 55 and over in free clinics, TAP-IN uses direct mail, marketing, email, seminars, and word of mouth to help reach out to potential volunteers.
TAP-IN started with a pilot project to find volunteer physicians for six free clinics in 2006 and expanded their efforts in 2007 through a partnership with the state Free Clinic Associations in Virginia and North Carolina. Currently 86 clinics are participating with the TAP-IN program.
“TAP-IN is about people, purpose and opportunity. Volunteering gives physicians in their later years a sense of purpose, keeps them involved with colleagues, and helps them improve the quality of life in their communities,” said Mark Cruise, TAP-IN Director of Field Operations. “We want to connect senior physicians with opportunities to use their medical skills in ways that remind them of why they started practicing medicine in the first place.”
TAP-IN uses its website (www.tap-in.org) and toll-free telephone number (1-877-605-3250) to help match retired and near-retired physicians with the nearest Free Clinic in their area and to answer questions about volunteering. The website also serves as an in-depth resource on state requirements for volunteer licensure, malpractice insurance, and continuing education.
“We were thrilled to participate as a pilot site and help shape TAP-IN during the first year,” stated Cathy Lewis, Executive Director of Chesapeake Care Free Clinic. “If it was not for TAP-IN, we would not have an onsite neurology clinic staffed by Dr. Samuel Shapiro or an additional daytime medical clinic staffed by Dr. Arnold Barr. Both volunteers were recruited through TAP-IN’s initial outreach efforts.”
“I work in the free clinic about one day a month,” said Dr. Winfrey Whicker, a volunteer at MD Community Free Clinic Concord, North Carolina. “I found that after retirement your knowledge seems to leave you fairly quickly if you don’t use it. This is a good way to keep involved and still see patients.”
TAP-IN is a program of the American Health Initiative. More information on TAP-IN and retired physician volunteerism is available at www.tap-in.org.
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National Program Taps Senior Virginia Physicians for Volunteering: TAP-IN.org connects doctors to information and opportunities
April 2007
VAFP - Virginia Academy of Family Physicians
TAP-IN (which stands for Third Age Professional Initiative) is an innovative new program which connects senior physicians with Free Clinic volunteer opportunities, is now available for all Virginia physicians ages 55 and over through a partnership with the Virginia Association of Free Clinics.
Free Clinics serve a unique population--adults not old enough to qualify for Medicare and not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid.
Click here to follow link to article.
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NC PBS program highlights TAP-IN
September 1, 2006
North Carolina Now
North Carolina Now, a Triangle area PBS featured interviews with staff, volunteers, and patients of the Urban Ministries' Open Door Clinic who are benefiting from participation in TAP-IN. This Raleigh clinic was one of first clinics to work with TAP-IN and is an excellent example of the potential of increased volunteerism among retired physicians.
Click this link to watch the television clip on your computer.
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What the clinic ordered: doctors
June 22, 2006
The News Observer
By Janell Ross.
RALEIGH - For the past 20 years Urban Ministries' Open Door Clinic has provided free health care and other services to uninsured patients.
Donations, volunteer doctors, nurses and pharmacists, as well as the agency's staff, make the service possible.
Working with Urban Ministries and
TAP-IN, an agency that connects retired doctors with volunteer opportunities, Dr. Donald T. Lucey issued a call last week to retired and soon-to-retire physicians.
Click here to follow link to article.
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Clinic seeks more docs; pilot program may help
June 2, 2006
The Chesapeake Clipper
By Rita Frankenberry. Virginia.
The Chesapeake Care clinic hopes a new grant will encourage more retired physicians to volunteer their medical know-how and donate their time to help the city's medically uninsured.
In late April, the clinic was selected by the American Health Initiative to pilot the
TAP-IN program. The program aims to encourage retired physicians to volunteer in free health clinics. Chesapeake and a Virginia Beach clinic were two of six selected nationally to pilot the program.
Click here for more information.
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TAP-IN Program to Pair Physicians with Volunteer Opportunities in Virginia and North Carolina
May 2006
Virginia Medical News
TAP-IN, a program of the American Health Initiative, Ltd, is an innovative
program designed/created to connect retired and semi-retired physicians
with the critical needs of the uninsured through volunteer clinical opportunities
in free clinics. TAP-IN will use its website (www.tap-in.org) and tollfree
number (1-877-605-3250) to serve as an information hub for retired
physicians who want to learn more about the practicalities involved in
donating their time.
