Why Healthcare is Moving Home

  

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Home healthcare is becoming an increasingly viable and even preferred option among patients today. In places around the country from New Mexico to New York, home health agencies are providing a huge variety of care services which focus on coordination and support for the individual.

Steven H. Landers, M.D, said “that the venue of care for the future is the patient's home, where clinicians can combine old-fashioned sensibilities and caring with the application of new technologies to respond to major demographic, epidemiologic, and health care trends”[1]. He isolates five major trends which are making home healthcare preferable for many including aging, epidemics of chronic diseases, technological advances, health care consumerism and increasing health care costs.

First, the aging population of the US will result in more adults having limitations on their activities, making leaving their homes for hospital care difficult. Therefore, home healthcare options have improved access and helped prevent complications due to hospital confinement such as delirium and falls.

Second, epidemics of chronic disease have become bigger concerns since around 90% of adults over the age of 65 have at least one chronic condition. The Chronic Care Model concludes that since patients manage their diseases at home, support and recovery are likely to be enhanced when care is provided there as well.

Third, advances in portability of medical technology have increased the viability of home health options. This has opened up the field and allowed nurses to treat patients in unexpected places already and should only improve as capabilities expand in the coming years.

Fourth, health care consumerism means that patients are looking for the best deals and that has pushed care to more convenient locations as well. Patients and caregivers want convenience and privacy, and as care models are developed to bring high-quality care home through the front door or mobile device, they may well surpass hospitals.

Lastly, in-home care is often much less costly for patients and can be more desirable which offers everyone a win-win solution. Landers concludes that “in one study of a hospital-at-home approach, patients who received care at home had lower rates of consultations, procedures, and use of devices than their hospitalized counterparts but had similar or better clinical outcomes” [1].

Hospital Borne Infections

  

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Hospital acquired infections are a growing problem in today’s healthcare scene. The problem is that these infections continue to spread at rapid rates because hospital patients have weakening immune systems and open wounds.

This rise in infection rates is disappointing because as hospitals become more aware, they should have been able to reduce these easily preventable infections, yet they are failing. The only thing that is needed is for doctors, nurses and other hospital employees to follow regulations and well-known prevention procedures. However, too many of these workers, continuously refuse to follow these simple steps and risk the lives of patients instead. “Among the most egregious of these practices are when patients with contagious infections are placed in rooms with uninfected patients, rooms are not adequately cleaned between patient stays and medical professionals fail to wash their hands”[1]. All of these practices can be changed, yet progress has been slow.

Inadequate medical treatment should never be acceptable. So you’re left with this knowledge:

Fact: Hospital-acquired infections cost $30 billion annually and lead to the deaths of an estimated 100,000 people a year, making them among the nation’s leading causes of death[2].

Fact: No health agency currently tracks these cases.

Fact: This all can be prevented.

How you ask? Home healthcare is a proven alternative to hospital care and companies like Hotelrecovery are ready to serve you. Please use the links above for further inquiries.

Who Should Run Hospitals?

  

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Generally, it is thought that business people should run hospitals while medical doctors should stay focused on their patients. Within the 6,500 hospitals in the United States, only 235 are run by MD’s according to a 2009 Academic Medicine survey.

But a new study suggests that having a doctor leading a hospital is connected to better hospital care. The study published in the journal Social Science & Medicine, cites 300 top hospitals in America, tracks the background of each hospital’s CEO and then compares the performance of those led by an MD versus an MBA. The researchers concluded that hospitals ran by doctors quality scores were 25% higher than those run by a business person.

The study does not offer any potential explanation for why hospitals run by doctors may be more effective but it may be because doctors more thoroughly understand patient care and the best work conditions. Dr. Amanda Goodall, who led the study and is a senior researcher at the Institute for the Study of Labor in Bonn, said “M.D. C.E.O.’s are more likely to prioritize patients because patient care is at the heart of their education and working life as a physician. When it comes to making hard budgetary decisions or rationing choices, M.D. C.E.O.’s may be able to make more informed decisions”[1].

It seems like simply having an MBA and some medical exposure is no longer ideal for leading a large hospital. Hopefully this study will open up new avenues of thought for those hiring CEOs of hospitals and create more acceptance for medical doctors to lead.