More than 60 million Americans rely on Medicaid programs for their insurance coverage—and that number is projected to grow to 80 million by the year 2020 if all states embrace the enrollment expansion offered by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

As the newly insured look at their options for healthcare, many will find that health centers provide convenient and reliable services.

To prepare for this influx of Medicaid patients, health centers have the opportunity to operate with a reimbursement designation of Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), qualifying them for grants under Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act. Nationally, these FQHCs receive 37.7% of their funding from Medicaid and 23.2% from federal grants, allowing over 1,100 FQHCs in the United States to provide care for more than 70 million patient appointments each year.

Health centers have been proven to successfully increase access to care, improving health outcome and containing healthcare costs. But as health centers look at the increasing number of patients who will seek care in the future, it's critical they look outside the walls of the clinic to ensure adequate patient access.

Post-visit patient phone calls are key to successfully managing a patient's care after they leave the hospital. 

But what happens if a patient has a concern before the follow up call is made, or after?

The truth is, follow up calls are only a piece of the transitional care puzzle. What's also needed is a way for your patients to connect with a clinician if they have questions about their care plan or if they develop new symptoms.

In short, you need to incorporate your Nurse Advice Line into the post discharge care process.

Here's why ...

At the current growth rate, high deductible insurance plans offered through employers will predominate within four years. This has broad implications, which are only beginning to be felt.

The first impact will be a significant reduction in employee health plan loss ratios. Initially, corporate health plan margins will improve significantly. However, federal caps on how the profits can be used will create a crisis for many commercial plans, which are not wired to make investments in member health.

The U.S. Medicaid program is a joint federal and state program that helps low-income individuals or families pay for the costs associated with medical care.

Nationwide there are more than 50 million Medicaid beneficiaries, about 15% of which are children enrolled in the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Medicaid beneficiaries struggle with poverty and many face physical and/or mental illness.

A 24-hour Nurse Advice Line is a critical support service that provides easy access to help and information. Here are just five of the many ways that 24-hour Nurse support is a critical resource for Medicaid beneficiaries.

University students are a busy, on-the-go bunch who conduct much of their social, personal, informational, and educational business from their smartphones.

If you are tasked with trying to connect to your students and educate them about your university's Nurse Advice Line, it is critical that your communication strategy adapts to the technologies they use.

Can you still rely purely on informational posters taped up around campus or stuffed brochures into frosh welcome packets? There must be better promotion options for your technologically savvy student population.

You've done your research. You've spoken with a half-dozen references that confirm your findings. You fundamentally know that offering your healthcare consumers access to a nurse triage service is going to help you increase health literacy, reduce unnecessary ER use, and improve patient safety.

So why in the world are you sabotaging the success of your service from the start?

Sometimes even seemingly tiny oversights can significantly reduce the effectiveness of your nurse triage service — causing you (and your patients) to miss out on significant value. Here are few of the more common mistakes you really should avoid.

It's a long way to the big city for the 62 million US residents living in rural areas. The peace and quiet might be nice, but what about when a health concern arises, especially during after-hours?

Does this symptom need to be seen by a doctor immediately?

How much time does it take to drive to the nearest ER or medical facility?

If it is far away, is it best to stay home and see if the symptoms might go away?

These are important questions that those living in sparsely populated areas with limited medical care must ask themselves when evaluating if a trip to a health facility is worth it. Quite often, time, money, and emergency medical resources are wasted on acute-minor health concerns because there aren't adequate medical services available to answer simple questions. Likewise, it is possible that serious conditions are not properly tended to because emergency personnel weren't available, people were not aware that their condition was life threatening, or they thought they could maybe "wait it out".

With Twitter, Facebook, and other forms of Social Media Marketing being all the rage these days, it's easy to get caught up in the on-line hype and forget that traditional off-line tactics can still effectively recruit new patients. All you need is a clear understanding of your target market and a little creativity.

Telehealth services, like nurse advice lines, help patients find the answers and guidance they need to make smart decisions about their health and where to seek care. But what is it like for the RNs who answer the calls? SironaHealth's Susan Miller (a Registered Nurse) speaks with HealthDay News' Dennis Thompson about the types of calls received and how telenurses help patients save money and provide peace of mind.

Contrary to popular belief, a recent study has found that most patients who visit the emergency department (ED) four or more times a year have health insurance and a primary care provider (PCP).

Long assumed to be driven by low-income uninsured or underinsured patients, repeat ED super-users have been a significant, and chronic, source of unnecessary healthcare spending in the United States for years. These "frequent flyers," who account for 21% to 28% of all ED visits, routinely visit the ED seeking non-emergency care that would be better provided in the urgent or primary care setting.