Program areas at Advocate Health Care
Financial assistanceproviding inpatient and outpatient healthcare services to the community regardless of the patients' ability to pay. Included in these Health care services are the provision of financial assistance and trauma care. As part of its community benefits strategy and its vision and values, Advocate is committed to promoting initiatives that enhance access to Health care for people who are uninsured, underinsured and low income. Advocate offers a very generous financial assistance program, requiring no payments from the patients most in need and providing discounts to uninsured and insured patients. Patients earning up to six times the federal poverty level (fpl) and insured patients earning up to two and half times the fpl, may qualify for a full or partial financial assistance discount. Additionally, a catastrophic assistance discount is available for uninsured and insured patients whose incomes exceed the traditional financial assistance income guidelines and have outstanding patient balances of $25,000 or more for a single date of service or sum of several dates of service. These patients may qualify to receive a financial assistance discount that reduces their outstanding balance to 25% of their net income. For uninsured patients, Advocate will presumptively provide financial assistance if the financial status has been verified by a third party. In these cases, the patient is not required to submit a separate charity application. If presumptive criteria are not available for uninsured patients, financial assistance eligibility is available using an income-based screening. Advocate extends its income-based financial assistance policy to its insured patients as well. Advocate continues to review and refine its policy in an ongoing effort to ensure that financial assistance is available to those who need help.advocate Health care is dedicated to providing expert emergency caretoday and into the future. In the area of trauma care, level 1 designation is the highest level for trauma centers. As level 1 trauma centers, five Advocate hospitalsadvocate christ, Advocate condell, Advocate good samaritan, Advocate Illinois masonic and Advocate lutheran generalcare for the most seriously injured people in chicagoland. As is the case with all Illinois level i trauma centers, Advocate's trauma centers are staffed by on-site, 24-hour-a-day trauma surgeons; feature 24-hour surgical and nonsurgical services, such as radiology and anesthesia; and can accommodate helicopter transports. Advocate operates nearly one-quarter of all level i trauma centers in Illinois and is the largest trauma system in the state. Twenty percent of trauma patients in metropolitan chicago are treated annually in an Advocate trauma center. In 2022, Advocate's level i trauma Hospitals treated 2,432 trauma patients. An additional 266 trauma patients were treated at Advocate's level ii designated trauma hospital Advocate sherman. Advocate good shepherd transitioned to a level i hospital. In addition to the trauma i and ii patients, there were 473,024 non-trauma er visits to Advocate's Hospitals in 2022 .
Medical education (undergraduate medical education [ume]/graduate medical education [gme]/post-graduate [cme] medical education. The Advocate medical education department's mission is to train the next generation of physicians through undergraduate (ume) and graduate medical education (gme), and to continue the development of Advocate physicians through continuing medical education (cme). Advocate is accredited by the accreditation council for continuing medical education (accme) to provide continuing medical education (cme) for physicians. Advocate's cme program provides professional development through year-round scheduling and planning of accredited courses, seminars and meetings for Advocate and non-advocate physicians and Health care professionals in the region. Advocate's medical staff share their expertise through grand rounds, mortality and morbidity conferences, and enduring materialas well as single activities addressing a variety of clinical and research topics. In 2022, Advocate documented 124,03 learners and provide 763 activities to over fourteen different Health professions ranging from physicians, nurses, dentists, social workers, pharmacy technicians and more.
