Maria, an 86-year old resident of Miami, enjoys her small garden, cooking for herself, visits from friends and family – especially the grandchildren, and her television shows from her modest home. And she wants to keep it that way! She does not want to end up in the Emergency Room (ED), admitted to the hospital, or in an assisted living facility or nursing home.
Maria met Deborah, a Care Manager from Medella Healthcare in the hospital prior to her discharge over a year ago. And this was followed by a visit to Maria’s home where Deborah conducted a Comprehensive Visit, including an assessment of the living conditions for safety, convenience, and self-care requirements, a review of medications, their instructions, and refill coordination, a review of the Care Plan, a list of resources available. Since Maria has some chronic conditions, including COPD and Diabetes, which require attention and monitoring, she was placed into the Long Term Program offered by Medella Healthcare, and is visited by Deborah once a week. These reports are shared with the representatives at the insurance company and the patients PCP.
And as a result of the care provided, the training and instructions pertaining to her conditions, and communications with Deborah and the team at Medella Healthcare, Maria has only had to visit her physician on two occasions, and one was her annual check-up.
“I love the fact that I can stay at home! And I love that Deborah comes to visit me every week! She has become family to me,” states Maria. One of the benefits offered by Medella Healthcare is the consistency of the staff attending to the individual patients, as this enables the staff to become familiar with the habits and practices of the patients and quickly identify changes and needs. It also allows the patient to become familiar with the Care Manager, as the patients tend to become more communicative, which assists the Care Manager in assessing the patient’s condition.
An additional benefit is the tremendous cost savings to Maria, her family, and her insurance plan. With significantly reduced visits to the Emergency Room, which could lead to a Hospital Admissions, and the associated co-pays and deductibles charged by some plans, Maria and her family are grateful for the program. Maria and the family also prefer to avoid an admission to an Assisted Living Facility or Skilled Nursing Facility, due to the additional costs of care, among other factors.
It has been estimated that a typical ER Visit costs the patient $1000 to $5000 or more depending on the insurance plan and services rendered and the insurance carrier $2,500 – 20,000, or more! A Medical Director of a major health plan stated, “This is a tremendous program, as it can reduce or eliminate significant costs in many areas, as well as reduce Hospital length of stay’s and ED Visits!” “We have been utilizing traditional home health care services for years, but this added service makes a significant difference to our members and our costs,” he continued.
“We understand the cost savings and conveniences of our programs, but we enjoy and value the relationships developed with our members,” states Alicia Lue of Medella Healthcare.
