The W.K. Kellogg Foundation recently awarded a $100,000 grant to Wayne State University School of Medicine in partnership with the Voices of Detroit Initiative to improve access to care for uninsured people in Detroit.

The Wayne State University School of Medicine is a key partner in the Voices of Detroit Initiative, which is seeking ways to provide cost-effective, high-quality health services to all residents of the city of Detroit and Wayne County, particularly those who are uninsured.

Dr. Robert Frank, interim dean of the WSU School of Medicine, and Dr. Herbert C. Smitherman, interim associate chairman of the Department of Community Medicine, are the co-principle investigators of the new grant.

"This grant will allow VODI to continue its important work in seeking the best ways to care for all of our citizens here in Detroit and Wayne County, specifically the uninsured, while also providing the community with information that will be valuable in planning for expanded health-care access to vulnerable populations," said Lucille Smith, executive director of VODI.

Since its establishment six years ago, VODI has developed a care model for uninsured patients that focuses on the concept of a "medical home," which provides primary-care services at 12 Federally Qualified Health Center sites throughout the city of Detroit and directs referrals for secondary and tertiary care through health-system partners.

VODI has developed a three-part strategy for its next phase of development:

• Access to primary care continues to be expanded within VODI's member service-delivery networks through improving access to the full continuum of care by integrating and expanding primary, specialty and hospital services for uninsured patients.
• Enrollment and service-tracking processes pioneered by VODI continue to advance the Uninsured Health System, an administrative claims process for the uninsured that is equivalent to that of insured populations.
• A planning and policy research agenda will be continued and expanded to establish best practices for services delivered in low-income communities.

"The goal of our strategic planning is to improve access to care, improve quality of care, optimize cost-effective patient care outcomes and ultimately improve the health status of the community," Dr. Smitherman said. "The enhancements envisioned will create a more robust model of care for uninsured patients."