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High Risk Obstetrical Satellite Clinics

The RPICC Program provides medical services to women with high-risk pregnancies at 11 designated hospitals throughout Florida. However, inadequate transportation resources and geographic distances of more than 100 miles sometimes limit access to RPICC services for women living in rural areas. In an effort to address these problems, Children's Medical Services established a model High-Risk Obstetrical Satellite Program in Naples, Florida, in 1988. Based on the experience in the Naples Obstetrical Satellite Clinic, the Florida Legislature in 1991 provided funding to expand the program to 12 sites as a part of the Healthy Start Initiative.

The clinics provide territory level consultative services by a Children's Medical Services maternal-fetal specialist and the multidisciplinary team services of an obstetrical nurse, an ultrasound technician, and in some locations, a genetic counselor. This team works with the local prenatal care provider, either periodically or on an ongoing basis, to provide comprehensive, appropriate prenatal care in the woman's local community.

While the clinics have been established to serve high-risk pregnant women with low incomes, private patients may also be seen in most of the clinics on a fee-for-services basis. In this way, the expertise of the high-risk perinatal staff is available to the entire community. The majority of these clinics have been established in county health departments; however, several are located in community health centers in local hospitals.

High Risk Obstetrical Satellite Clinics

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