Connectivity is the underlying principle for COCHS’ approach to community-based correctional health care. This approach brings community health care providers into jails to treat offenders, creating a bridge that makes correctional health care an extension of the existing community health care system.
Connectivity comes in many forms. No two jails are alike, and the communities they serve all have different problems and needs, as well as different capacities to serve returning offenders.
The chart below contrasts traditional approaches for providing health care in jail with a comprehensive approach to health care built around connectivity.
Overview
| Traditional Approach | COCHS Approach |
| Offenders unlikely to receive regular, routine health care upon release. | Offenders likely to receive regular, routine health care upon release through their new medical home. |
| Taxpayer dollars go to a proprietary health care provider. | Taxpayer dollars stay in the community and go to local community health centers. |
| Jails pay private companies to provide pharmacy services. | Significant discounts may be available through the federal drug pricing program "340(b)". |
| Offenders leave jail and use the emergency room for treatment of illness or chronic conditions. | Offenders leave jail and use community health centers for treatment of illness and chronic conditions, reducing unnecessary ER visits. |
| High costs of defending lawsuits. | Legal costs are potentially reduced under the Federal Tort Claims Act. |
When Offenders Enter Jail
| Traditional Approach | COCHS Approach |
| Offenders entering jail receive basic health screening. | Offenders entering jail also receive treatment for chronic conditions and disease management. Screeners have access to prior health records. |
| Offenders see doctors who work only in the jail. | Offenders see doctors who also work in an assigned community health center close to their home. |
| Medical records for offenders in jail are separate from any outside jail. | Jail medical records are accessible in the community health center offenders use after jail. |
| Offenders receive short-term treatment for mental illness, tuberculosis, Hepatitis C, STDs, and other conditions. | Offenders receive ongoing, long-term treatment for these conditions. |
| Emphasis on controlling behavior of offenders with mental illness while in jail. | Emphasis on keeping former offenders with mental illness on their medications and under a physician’s supervision. |
When Offenders Leave Jail
| Traditional Approach | COCHS Approach |
| Offenders leave jail with no medication for chronic conditions. | Offenders leave jail with medication and with prescriptions that can be filled through the community health center. |
| No case management upon release. | Case managers set appointments for offenders to visit their community health center upon release. |
| Offenders spread infectious diseases after they return to the community. | Offenders receive information on treatment for diseases that can infect others in the community. |
| Benefits of previous health care received in jail are lost because care did not continue upon release. | Care is the same in and out of jail because offenders continue to see the same health center caregivers. |
