How providers aim to improve healthcare accessibility with mobile clinics.
By Pete Mercer
As the healthcare industry continues to evolve, providers need to be prepared to evolve with it. One of the most recent evolutions in the delivery of care is the mobile health clinic, a sort of ‘clinic-in-a-car’ approach to providing patients with the care they need. Motor vehicles, ranging from large vans to buses, are outfitted and resourced with all the tools necessary to act as a care delivery system on wheels.
This innovative turn is a solution for several hot button issues facing the industry. Increasing accessibility is a significant pain point for the entire healthcare industry – many patients are stranded in healthcare deserts without a consistent or reliable mode of transportation to get to their doctor’s appointments. Another significant pain point is the financial aspect of receiving care – exorbitant inflation rates are making spending money on preventive care less likely, while others are struggling to make payments to manage their chronic illnesses. This wide spectrum of healthcare challenges is where the mobile clinic can thrive.
Mobile clinics provide a simplified healthcare solution that allows patients to receive convenient, affordable, and time-saving patient-centered care. These clinics offer services like health screenings, immunizations, minor injury treatment, and sick visits to community members that might not otherwise have access to the quality healthcare services they deserve. Organizations like HealthWorks, The Mayo Clinic, and many others are branching out to create a more accessible and affordable system for their communities.
What are mobile clinics?
Mobile health clinics are customized vehicles that travel to communities to provide a wide range of health services. These clinics are typically staffed by physicians, nurses, community health workers, or other health professionals.
These units are designed to help provide care to underserved communities, helping these patients overcome many barriers in the way to accessing the care they need. There are so many patients in the United States who lack access to basic healthcare because of barriers like time, geography, and trust, making innovative healthcare trends like mobile clinics such a unique opportunity for underserved communities.
NPR reported in 2023 that the number of mobile clinics on the road has grown since 2019. “Many were used for COVID-19 testing and vaccinations. And health and community centers started using mobile units to bring primary care, behavioral health, and reproductive services to out-of-the-way patients.”
At the beginning of 2024, the MOBILE Healthcare Act went into effect, allowing health centers to use federal funds to establish mobile healthcare for their communities, which would increase access to medical services for any underserved areas.
Congressman Richard Hudson, one of the architects of the original bill, said in a media release, “The MOBILE Health Care Act is critical to improve health care quality and access across our country, especially in rural and underserved areas. I have heard directly from community health centers in North Carolina and across the country about the positive impact this bill and the flexibilities it provides would have on communities and patients.”
Reducing healthcare costs
In addition to breaking down any barriers that patients might face in receiving patient care, mobile health clinics often provide care at a lower cost than traditional healthcare delivery modes. According to Mobile Health Map, a network of mobile clinics that work together to advance health equity, for every $1 spent on mobile health, $12 are saved, resulting in a return on investment of 12:1.
Patients who use mobile clinics can receive cost-effective preventative care, which can reduce the amount of care those individuals will need over their lifetime, while also reducing expensive emergency room visits in the event of an emergency.
Because the goal of mobile clinics is to increase accessibility, healthcare organizations can use these clinics to specifically target uninsured patients, low-income patients, rural patients, and even patients who are homeless. Additionally, they can be used to increase primary care and wellness checks for public schools and local businesses, which would allow students, teachers, and employees of the businesses to receive a wellness check without taking the time to travel and wait at a primary care facility.
HealthWorks, a Wyoming-based healthcare provider, has a pilot mobile clinic program that brings services like sick visits, minor injury treatment, and well-child exams to public school in the Cheyenne area. Monica Woodward told The Cheyenne Post that students in this district will be seen by the mobile clinic, regardless of their ability to pay.
She said, “We know that lack of insurance prevents parents from seeking care that is needed. HealthWorks serves all patients regardless of ability to pay. We want all kids to achieve optimal health and will serve as a resource for them.”
The HealthWorks mobile clinic does not replace required school health services for Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE), but instead provides support, according to the company. It also does not replace parents/guardians, school nurses, school counselors, pediatricians, or other existing services. Services are determined at the local level and in accordance with state and local policies and/or law.
Getting out in the community
The opportunity that mobile clinics present for demographics like school-aged children is huge. The Cheyenne Post covered a partnership between HealthWorks and the Laramie County School District 1 to provide physical and behavioral health services to students, faculty and staff. “We are excited to have this one-of-a-kind mobile service available for our students, faculty and staff,” Superintendent of Schools Dr. Margaret Crespo said to The Cheyenne Post. “The main goal is to focus our work on bringing partnership and opportunities for our students and families as outlined in our strategic plan through community engagement and healthy environment.”
With visits lasting 30 minutes or less, HealthWorks is working to provide a better option for students and teachers with time constraints, while relieving the parents the burden of taking time off from work.
Improving accessibility
A huge component of improving accessibility is meeting the needs of those who use the largest amount of healthcare services in the United States: adults 65 and older. As patients get older, they will invariably need access to healthcare more often, but those in rural areas have fewer options for transportation.
Chronic disease is particularly prevalent in older patients, necessitating frequent healthcare visits to monitor health and mitigate further issues. Diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and cancer are all chronic illnesses that require constant medical surveillance. For the elderly, this becomes even more complicated as their own physical mobility suffers – past a certain age, many are not even driving themselves to their own doctor’s appointments.
The Mayo Clinic Health System Mobile Health Clinic saw a significant need in their elderly patients. “I’ve always been focused on opportunities to create access to care, especially in these small communities. Essentially, we’re traveling to people’s doorsteps and providing high-quality, patient-centered care,” Emily Majerus, a Family Medicine PA at Mayo Clinic in Austin, Minn., said. “Patient compliance increases when you make care so convenient. I can see them on Tuesday and follow up with them on Thursday. The mobile clinic functions just like my brick-and-mortar clinic in Austin. It just has more wheels and windows.”
Sidebar:
Mayo’s Mobile Health Clinic
Mayo Clinic Health System’s Mobile Health Clinic includes two exam rooms, an on-site laboratory and telehealth equipment connecting patients to Mayo Clinic providers for care.
It provides preventive health screenings, chronic disease management and community partnerships.
Services include:
- Acute illness/infection
- Anticoagulation/INR checks
- Chronic disease checks
- Immunizations
- Pacemaker checks (virtual)*
- Pediatrics*
- Preventive services
- Specialty consults (virtual)*
- Sprains and fractures — If casting or imaging (X-ray/CT/MRI) is required, you may be referred to a brick and mortar facility*
- Wellness visits