Care Ring

The organization's nurse-family partnership (nfp) program is an evidence-based, intensive nurse home-visitation program for high risk, low-income mothers in mecklenburg county. Validated by nearly 40 years of research, including multiple randomized-controlled trials, nfp is a proven model that breaks the cycle of poverty by improving pregnancy outcomes, improving child health and development, and increasing the economic self-sufficiency of the family. The organization's nfp program has served 880 mothers and babies during the year that ended june 30, 2023 and 738 mothers and babies during the year that ended on june 30, 2022.

Case management: central to the organization's success is its attention to social determinants of health, which are human and socio-economic factors (food/housing insecurity, language barriers, etc.) That are often outside the scope of Care for most clinical providers. Care Ring's case management team is comprised of registered nurses and bilingual social workers. Patients/clients are screened and those with exceptional healthcare and/or socio-economic needs are referred for case management interventions. This may include medication management and disease-specific counseling by our nurse case managers. Social workers provide invaluable guidance and support while making direct referrals to community organizations that can provide relief for critical unmet needs. The case management team provides 2,000+ patients a year with wrap-around support, giving them tools and connecting them with resources needed to overcome barriers and achieve better health and overall well-being.

The clinic offers an array of primary Care and services to the uninsured and underinsured in the community. The clinic provides high-quality preventative Care and has a special focus on providing chronic disease management that improves patient medication compliance and eliminates unnecessary utilization of the emergency room. Tracking clinical indicators for chronic disease (including diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia) shows that between a patient's first and last visit to the clinic, approximately three-quarters of chronic disease patients served in the clinic demonstrate at least a 10% improvement in one or more clinical indicators (hemoglobin a1c, diastolic blood pressure, hemoglobin a1c and/or total cholesterol). The organization's low-cost clinic provided Care to 2,039 and 1,911 patients for the years ended june 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

A guided journey is a maternal-child health initiative that employees residents living in six priority health zip codes to serve as community health workers. These individuals work in their own communities to educate and support pregnant and new moms, providing information, guidance and connection to needed resources. A guided journey is a complement to nfp and during the years ended june 30, 2023 and 2022, served 481 and 286 families, respectively, who may have not qualified for or needed the intensive, long-term support provided through nfp.

The organization's physicians reach out program (pro) provides the uninsured with access to comprehensive health Care, including primary Care, specialty Care, labs, diagnostic tests and hospitalization. For every dollar invested in pro, the organization leverages $100 in donated Care provided by approximately 1,600 volunteer physicians and allied health professionals. For the year ended june 30, 2023, pro provided approximately $67.5 million in donated medical and dental services to 5,479 patients enrolled in the program. For the year ended june 30, 2022, pro provided approximately $46.3 million in donated medical and dental services to 5,441 patients enrolled in the program.