Helping Patients through Referrals

When I first started at as intern at the Crossroad Health Center in January, I was not one hundred percent sure about how exactly I was going to be able to help the patients. I knew how physicians, nurses, and medical assistants could help the patients, but I didn’t know as a volunteer, if I would be able to have any impact at all. I realized that I actually would once I started making referral calls. While making referral calls, I talk to the patients to find out if they have gone to seen the specialist that their doctor at Crossroad Health Center recommended them to see. If they have visited the specialist, then our job is to get their records. However many times, the patients have yet to make an appointment or don’t even remember being referred to see that type of specialist. This is where I realized the volunteers would make a big impact. By reminding the patients of their need to make an appointment with a certain specialist, it can prevent their problem from getting any worse than it already is. Whether it is to have them see an ophthalmologist or a general surgeon, it is a great help to the patients in an effort to get them feeling their best. Being an intern at the Crossroad Health Center has been an eye opening experience about the struggles that people in the area face in an effort to receive basic health care. While I know these struggles are not usually fixable by a single phone call, I know that all of the volunteers are doing their part to improve the lives of the patients.

-Rachel Odin