The vision for this blog is to create a community of harmonious professionals across the care continuum who encourage each other in exploring digital media as a way to support businesses and families dealing with elder care.
Written on October 18th, 2011 by tasha
Anyone who has read my blog for long knows that I am passionately dedicated to helping families engage in the care of their loved ones. The recent focus on care transitions highlights the importance of what I call the “home team” (patient and family) in promoting adherence and recognizing problems before they escalate to a re-admission.
Two weeks ago, in San Diego, I delivered a workshop at the NHPCO Clinical Team Conference on using the Internet safely to collaborate across the continuum. I highlighted ways that providers can share information in HIPAA-compliant fashion, with each other, but ALSO with patients and their family caregivers. The emphasis was on tools that facilitate the four factors that tend to reduce re-admissions, as demonstrated by the research of Dr. Eric Coleman of the University of Colorado:
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Written on October 4th, 2011 by tasha
I’ve been on a blogpost roll with search engine optimization techniques. But spending these last few days in Las Vegas at the Conference of the National Association of Home Care and Hospice, I decided to break things up a bit and post about highlights that have jumped out at me so far:
Written on March 2nd, 2011 by tasha
The National Transitions of Care Coalition (NTOCC) has put together a superb, evidence-based crosswalk detailing essential elements needed for a successful program that eases a patient’s move from one care setting to another. Included in the document are seven intervention categories with descriptions and examples based on a very large compendium of research the coalition generously makes available free to the public.
As you have no doubt heard by now, CMS will be penalizing doctors and hospitals that have high 30-day readmission rates. A recent study demonstrated that within a month of discharge, over 20% of Medicare beneficiaries were re-hospitalized for the same condition they had been treated for earlier. This has been very costly for Medicare (and therefore us taxpayers!). The thinking is that patients are being released before they are fully stabilized, or being released to a home situation that is unable to cope with the demands of their serious condition.
The penalty is designed as an incentive to be sure patients are being discharged responsibly with adequate follow-up care. (Amen to that! Too often family members are called upon to perform fairly complicated care regimens with little to no training, or choice in the matter.)
This new penalty provides an excellent opportunity for elder care professionals to collaborate with doctors and hospitals by offering a home care team that is able to provide the necessary coaching and support to patients and their families.
There is a strong patient/family empowerment intent on the part of CMS. I’m pleased to say that my clients and those who read my blog share this ethic, which is also a key component in NTOCC’s outline. Since our mission is to help families and providers make better use of the Internet for superior care, I’ve included empowering tech suggestions here within this synopsis of the coalition’s crosswalk.
If you are planning to present yourself as a partner-in-care, here are the 7 intervention categories recommended to create a successful care transitions program:
Written on December 1st, 2010 by tasha
People who have known me for a long time will remember that the original name of my business was “Let’s Collaborate!” Collaboration has long been a theme of my work, and so I was excited to learn of an article by Ellen Surburg, Director of Bloomington Hospital Home Health and Hospice concerning ways home health and hospice can collaborate more effectively for their own benefits and for the benefit of patients and families.
Ellen’s insights are drawn from research and analysis of quality and payment metrics from the point of view of both providers. I found her explanation of the pressures faced by the two services instructive, as it led to an understanding of how to build a win:win relationship. Read the rest of this entry »
Written on October 5th, 2010 by tasha
My own nearby city of San Francisco is the host to the National PACE Association conference this year. I am currently writing from the gorgeous Hyatt Regency with a twinkly city view before me. Exhausting day, as it often is at a conference. So much information and so many inspired people to learn from! But this one gives me a special kind of optimism because the PACE model is so, well, all-inclusive.
PACE stands for Program for All-Inclusive Care of the Elderly. One way to describe it is hospice for frail elders who are not terminally ill, but who meet the criteria for nursing home placement.
Like hospice, the PACE model revolves around an inter-disciplinary team (IDT) and includes family members in their services. The professional side of the team involves doctors, nurses, social workers, physical therapists—even dentists! Some PACE programs have chaplains as well. Read the rest of this entry »
