Access Now, Inc.

<div>Deborah Love is the Executive Director of the Richmond Academy of Medicine, Access Now, Centralized Credentials Verification Service and the Richmond Academy of Medicine Services Corporation.&nbsp;Access Now provides a management fee to the Richmond&nbsp;Academy of Medicine to cover&nbsp;the&nbsp;portion of her time spent directing the program.&nbsp;</div> <div>Ms. Love, in response to safety net clinics seeking assistance from the Academy in locating specialty care physicians,&nbsp;researched Project Access programs across the nation and designed Access Now to meet Richmond's needs. She has been with the Academy since 1995 and prior to that time was in public service, including eight years in the Office of the Attorney General.</div>

<p>Richmond&nbsp;is fortunate to have clinics that provide primary care for more than 50,000&nbsp;residents who live at or below the federal poverty level and have no health insurance. But&nbsp;have you ever wondered where these clinics send patients whose needs exceed their scope? Where&nbsp;a tree climber from Powhatan with torn cartilage receives therapy? Where a caretaker from Henrico goes once the clinic finds her tumor? Where the Goochland father with hernitated discs finds relief?</p> <p>Until&nbsp;four years ago, most clinics simply told patients to go to an area emergency department because limited specialty care was available. It was sadly the only recourse left. Emergency care is not only the most expensive medical care, it is not the right care for non-urgent needs, including disease management. </p> <p>Today, these same clinics turn to Access Now &#8211; a volunteer driven specialty care network of&nbsp;900 physicians who provide complex care. Patients receive&nbsp;the right&nbsp;care, at the right time and in the most economical and appropriate setting &#8211; a specialty physician&#8217;s office. That&#8217;s better care, more appropriate care and less expensive care for patients. </p> <p>Patients aren&#8217;t the only winners. Local hospitals win when free care is provided in&nbsp;community settings; clinics win when complex care is available for their patients; and our community wins when the&nbsp;uninsured poor receive quality care by specialists.</p> <p>Access Now is the <strong><u>only</strong></u> specialty care free clinic in Virginia. Indeed, our network of volunteers is among the largest in the nation. Daily, our volunteer doctors see patients, provide consultation, treatment and follow-up. If surgery is required,&nbsp;surgeons operate in area hospitals or in private ambulatory surgical centers.&nbsp;</p> <p>Since 2007, doctors have provided over $15 million in specialty care services.With your help,we can&nbsp;make Richmond&nbsp;a great place&nbsp;for all who need&nbsp;healthcare. </p>