Photo Credit: sutlafk
The following is a summary of “Evolution of Medical and Community Resource Services Within a Student-Run Clinic Following COVID-19 Pandemic,” published in the December 2024 issue of Primary Care by Zaremba et al.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to resource redistribution, shifting the focus of Thrive Bridge Clinic services. This paper examines the clinic’s service changes from 2019 to 2022.
Researchers conducted a prospective study to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the Thrive Bridge Clinic’s services.
They performed a retrospective data analysis comparing patient encounters and CRL services between 2019 and 2022. Patient encounters from January to December 2019 and 2022 were extracted from AirTable, and tracking resources were utilized during each visit. Data on the total number of encounters, patients, and individual clinic stations were collected. CRL-specific data was extracted from PracticeFusion for encounters involving CRL and/or OWL visits in 2019 and 2022. The CRL survey gathered data on issues like primary care, legal concerns, health insurance, and mental health. All data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel.
The results showed a decrease in acute medical triage utilization and an increase in community resource requests. Transportation saw the largest increase, followed by primary care, specialty care, legal assistance, and substance use.
They found that social support and community resource requests became the primary focus of the Thrive Bridge Clinic after the COVID-19 pandemic. Future research could explore the alignment of these resources with patient needs and their actual utilization rates.
Source: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21501319241300004
