Too many people make the dangerous roundtrip from hospital to nursing facility and back again. These transfers may increase risks of delirium, medication errors, falls, and infection. There is no doubt that some patients die as a result of these transfers. And, they cost payers—Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance—hundreds of millions of dollars each year. The real tragedy: By some [...]
Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney's vice-presidential pick, would fundamentally remake federal health and long-term care services for the frail elderly and adults with disabilities. He'd completely restructure Medicare, slash funding for Medicaid, and likely abolish most of the other safety net programs that this vulnerable population has come rely on over the last half-century. It is fair to say that no major party candidate for [...]
People often say that the patients most at risk in the U.S. health system are the elderly who suffer from multiple chronic diseases. But it may be that a subset of these seniors—those with chronic disease who also need personal assistance with routine activities—are in the most jeopardy. An important 2011 research paper finds they are the most costly to care [...]
What if you could be admitted to the hospital—in your own bedroom? That’s the idea of a health care model called Hospital at Home, which is aimed at elderly patients with diseases such as congestive heart failure, emphysema, urinary tract infections, or pneumonia. According to a new study published in the journal Health Affairs, people receiving this care through the [...]
Let me tell you about Frank. At 86, he has heart disease, diabetes, and kidney failure. He lives at home but struggles with the 16 medications he must take every day. He could also use some social support--maybe an adult day program, help shopping, or just somebody to keep him company. What Frank needs most of all is somebody who can help organize all of his medical [...]
Why not make insurance for long-term care services and supports part of health care coverage? It is a radical idea that turns the current model—which often treats long-term care insurance as an element of retirement planning—entirely on its head. The concept isn’t new. John Rother, who ran public policy for AARP for many years, talked about integrating long-term services and [...]
Increasingly, surgeons are beginning to change the way they perform operations on elderly patients. They are coming to realize that almost everything is different about surgery on older people: The patient’s goals, the likelihood of complications, and the entire process of treatment from pre-op through surgery itself to recovery. As a result, doctors are learning that they not only need [...]