Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Spring 5-5-2017

Abstract

The public healthcare system faces continuous transformations and challenges of constant adjustments to the increasing usage of fee for service revenue and the decrease of federal investment to women’s healthcare services and to the safety net healthcare providers (Meit, 2013; Weisman, 1997).

In 2016, the Texas 84th Legislation Session determined to consolidate two existing women’s healthcare service programs into one a single program: the Healthy Texas Women (HTW) program. The new women’s program is a preventative care program that provides services of family planning and chronic illness care under a complete fee for service reambursement system as its sourse to create revenue.

This case study was conducted to explore the effects of the Texas 84th Legislation Session changes on women’s healthcare services had on Local Health Department in Abilene, Taylor County, Texas. Official documentation from the Abilene Taylor County Public Health District (ATCPHD) was collected explore the overall effects on volume of services provided, volume of population served, and to identify any gaps in services left by the implementation of the new women’s healthcare program. Results of this research document how the ATCPHD experienced an increase in services pertaining to patient’s age, outreach activities, family planning services, and physical exams while experiencing a decrease in service areas in client services, client exams, and in refill services and refill clients. The findings in this research provide a significant overview to HTW providers to understand trends and gaps in services related to preventative and chronic care in women’s health.

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