Health care services provided by physicians employed by the organization. As part of Advocate's broad array of services and programs designed to meet community Health needs, Advocate physicians target unique Health access needs of the uninsured, underinsured, underserved, low income and special needs individuals living in chicagoland and central Illinois communities. Examples of these programs include:advocate adult down syndrome center. Established in 1992 through a partnership between Advocate lutheran general and the national association for down syndrome (nads), the Advocate medical group adult down syndrome center provides crucial psychosocial and medical services to adolescents and adults with down syndrome living in all areas of Illinois. Each year, approximately 2,000 individuals are served through over 7,000 visits, including care in the office, the patient's home, at residential facilities, nursing homes and in the hospital. The center's multidisciplinary approach to comprehensive medical care, with a strong emphasis on preventive medicine, provides practical approaches to Health education and Health risk reduction, including supporting people with down syndrome in their own Health promotion efforts. Reimbursement is reduced given more time is provided to each patient visit to allow individuals with down syndrome to participate in their own Health care. Further, only one-third of the cost of the clinic is reimbursed through billing insurance due to the payor mix. Advocate generously provides some services through the center that are key to Health promotion but that are not reimbursable or billable. In addition to patient care, the mission of the center includes education and research. In 2022, the center staff provided numerous educational events and classes (virtually, of course, during the pandemic but beginning to be in-person again), published research studies, provided extensive educational materials online and in print form, and participated in national and international projects educating about and researching the effect of a variety of conditions have on people with down syndrome such as covid-19, alzheimer's disease, and mental Health conditions.maine township district 207 school-based Health centers (sbhc). Maine township district 207 was faced with approximately 30 percent of its students not being able to meet, or experiencing significant difficulty meeting, the state-mandated physical and immunization requirements due to being uninsured or underinsured. Following several years of planning and in collaboration with Advocate medical group and Advocate lutheran general, the district opened a school-based Health center (d207 sbhc) in Maine east high school in march 2003 to provide these students with access to vital Health care services. Advocate employees serve as medical director, pediatrician, nurse practitioner and mental Health worker for the grant-funded clinic. The clinic has a small pharmacy that provides limited medications for students in need and Advocate keeps the clinic equipped with office supplies and other equipment. The center also serves as a training site for pediatric and family medicine residents. Open to all high school students in Maine township high school district 207, the d207 sbhc has helped to provide many students with physicals and immunizations which has allowed the district to maintain its 99% il state compliance rate. The center provides free or low-cost services including physicals, immunizations, emergent care, behavioral Health treatment, nutritional counseling and educational programs. In 2022 the sbhc program served 1,182 students; of the 1,182 encounters, 24 were related to mental Health services and 1,158 related to general medical encounters. By school year calendar (august 2022/june 2022), the sbhc served 986 students, 54 encounters were related to mental Health. In 2022, the scbhc lost its mental Health provider. Medfest. In 2021, the covid-19 pandemic continued to affect the special olympics of Illinois from holding medfestan annual event that the Advocate medical group had planned to sponsor for the 20th time in a row. While the team did not anticipate canceling this event in 2021, the Advocate medical group is invested in the cause and plans to resume its involvement once the pandemic subsides and it is safe to do so. Medfest is annually held at various locations in the state. The event provides people with intellectual disabilities opportunities to participate in sports training and competitions, creating avenues for inclusion and acceptance for this underserved population throughout Illinois. Advocate medical group physicians are passionate about providing the free clinical services, which result in participants enhanced physical fitness and comfort with the medical community.
Description of Advocate aurora Health. Advocate aurora Health is one of the 12 largest not-for-profit, integrated Health systems in the united states and a leading employer in the midwest with more than 75,000 employees, including more than 22,000 nurses and the region's largest employed medical staff and home Health organization. A national leader in clinical innovation, Health outcomes, consumer experience and value-based care, the system serves nearly 3 million patients annually in Illinois and Wisconsin across more than 500 sites of care. Advocate aurora Health is engaged in hundreds of clinical trials and research studies, and is nationally recognized for its expertise in cardiology, neurosciences, oncology, and pediatrics. The organization contributed $2.5 billion in charitable care and community benefit outreach to its communities in 2020 to help people live well. For reporting community benefits in compliance with the Illinois community benefits act (2003), the content of this report will focus on Advocate aurora's Illinois Hospitals which are identified as "Advocate" for state reporting and local brand identity purposes. This document provides a summary of community Health programs and activities completed across Advocate in 2021--demonstrating