Resource Coordinators at CHP and How They Can Support You
Post Date: Nov 29, 2023
Community Partnerships, Preventative Care
Community Health Partners is committed to offering high-quality care to community members in Southwest Montana, regardless of their ability to pay. Resource Coordinators (RCs) are key staff members who help make that happen. They provide free visits to help CHP patients access necessary resources in Gallatin and Park counties.
Resource coordinators help people with their health in a different way than a typical doctor's appointment. Studies have shown that social circumstances (housing, food, transportation) can affect a person's health by more than 15%, and these are all things that the resource coordinators can help with. Find out more about what RCs do and how they can support you.
Resource coordinators are here to help
There are lots of programs out there that can help ease the financial burden on families. Sometimes finding them and applying is the biggest difficulty. That’s where RCs come in, helping people get access to assistance.
These programs can include, but are not limited to, transportation, food, housing, insurance, and financial assistance related to healthcare, heating, and phone service. They will provide patients with this information and help patients submit the necessary paperwork to get enrolled in different programs. They will also help patients advocate for their needs with some of those services.
Helping you access a variety of programs
Resource coordinators are available to help all members of the community with health insurance marketplace and Medicaid services, regardless of whether they’re CHP patients or not. Once you’re a patient of CHP, they can help you get connected with even more services.
Resource coordinator staff can assist CHP patients in applying for and responding to inquiries from the following programs, among others:
Medicaid
Medicare
Health insurance through the federally facilitated marketplace (Affordable Care Act)
Community Health Partners sliding fee discount program
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
Healthcare financial assistance from various institutions such as Bozeman Health and Billings Clinic
Veterans benefits
Unemployment insurance
Social Security disability insurance
Supplemental security income
Social Security benefits
Housing/rental assistance
Utility/energy assistance
RCs help facilitate connections between patients and these resources. And if they don’t know something or aren’t familiar with a particular form, they can help you find the answers.
A workday designed to help people
A day in the life of an RC is about helping. Each day they take care of appointments, walk-ins, or provider-referred patients to help meet the patient’s needs. Between appointments, they follow up with items from previous appointments.
They also look ahead at provider schedules to make sure that providers aren’t missing any opportunities to connect with patients. One hour they may be helping a patient apply for Medicaid, and the next they may be calling a specialist to help a patient schedule an appointment. They love connecting with patients and helping make their health challenges a bit easier.
How to get connected with a resource coordinator
Patients can schedule an in-person appointment or set up a telephone or video call. Providers in the building may also refer patients to RCs. It’s okay to come in for a meeting without making an appointment, but scheduling one ensures that the RC has enough time to dedicate to the patient. RCs may ask a patient to bring some documents in order to fill out certain applications.
RCs have so much knowledge about offerings in the community and always love it when they can help a patient advocate for themselves. Resource coordinators can help with so much more than the services that we can list. Reach out to a CHP clinic in Bozeman, Belgrade or Livingston, and ask if a resource coordinator can help.
