Author

Thomas Wiest

CEO, Aspirience Home Care

Imagine this; your elderly mom was in and out of the hospital three times last summer. First with a serious liver ailment, then to treat an infection related to the liver problem and then finally to have her ‘angry’ gall bladder removed.

But as agonizing as those medical complications were, her doctors then decided it was time to leave the hospital. Mom hadn’t felt ready to go home, especially without the information and support she needed to properly heal.

This is a common scenario and one that too often leads to extended nursing home care, re-admittance to the hospital or even premature death in some cases. It just doesn’t seem right.

Hospitalization can be a turning point for older people and their caregivers, and all too often, they are the recipients of fragmented care. Problems moving patients from the hospital back home or into skilled nursing facilities have received increasing attention from senior and health care advocates in the past couple of years.

Strained budgets, weak state statutes, overwhelmed hospital discharge planners and Medicare’s failure to pay for better coordination of post hospital care have stifled efforts to fully address the problems.

That’s because people 65 and older are the fastest growing portion of the U.S. population. By 2050, the number of seniors is expected to more than double to 87 million.

It’s apparent that transitional care is rarely coordinated, leaving patients to fend for themselves as they move from hospital to nursing home or back home. Although state law requires hospitals to give patients telephone numbers of local senior agencies, they are not required to assess a patient’s home to see if it’s safe or to line up in home services for care.

Time and time again, we hear that people have been told it’s time to go home and they don’t feel ready. They are still recuperating, or the care instructions are too complicated. We know dozens who wind up back in the hospital because they were sent home too soon.

Another issue is that hospital discharge planners are overwhelmed and that hospitals do not invest enough in making sure they can adequately do their jobs for their patients. In part, because hospitals can’t bill Medicare for preparing a patient for discharge, so that process often gets cut short. Instead, because of the way hospitals are reimbursed for Medicare patient care, they are financially motivated to send patients home as soon as possible, even if it means the patient is likely to return with the same diagnosis for another costly hospital stay.

One of the best steps one can take is to partner with a strong home care provider in your time of transition and need. It can mean the difference between recovering well or not.

Author

Thomas Wiest

CEO, Aspirience Home Care

It’s not news to anyone that Walgreens, the general neighborhood pharmacy acquired OptionCare last year, making the 20-year-old division of Walgreen Corporation available nationwide in nearly every state.

Walgreens-OptionCare provides home care medical equipment and supplies for families referred by physicians, clinics, county healthcare workers, hospitals or walk-ins.

Their equipment includes respiratory and infusion equipment and services, wheelchairs, hospital beds, walkers, canes, lifts, crutches and custom orders.

I was talking with the General Manager of a local Minnesota Walgreens and he said eighty percent of their business is custom orders: everything from compression hose for circulatory problems to adaptive equipment for eating to custom bathroom accessories.

Some of the stores offer people an opportunity to try out equipment before acquiring it. Just like buying a car, take it for a test drive if you like it, buy it.

Essentially, a customer comes in and says, ‘I’m bringing mom home from the hospital and I don’t know what I need.’ They inquire as to what their home situation is, the caregiver they are working with and the status of mom’s needs.

Until a person is in that situation, you literally have no idea what you might need. Now things have changed for better when you need medical supplies accompanied with home care services.

What does this mean for the home care services world?

This is a great partnership in the making for us to be able to provide a reliable source for medical supplies with convenient locations at affordable prices. It’s a complimentary match for both of us.

Author

Thomas Wiest

CEO, Aspirience Home Care

PRESS RELEASE – Shakopee, Minnesota, February 11, 2008 – Aspirience Home Care to sponsor The Alzheimer’s Association and Mayo Clinic’s A Meeting of the Minds, The Dementia Conference.

A Meeting of the Minds: The Dementia Conference 2008 is the most comprehensive and prestigious dementia conference in the upper Midwest. The Alzheimer’s Association Minnesota-North Dakota Chapter and Mayo Clinic are excited to hold this day of inspiration and information.

This annual conference, being held March 29^th, 2008 at the St. Paul RiverCentre, St. Paul, Minnesota brings together national and local experts for a full day of education, information and support.

The event is designed to equip families, professionals and people with early Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias with the skills to understand and address issues throughout the continuum of the disease.

The conference includes an exhibit area, where sponsors, such as Aspirience Home Care, and exhibitors can have face-to-face conversations with event attendees and volunteers.

Other conference features:

Three keynote addresses by national experts.
Three breakout sessions led by dementia professionals.
Exhibitors on hand to provide information on services available.
Continuing education for health care professionals.

In 2007, the conference attracted nearly 750 attendees, approximately 50% of whom were people with dementia or their family members. This year the expected turnout will be even higher. A copy of the conference brochure can be found at www.alzmndak.org.

Author

Thomas Wiest

CEO, Aspirience Home Care

Over the past year, I’ve been writing a lot about the explosion of baby boomers retiring and this year, the oldest of America’s 75 million baby boomers, are beginning their retirement years.

Now the adult children of these baby boomers are becoming parents for their parents, doing the research to find the best healthcare options to care for them.

To help the adult children of aging parents The National Association for Home Care and Hospice has come up with the following tips: “Signs it is Time to Consider Home Care or Hospice” and “Questions to Ask When Choosing a Home Care Provider.” I thought it was worth sharing.

Signs it is Time to Consider Home Care or Hospice:

1. The patient is consistently short of breath, unable to eat, sleeping excessively and experiencing increasing pain.

2. The patient has started to withdraw from life and/or family and friends.

3. The doctor has stated that the patient’s condition is not curable and that there are no more medical options.

4. The patient has expressed they are ready to die but the family is not ready to let go.

5. The treatment the patient is receiving seems no longer to be helping or working but prolonging the inevitable.

6. Financial issues are becoming more challenging.

7. The patient is unable to do everyday chores such as dressing themselves, going to the toilet or bathing without assistance.

8. It is becoming harder for the caregiver to take care of the patient.

Questions to Ask When Choosing a Home Care Provider:

1. Can you please share your company’s performance standards for their employees?

2. How long has your company been in business? How did you get in the business?

3. What qualifications, certifications, experience and training do you require of your workers?

4. Are your employees insured and bonded?

5. How do you supervise your workers to make sure the proper care is given?

6. Will the same caregiver oversee my case consistently?

7. Do you conduct a home visit before starting the home care service?

8. Do you work with my doctor in developing a plan of care?

9. Can you provide me some references from doctors, hospital personnel and social workers?

10. Has your company been involved in any lawsuits involving customer satisfaction?

The National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) is the world’s largest trade association advocating for homecare and hospice. The association, founded in 1982 and headquartered in Washington, DC, encourages development and delivery of the highest quality medical, social and supportive services to the nation’s frail, disabled and aged.

Again, these questions are just recommendations; there are literally dozens of further questions that would lead one to consider home care of some kind for someone you care about.