How to Refer a Patient

Doctors and nurses at participating community clinics refer eligible patients to Access OC for surgery with a referral form. An Access OC staff person calls patients to determine if they qualify for the program.

In order to qualify, a patient must:

• Not have health insurance or Worker's Compensation coverage, spousal/partner coverage
• Be ineligible for any publicly sponsored programs Medi-Cal, Medicare, MSI, Healthy Families or California Children's Services
• Earn less than 250% of the Federal Poverty Level- $26,000 for individual $53,000 for a family of four
• Be referred by a doctor or nurse for a medically necessary, low-risk, outpatient surgery
• Live in Orange County
• Not require ongoing care by surgeon for successful recovery (referring clinic maintain responsibility for care beyond surgery, after post-op appointment)

Once a clinic refers a patient, Access OC will schedule a consultation and surgery with a surgeon at one of the participating hospitals.

After the initial post operative appointment the patient will return to the referring community clinic for care beyond surgery.

Typical Procedures

Access OC coordinates low-risk, outpatient procedures with Orange County hospitals and outpatient facilities. Common Procedure Types provided through Access OC include (others may be available):

• Hernia repair
• Lipoma & cyst excision
• Minor Ano-rectal
• Minor Gynecological
• Ear, Nose and Throat
• Ophthalmology
• Orthopedic
• Urology

Acceptance for surgery is the surgeon's decision, wait time depends on volunteer surgeon availability.