About Hispanocare®, inc.

• Our Mission
• The history
• About Hispanocare
• Approach to Cultural Competency

Our Mission

To fulfill it's mission of community outreach and to provide bilingual, bicultural, Hispanic user friendly and quality healthcare, Hispanocare coordinates community health fairs where preventive services such as diabetes, cholesterol checks, mammography, HIV, heel bone density, hepatitis, osteoporosis screenings, eye exams, foot exams, and thyroid screenings are offered free of charge. Hispanocare also offers vaccinations and hosts various symposiums and community seminars, which are free to the public discussing relevant health topics.

Another major component of Hispanocare's community outreach effort is educating the Latino community about their health and means of getting care. Every month Hispanocare hosts a TV show on CAN TV21 with one or two network physicians or community partners as guests. Listeners are invited to call in and have their healthcare questions answered. Other educational efforts include calendars with reminders of health fairs, symposiums, seminars and free screenings throughout the year, as well as a bilingual newsletter to keep members up-to-date on seasonal health concerns such as flu shots and asthma awareness.

In addition, Hispanocare has established the La Edad De Oro (The Golden Age) program, which provides discounts to seniors. Members receive a 20 percent discount on prescriptions, optometry, podiatry, and dental care services on their out-of-pocket expenses when they use a Hispanocare provider. These routine services are important to overall health not typically covered by Medicare.

Hispanocare considers itself a benefactor to the community, not just a provider of healthcare. For example, Latino students entering the health field benefit from sponsored scholarships that range from $1,500 to $5,000 each. To date Hispanocare has awarded an excess of $151,000 to eighty-six students.

Hispanocare's History

Hispanocare, formed in 1988 by Illinois Masonic Medical Center, is a not-for-profit PPO network of over 200 bilingual and bicultural providers representing nearly 300 office locations. The goal of Hispanocare is to provide quality, cost effective healthcare to Chicago's Latino Community in a culturally sensitive manner. To ease the financial burden, Hispanocare providers agree to give enrollees a 20% discount on all out-of-pocket expenses. In addition to the discount on physician and hospital fees, members receive discounts on other items traditionally not covered by insurance plans such as, podiatry, eye, dental, home health, rheumatology/arthritis, orthotics/prosthetics, MRI services, prescription drugs hearing aids, and much more. Providers include a wide range of generalists and specialists who are accessed through the Physician Referral Line, allowing members to get information and schedule appointments.

About Hispanocare

A 1994 survey of the Chicago metropolitan area revealed that 24% of the Latino respondents had no health insurance, the largest of any racial group. As a result, Latinos often fall through the cracks and receive sporadic healthcare even though regular physician visits for this group is critical. Sixty-five percent of survey respondents had children under 18, and statistics show that many Hispanics suffer from chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. In addition to lack of insurance, this minority population must face language barriers as they attempt to access the health care system.

Of respondents residing in Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center's (AIMMC) primary and secondary service are as, the survey revealed 40% were Latino, 35% had no insurance coverage, and 15% primarily spoke Spanish. Although IMMC satellite treatment centers are located throughout surrounding communities, there are still Latino citizens at risk for going without basic healthcare services. AIMMC's desire to provide basic services to under-served minorities in the community resulted in the creation of Hispanocare.

The Hispanocare primary care physician (Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, OB/GYN, and Pediatric) must speak Spanish and other specialists must have Spanish speaking staff in order to be a Hispanocare provider.

To enroll, members pay a small annual fee (individual $20, family $35) which can be waived if unaffordable. Fee waivers occur frequently: approximately one half of enrollees are non-paying members. However, many of these non-paying members come to us from the Central States Joint Union Board. The members themselves are insured, but their families are not. Over the last seven years, Hispanocare membership has grown from 5,000 members to over 40,000, with 30% of this population being those with no insurance at all. Although the program is backed only by Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Hispanocare presently contracts with one other community hospital-Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park - to provide additional services. As membership has expanded, the service area for Hispanocare. has spread beyond the city into the surrounding suburbs.

Approach to Cultural Competency

Hispanocare approaches the issue of cultural competence from a unique perspective which acknowledges its complex, systemic nature. Hispanocare’s approach places culture within the context of an interwoven network of community relationships--between language and traditions, etc. Consequently, the work of Hispanocare has substantively differed from that of most organizations in the field that tend to deal only with pieces of the puzzle of cultural competence.

As the diversity of the populations that we serve continues to grow, the importance of cultural competency or "cultural and linguistic appropriateness" in the effective delivery of health services is undeniable.

In the late 1980's and early 1990's, Chicago like other cities in the mid-west and west coast, became home to many new immigrants and refugees. To respond to the language needs of these communities in the health care setting that otherwise may have been overlooked; Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center not only developed a medical discount program called Hispanocare, but made the conscious decision to recruit and hire bilingual and bicultural physicians. Hispanocare’s community outreach services grew to serve the needs of thousands of limited English speaking community residents by providing free services to thousands encountered every year.

Hispanocare has covered a broad range of services, including discounts on private physician office visits, hospitals (inpatient and outpatient), and emergency rooms. Discounted services also include audiology and hearing aids, dental, diabetic counseling, mental health, and more.

Hispanocare is a 501 C 3 Not-for-Profit Organization.

For additional information or sponsor opportunities, please call Hispanocare at 773.296.7157.