Optimizing care for uninsured and underserved children and families, a cross-sectional mixed-methods study of a mobile pediatric free clinic

Optimizing care for uninsured and underserved children and families, a cross-sectional mixed-methods study of a mobile pediatric free clinic | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Optimizing care for uninsured and underserved children and families, a cross-sectional mixed-methods study of a mobile pediatric free clinic Jaren Mullen, Lauren Mary Rouse, Carolina Carvajalino, Wendy De La Rua This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8408606/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background The Pediatric Mobile Clinic (PMC) is a modified bus that travels throughout South Florida to provide free, high-quality healthcare for uninsured children and families closer to their place of residence. It is a clinic within the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Community Pediatrics. The PMC serves a geographically and culturally diverse underserved population in South Florida. Methods We administered a tablet-based questionnaire focused on social determinants of health and barriers to care to consenting families in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole. Patient demographics, various barriers to care, and clinical metrics were assessed and analyzed across the 44 respondents. Results Patients were a median of 9 years of age, with a decrease in respondents after age 12. Of survey patients, 89% identified as Hispanic and 16% identified as Black. Most families came to the PMC for vaccines, school physicals, or well child visits, with 56% of families reporting coming to the PMC because services are rendered free of charge. Of note, 40% of respondents reported they would not seek healthcare at all if unable to continue obtaining services at the PMC. A majority (51%) traveled 10 or more miles to reach us, despite the PMC traveling significant distances to reach patients across approximately 2,005 square kilometers. Conclusions We add to the evidence of a pediatric medical coverage gap, particularly among children of immigrants. We demonstrate an approach to mitigating the transportation challenges faced by many patients and particularly those from underserved areas. Trial Registration: This observational study is registered under IRB 20230613. Mobile free clinic barriers underserved uninsured pediatrics geography vaccination accessibility Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files PMCEvaluationSurveyEnglishversion.pdf Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8408606","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":589146738,"identity":"c1a191fc-8212-4a49-9472-02bd5df456f7","order_by":0,"name":"Jaren Mullen","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABBElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYBACxgYILcMHZD9gYGAGI4YEhAxOLTxsQLUGRGmBAZAWNgmIelTDMABz+9mHjwtzDvOwsfceq7pRYc2g2878dMMDBhvZDQdwOKwn3dh45jagFp5zabdzzqQzmB1mM7uRwJBmjFNLQxqbNC9Ii0SO2e3ctsNALQwgLYcTcWrpf8b+G6xF/o1Zce4/kBb2b0At/3FrmZHGxgyxhceMObcBpIUHZMsBPFqeMQMdlg70S46xdM6xdB6glrIbCQbJxjNxaDHsT2P8zLvNWo6f/Yzh55waazmz88e33fxRYSfbh0tLA5oAD4QywK4cBORxS42CUTAKRsEogAIAeEJYPnH8ZIcAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"University of Miami","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jaren","middleName":"","lastName":"Mullen","suffix":""},{"id":589146739,"identity":"cf7e48c2-4887-4691-8aac-cbd71e92ffa9","order_by":1,"name":"Lauren Mary Rouse","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Miami","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lauren","middleName":"Mary","lastName":"Rouse","suffix":""},{"id":589146740,"identity":"12d8f52a-0251-4ad1-ae4d-39351d30b7f0","order_by":2,"name":"Carolina Carvajalino","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Miami","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Carolina","middleName":"","lastName":"Carvajalino","suffix":""},{"id":589146741,"identity":"b520cb27-73a4-4c2f-82d9-88b7f6aadff7","order_by":3,"name":"Wendy De La Rua","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Miami","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Wendy","middleName":"De La","lastName":"Rua","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-12-19 23:53:11","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8408606/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8408606/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":105552143,"identity":"a822ac90-5d25-486c-a6e0-da7d7c540ac9","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-27 10:12:55","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":991510,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"RevisedPMCManuscriptJAN2026.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8408606/v1_covered_f184fc1b-7bda-46d2-abdc-b5471bbc3be1.pdf"},{"id":102745813,"identity":"fbe225af-5fa0-48c9-90b5-8cd50288d2c3","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-16 08:54:09","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":185175,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"PMCEvaluationSurveyEnglishversion.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8408606/v1/2855ced27e0ed26e190e6314.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Optimizing care for uninsured and underserved children and families, a cross-sectional mixed-methods study of a mobile pediatric free clinic","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Mobile, free, clinic, barriers, underserved, uninsured, pediatrics, geography, vaccination, accessibility","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8408606/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8408606/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eBackground\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Pediatric Mobile Clinic (PMC) is a modified bus that travels throughout South Florida to provide free, high-quality healthcare for uninsured children and families closer to their place of residence. It is a clinic within the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Community Pediatrics. The PMC serves a geographically and culturally diverse underserved population in South Florida.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMethods\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eWe administered a tablet-based questionnaire focused on social determinants of health and barriers to care to consenting families in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole. Patient demographics, various barriers to care, and clinical metrics were assessed and analyzed across the 44 respondents.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003ePatients were a median of 9 years of age, with a decrease in respondents after age 12. Of survey patients, 89% identified as Hispanic and 16% identified as Black. Most families came to the PMC for vaccines, school physicals, or well child visits, with 56% of families reporting coming to the PMC because services are rendered free of charge. Of note, 40% of respondents reported they would not seek healthcare at all if unable to continue obtaining services at the PMC. A majority (51%) traveled 10 or more miles to reach us, despite the PMC traveling significant distances to reach patients across approximately 2,005 square kilometers.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eConclusions\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eWe add to the evidence of a pediatric medical coverage gap, particularly among children of immigrants. We demonstrate an approach to mitigating the transportation challenges faced by many patients and particularly those from underserved areas.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eTrial Registration:\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis observational study is registered under IRB 20230613.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Optimizing care for uninsured and underserved children and families, a cross-sectional mixed-methods study of a mobile pediatric free clinic","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-02-11 14:44:41","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8408606/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"059c41e7-bd98-4488-8f9a-9f7740d0940d","owner":[],"postedDate":"February 11th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-03-27T10:11:32+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-02-11 14:44:41","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8408606","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8408606","identity":"rs-8408606","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}