Assessing the Referral Sources of a Non-Profit Health Clinic: A Collaboration Between the WellCare Foundation and the Community Action Research Experiences Program

The Community Action Research Experiences (CARE) Program collaborated with the WellCare Foundation (WCF) to assess the referral sources of the clinic in order to more effectively reach additional potential patients. Archival data were analyzed from a 19-month period from the medical records of patients. Also, data were collected from interviews with the case manager of agencies that were a known referral source of WCF. These case manager interviews were completed over a one-month period. For the archival data part of the project, data were collected from 117 patients. Four representatives from community agencies participated in phone interviews. The results indicated that the most common referral sources were word of mouth, followed by community agency referrals. The results also indicated that WCF appears to have served a unique niche that is not served by other non-profit health clinics. These results led to implications for action and direction for future applied research.