According to geriatrician and internist David Chess M.D., a new study from the Institute of Medicine, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests an unsettling prognosis for the future medical care of aging American baby boomers.The generation born after World War II will face potential jeopardy if healthcare changes are not made swiftly enough. The problem: an aging population faced with an imperfect healthcare system that does not place enough emphasis on geriatric care. Medicare is already in serious financial trouble, and new rules to financially shore up the program are likely to drive more and more doctors from participation, especially those in primary care. According to Dr. Chess, that will only exacerbate problems identified in the study, which include too few specialists in geriatric medicine, insufficient training, underpaid primary care and geriatric physicians, and a failure of Medicare to support new strategies.
“We face an impending ‘perfect storm’ as the growing number of older patients increasingly out paces the number of health care providers with the knowledge and skills to care for them capably,” said Dr. Chess, who also is CEO of HC Innovations a provider of complex care management services for medically unstable, complex patients. “The report found there are only 7,100 doctors certified in geriatrics, that’s one per every 2,500 older Americans. This is hardly a prescription for personal quality care. Increasingly, it looks more like a prescription for trouble.”
Talking points for Dr. Chess include:
Back to the Primaries: Can primary care physicians be one of the necessary factors in averting a weakened Medicare system? It is important to note that a broken health care system for our aging population means that people will have increased difficulty finding qualified physicians and as a result the impact of poor care will result in avoidable suffering and further acceleration of costs.
Instilling care for medically complex patients at the clinic: According to Dr. Chess, at present most medical practices are not ill-equipped to treat the medically complex. Can the installation of specialized “care managers” at your next doctor’s visit be an answer to alleviating the pain?
It takes a village: Creating an infrastructure that allows for community involvement may improve the outcomes for those medically unstable. At the moment, this doesn’t exist. This can not be achieved through a phone call or mailing but requires an integrated approach which involves the patients physicians and caregivers. There are solutions but they require a deep understanding of care needs and resources to stem the tide. Is it possible that one solution could be to teach family members and patients to learn and practice self care?
Biography of Expert
DAVID CHESS, M.D.
Dr. David Chess is a geriatrician, internist, and entrepreneur with twenty years of experience working to improve the quality and cost of our healthcare delivery system. As the founder and CEO of ECI, Dr. Chess has focused on creating the most robust engines to drive health outcomes for our most costly and impaired populations. Dr. Chess also serves as President of Project Patient Care (PPC), a non-profit (501(c) patient advocacy organization he founded in January 2000. PPCs goal is to create a set of measures that help guide improvements to our healthcare system. Unbiased measures will be the engine and catalyst for better healthcare decision-making.
Dr. Chess has recently several publications which address the needs of the aging population and has co-authored a paper with David Nash and his team at Department of Health Policy, Jefferson Medical College entitled Pharmacy Utilization and the Medicare Modernization Act A Review of the Literature, published in the Millbank Quarterly in spring 2005. Papers are available by request.
Dr. Chess received his medical degree from Creighton University School of Medicine, performed his internal medicine internship and residency at Albert Einstein School of Medicine, and was chief resident in internal medicine at Bridgeport Hospital. He is an Alpha Omega Alpha recipient, among numerous other academic achievements. Dr. Chess is an Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine. And is a member of the Center for Health Transformation (Newt Gingrich’s health care think tank)
About HC Innovations, Inc.
HC Innovations is the holding company for Enhanced Care Initiatives (ECI), which provides specialty care management services for medically unstable, complex patients. These services are performed through a program of 24/7 clinical support and intensive interventions based on care plans guided by a proprietary electronic health record (EHR) system. HCI’s corporate strategy is to care for the most costly and needy patients in order to reduce clinical morbidity, prevent unnecessary hospitalizations, increase quality of life and create cost savings. The company targets its offering to HMOs, other risk-bearing managed care organizations, state Medicaid departments, Medicare and as an on-site subcontractor for disease management companies.
The company’s services are offered through three programs: Easy Care™, NP Care™, and Quality of Life Care™. All of its hands-on operations have the ability to drive down medical costs while improving the quality of life, health and experience for participating members. This holistic approach focuses on the entire patient, not just health conditions. ECI programs provide complex interventions, utilizing specialized training of nurses and nurse practitioners along with proprietary software and integration capabilities. For more information, visit http://www.hcinnovationsinc.com.
Source: HCInnovations via Newswise
