2017/12/28 by Daniel J. Arenas, Elle Lett, Heather Klusaritz +1 · 1 citation
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Health Professions · Medicine · Nursing · #Health Systems, Economic Evaluations, Quality of Life #Healthcare Policy and Management #Global Health Workforce Issues #Underinsured #Psychological intervention #Health care #Monte Carlo method #Quality-adjusted life year #Medicine #Economic evaluation #Cost effectiveness #Nursing #Risk analysis (engineering) #Health insurance #Statistics #Economic growth #Economics
paper · pdf · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0189718
openalex publication_date 2017/12/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/01
BACKGROUND: Student Run Clinics (SRCs) are a common aspect of medical education, present at more than half of US medical schools, and noted for providing care to communities that might otherwise lack access, including the uninsured and underinsured. To date, few studies have rigorously quantified the health and economic benefits of SRCs, and the present study remedies that. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We used Monte Carlo simulations to estimate the health impact of common preventive health interventions applied to individuals in quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). We then used those measurements to estimate the health and economic impact of United Community Clinic (UCC), a student-run clinic in Philadelphia, PA. We found that with an annual operating budget of 50,000, UCC saves 6.5 QALYs, corresponding to over 850,000 saved. CONCLUSIONS: Using Monte Carlo simulation methods, the health and economic impact of SRCs can be reasonably estimated to demonstrate the utility of SRCs and justify their growing importance in the healthcare delivery landscape of the US.