Goshen, Ind.-based Maple City Health Care Center boasts patient-care metrics that are astronomically higher than those of many other federally funded clinics throughout the state and the nation, according to Kaiser Health News.
Eighty-four percent of Maple City's patients are fully vaccinated by age 2, for example, compared with the federal goal of 80 percent and the Indiana state average of 27 percent.
The clinic has seen similar success with several other metrics, such as adult screenings for colon cancer and depression. Maple City is performing significantly better than other federally qualified health centers, or community-based clinics in underserved areas that serve all patients regardless of ability to pay.
The clinic's success is largely due to trust-based relationships with patients, James Gingerich, MD, Maple City's founder, told Kaiser Health News. Maple City earns that trust partly by listening carefully, which Dr. Gingerich calls one of the most important aspects of primary care.
It also structures its providers’ days to make them as available as possible for patients and offers affordable care, charging as little as $5 for a prescription, made possible by federal funding.