Nov 11 What if we focused more on home-based care?
Nicole and Cooper address how we can drive down costs and improve outcomes in elder care in a chat with Dr. David Fisher of Doctors Making Housecalls.
Never mind that one hospitalization costs the Medicare an entire lifetime of home visits a physicians can make. How can we get payers like Medicare recognize this? So many times decisions are made that are not centered around the patient. We see a lot of decisions being made because of the way the system is set up catering to the needs of the pharmacy, facility, and even the insurance company. Patients really need an advocate that understands the “system”. It should be the physicians according to Dr. Fisher. Helping the patients understand what the pitfalls may be and how do we avoid the problems that may come in the way. So often the power is not with the physician or the patient, it is institutionalized. We are having a conflict between patient-centered care and fiscal- entered care. How do we find a way to line up patient care to fiscal outcomes? Money, outcome and patient outcome need to become synergistic instead of competitive. Home-based care needs to get the attention that it deserves. A Medicare demonstration project that Dr. Fisher is involved with is Independence at Home and has proved improved patient outcomes AND cost contaiment.
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