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Title: Community Access Monitoring Survey (CAMS) Reports
Authors: Dennis Andrulis and Lisa Duchon, SUNY Downstate Medical Center; Carol Pryor, The Access Project; Nanette Goodman, Cornell Center for Policy Research
Description: The Access Project collaborated with community-based organizations to survey the uninsured about their experiences getting care at local, mainly safety-net, health care institutions. Called the Community Access Monitoring Survey (CAMS), the survey gathered data from over 10,000 uninsured people in 18 states.
Two reports were written to present the national findings from the Community Access Monitoring Survey. The first report, "What a Difference an Interpreter Can Make" was based on responses of 4,161 uninsured respondents who received care at one of the 23 urban hospitals included in the study. It compares the perceptions and experiences of adults who needed and had ready access to an interpreter with both those of adults who needed and did not have an interpreter readily available and those who did not need an interpreter. The findings show that uninsured respondents with limited English proficiency (LEP) who have access to an interpreter have strikingly better experiences in a wide range of areas, including ability to understand medication instructions, ability to get financial assistance to pay for care, and overall satisfaction with their health care encounter, compared to those who did not have an interpreter.
The second report, "Paying for Health Care When You're Uninsured: How Much Support Does the Safety Net Offer?" was based on the experiences of uninsured individuals in trying to pay for their medical care and prescription medications at primarily safety-net hospitals and health canters. The sample included 6,448 respondents who received outpatient health care at local facilities in the previous year, while uninsured. The findings indicate that uninsured people face serious financial barriers to obtaining care, and are often burdened with debts as a result of obtaining care. Moreover, these debts may deter them from seeking future care.
There are also local reports for each participating community that presents the findings for that specific location. All the CAMS related reports "Getting Health Care When You're Uninsured..." are available for download below.
PDF Downloads:
AZ:
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at Two Facilities in Somerton and Yuma, Arizona
CA:
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at Six Health Care Facilities in Fresno, California
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at Three Community Clinics in Berkeley, California
FL:
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at Four Facilities in Volusia County, Florida
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at Two Community Clinics in Miami-Dade County, Florida
A Survey of Uninsured Patients Receiving Care from Five Providers In Tallahassee, Florida
GA:
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at Four Facilities in Southwest Georgia
ID:
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at Four Facilities in Nampa and Twin Falls, Idaho
IL:
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at Mile Square Health Clinic in Chicago, Illinois
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at Two Clinics in Chicago, Illinois
KY:
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at Three Hospitals in Lake Cumberland District, Kentucky
LA:
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at Earl K. Long Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at the Istrouma School-Based Health Center Baton Rouge, Louisiana
MA:
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at North Adams Regional Hospital
NY:
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at North Central Bronx Hospital in The Bronx, New York
NV:
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at Two Hospitals in Las Vegas, Nevada
NC:
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at Wake Medical Center in Raleigh, North Carolina
OH:
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at Four Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at University Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio
OR:
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at Two Hospitals in Lincoln County Oregon
TN:
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at The Regional Medical Center In Memphis, Tennessee
TX:
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at CHRISTUS Jasper Memorial Hospital in Jasper, Texas
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at Fannin Family Planning Clinic in Houston, Texas
VA:
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at Inova Alexandria Hospital in Alexandria, Virginia
WV:
A Survey of Uninsured Patients at Four Facilities in West Virginia
Topics: Uninsured and Health Care Safety Net