fulfillment of all federal and Illinois state requirements while also living out our commitment to addressing the root causes of Health inequity. Description of Advocate Health care (Illinois). While Advocate is one of two organizations that merged in april 2018 to become Advocate aurora Health, Advocate in Illinois maintains a separate fein and therefore the narrative that immediately follows pertains predominantly to Advocate Health care (Illinois). Advocate is a not-for-profit provider that is affiliated with both the evangelical lutheran church in america and the united church of christ. The organization is one of the largest fully integrated Health care systems in Illinois and one of the largest Health care providers in the midwest. In 2022, as part of a network of nearly 400 sites of care in Illinois, Advocate's more than 37,000 team members provided care at nine Hospitals, including a children's hospital located on two campuses (oak lawn and park ridge, Illinois), totaling 3,285 licensed beds. Advocate had a combined total of 40,307 inpatient admissions, 309,634 outpatient visits and 475,722 emergency department visits (total trauma and non-trauma) in 2022. In addition, Advocate is recognized as having one of the largest home Health care companies in the state with 28,660 admits in 2022, and Advocate hospice had 137,312 hospice patient days. Recognitions & accomplishments healthgrades 2022 america's 250 best Hospitals. Healthgrades ranks four of Advocate aurora Health's Hospitals in the top 5 percent nationally. They are Advocate lutheran general hospital, which is in the top 2 percent, Advocate Illinois masonic medical center, Advocate christ medical center and Advocate good shepherd hospital. Click here.advocate aurora Health has been named a 2021 climate champion and awarded climate leadership-gold by Health care without harm's, Health care climate challenge, an internationally recognized climate awards program. Click here. Healthgrades' top 100 Hospitals for cardiac care. Advocate christ medical center, Advocate condell medical center, Advocate good samaritan hospital and Advocate lutheran general hospital make the list. Ratings were based on excellent clinical outcomes for heart bypass surgery, coronary interventional procedures, heart valve surgery and heart attack or heart failure treatment. Click here.merative 100 top Hospitals. The merative 100 top Hospitals study identifies the top-performing Hospitals in the us using a balanced scorecard of clinical, operational and financial metrics derived from public data. Advocate good shepherd hospital was featured as a top hospital in the "medium community hospital" category. Click here.three chicago children's Hospitals among the best in the u.s. Advocate children's hospital is the third-highest-ranked children's hospital in Illinois, according to u.s. news & world report. Advocate children's tied for 21st place in the midwest up from 23rd the year before, and it ranked 34th in the nation for pediatric cardiology and heart surgery. Click here.fourteen Advocate aurora Health Hospitals were recognized as a 2022-23 best hospital for maternity (Advocate Illinois masonic medical center, Advocate good shepherd hospital, Advocate lutheran general hospital, Advocate good samaritan hospital, Advocate sherman hospital, Advocate south suburban hospital, Advocate condell medical center, aurora medical center-kenosha, aurora baycare medical center, aurora medical center-summit, aurora medical center-grafton, aurora lakeland medical center, aurora sheboygan memorial medical center, aurora west allis medical center). Recognizes high-performing Hospitals measured on data and surveys, process and structure and birthing-friendly practices. Click here.practice greenhealth system for change recognition (Advocate aurora). Advocate aurora Health received the award for working to reduce energy use, increase recycling, establish green building practices and setting and meeting other goals related to sustainability for the third consecutive year. Before the merger, Advocate had received this recognition ten straight years and the longest recipient of this award in the country. Practice greenhealth environmental excellence recognition (Advocate aurora). All 25 Advocate aurora acute care Hospitals received the 'environmental excellence' award for their superior performance in environmental sustainability, covering a range of different sustainability programs and activities. Winners have also made substantive progress on mercury elimination.in addition, Advocate aurora Health received a gold climate leadership award, recognizing the organization's leadership in transforming to sustainable and clean operations in the Health care environment. In addition, Advocate aurora was recognized as a climate champion in the Health care climate challenge among more than 40 Health care institutions spread out across 17 countries on 6 continents. Advocate aurora has taken bold, impactful steps toward climate-smart Health care, including a pledged goal to achieve 100% renewable electricity by 2030. Health care institutions are being recognized for their commitment to reducing their own carbon footprint, preparing for the impacts of extreme weather and the shifting burden of disease and educating staff and the public while promoting policies to protect public Health from climate change. All Advocate Hospitals received individual recognition from practice greenhealth. Advocate aurora Health received the practice greenhealth system for change award for the 15th consecutive year and received a circle of excellence in chemicals, top 25 performer. Advocate aurora Health was named a climate champion in the category of climate leadership (silver) through the Health care climate challenge75+ aah chicagoland physicians named 'top cancer doctors.' The june/july issue of chicago magazine recognizes physicians across the chicagoland area who were nominated by their peers in its top cancer doctors list. Congrats to the Advocate aurora doctors who were recognized. Click here.