Harvard mobile clinic may save healthcare system millions

The Family Van, Harvard Medical School's curbside clinic that has offered free tests and counseling in Boston's low-income neighborhoods for 17 years, saved the healthcare system roughly $20 million last year by getting hard-to-reach patients to stick with treatments and avoid costly care in hospital emergency rooms, according to a study. As healthcare increase and lawmakers debate ways to overhaul the system, a team of Harvard-led researchers suggests that such alternative approaches are an overlooked but valuable return on investment.