Click here for more information.
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Two region clinics selected for TAP-IN
May 30, 2006
The Fayetteville Observer
North Carolina.
The CARE Clinic in Fayetteville and the Moore Free Care Clinic in Carthage are among six sites selected to take part in a national pilot program to recruit retired physician volunteers.
The American Health Initiative selected the two sites to participate in the
TAP-IN program.
To view this article, click on the link below.
Click here for more information.
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Looking for a few doctors: Free clinic part of test program
May 15, 2006
The Daily Progress
By Sarah Barry. Virginia.
Some leisure activities commonly associated with retirement - golf, bingo, community theater - may seem anticlimactic after a career of saving lives and curing diseases.
TAP-IN, a pilot program from the American Health Initiative, is offering retired physicians the chance to get back into practice by connecting them with their local free clinics as places to volunteer. Only six clinic sites across North Carolina and Virginia have been chosen for the pilot, and the Charlottesville Free Clinic is one of them.
Click here for more information.
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Partnerships with North Carolina and Virginia Free Clinic Associations
November 5, 2005
American Health Initiative (AHI) was delighted to formally announce on November 5, 2005 its working partnerships with the Associations of Free Clinics in North Carolina and Virginia for the purpose of facilitating the operational development and launch of TAP-IN.
The announcement from AHI Co-Directors to the Associations of Free Clinic Directors in North Carolina and Virginia was the culmination of joint discussions and planning over the past year and was occasioned by the recent decision of The Atlantic Philanthropies to fund
TAP-IN program plans.
With their guidance AHI has designed
TAP-IN to help meet the critical needs of Free Clinics through the volunteer engagement of senior health professionals by providing care to the uninsured. Intended to eventually be a national program for engaging a spectrum of health professionals over age 55,
TAP-IN will initially focus on recruiting senior physicians.
Beginning this Spring the partners will field test
TAP-IN for a period of six months in four clinics in the Raleigh and Moore county areas of North Carolina and in three clinics in the Charlottesville and Hampton Roads areas of Virginia. It will then be offered to Free Clinics across both states. The program is planned to subsequently expand and include a full range of senior health professionals and to be offered as an assist to Free Clinics across the country
The North Carolina and Virginia Associations were chosen to partner with AHI in the development and launch of this pioneering program because they lead the nation in total number of Free Clinics; they guide well organized State Free Clinic Associations that represent a majority of the Free Clinics in the area; they both have very low cost retiree medical malpractice insurance arrangements; and both offer a strong pool of potential volunteers. They have built a strong platform on which to test the value potential of
TAP-IN.
AHI will work closely with Free Clinic leaders as well as community and state professional organizations to identify and engage qualified practitioners through focused marketing along with both Web based and Help Desk entrance. A key feature of the
TAP-IN program will be the opportunity for clinic leaders, staff, and volunteers to participate in online communities and share experiences and best practices with peers across the state and nationwide.
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TAP-IN Program Awarded Major Grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies
October 17, 2005
The American Health Initiaitve, Ltd. has announced that it has been awarded a grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies to launch
TAP-IN, an innovative program to recruit health care professionals to volunteer in free health clinics.
The program will use one standard internet address and toll-free phone number so prospective volunteers can easily be matched to Free Clinics in their areas. More than 1,700 Free Clinics operating in 47 states are an increasingly important part of the safety-net which helps to care for the more than 45 million Americans who are without health insurance. Free Clinics, staffed primarily by actively practicing and retired volunteers, turn away thousands of patients each week due to a lack of doctors and other health care volunteers.
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.
The program is being run in coordination with the Virginia Association of Free Clinics and North Carolina Association of Free Clinics and will be field tested in these two states initially. North Carolina and Virgina were chosen as sites to launch
TAP-IN because they lead the nation in total numbers of Free Clinics, and have established and well-run state associations. Both states have low cost retiree medical malpractice insurance arrangements and offer a strong pool of potential volunteers.
Click here for more information.
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Hilda Cashman Named
TAP-IN COO
October 14, 2005
Hilda Cashman, of East Brunswick, New Jersey was named Chief Operating Officer for
TAP-IN. Founders and Directors David Reynolds and William Straub announced the appointment October 15.
Ms. Cashman will be responsible for the planning and implementation of
TAP-IN. She worked at the Women's Health Institute at UMDNJ - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School before joining
TAP-IN.
Click here for more information.
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