Lack of Access to and Control of Patients a Major Problem for Private-Practice Physicians

By Jeremy Brooker

Often, when people find themselves in a situation where they’ve gone to the hospital for an emergency or other after-hours issue – their family doctor or personal physician may not legally be able to service them there, and communication about their conditions from hospital staff to their physician may be poor or non-existent. 

For physicians that care about their clients and know their personal medical history (which can play a valuable role in healthcare-related decisions), this is cause for concern. 

“Most primary care physicians are experiencing a shrinking role in hospital care,” said Michael Demoratz, palliative care expert, PhD and LCSW, “and that’s not necessarily a good thing.” 

Lack of communication about condition and status becomes even more of an issue with aging patients, given that they typically see an increase in the frequency of hospital visits and medical care due to issues like Alzheimer’s, dementia, broken bones, congestive heart failure, and the slew of other health related problems that come with age.

“It gets interesting when you have three or more sources that have provided, or sometimes continue to provide, an individual with care,” said Michael. “Communication breaks down, and so does a clear plan of care and control.” 

When asked what can be done by primary care physicians to improve their own access to and control of patients, Michael was reticent.  

“It can be very hard,” he noted.

“If [patients] go to a hospital on their own, the physician may lose control. If you’re a physician who is sending a patient to the hospital, you can prevent that sort of thing by sending them to a medical facility with hospitalists that you know and that will communicate with you, or to one that allows you to follow and access them yourself,” he said. 

According to Michael, physicians tend to maintain access to and control of their patients by having this kind of presence in skilled nursing facilities, nursing homes, and hospitals. 

“Another great option, especially in certain situations – is in-home senior care.”

Michael explained how having a caregiver in a patient’s home can keep physicians up to date on the status and whereabouts of a patient.

“Caregivers, especially from some of the better companies, know what warning signs to look for when a senior has an issue, and they know how to care for a person who has a condition or history with a certain issue.”

Since in-home caregivers assist with things called “activities of daily living,” (which include things like bathing, dressing, eating, functional mobility and toilet hygiene), they can act as “boots on the ground” for physicians, and can monitor their patients’ statuses from day to day. 

Many senior care companies have software that provides real-time, up-to-date information on patients’ statuses, and some even have devices that monitor patients’ vital signs and log the reports in real-time.“This kind of thing is invaluable for physicians, especially in certain cases,” Demoratz said. 

According to Michael, measures like these are important not only to keep physicians in touch with their patients - they also play an integral part in reducing the problem of hospital readmissions.

Case Management in Healthcare and the Readmissions Epidemic: What Can Be Done?

By Jeremy Brooker

Three years ago, the Obama administration passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. As part of its overhaul of the United States’ healthcare system, the act penalizes hospitals for higher-than-expected readmission rates in an effort to force improvements in hospital quality. Though readmissions - defined as a patient being admitted back into the hospital within 30 days for the same diagnosis - are certainly not a desirable thing, many argue that the new government initiatives seek to mandate and penalize without providing viable solutions. Michael Demoratz, PhD and Certified Case Manager, says this is an issue case managers in hospitals face on an almost daily basis. As a whole, the readmission problem stems largely from the woes of aging patients.  

“A lot of times, elderly patients end up back in the hospital or emergency room simply because they don’t know what to do, or because they have nowhere else to go,” said Demoratz. He explained the typical scenario where a patient is discharged in the afternoon and gets home a few minutes after 5 p.m. “If that patient has an issue or concern for the doctor and his office is closed when they call, they may dial 911 - or end up back in the hospital some other way when they don’t necessarily need to be.”

The rising senior population, caused by the aging of the Baby Boomer generation, has intensified the issue. Given that there are more seniors in the US now than there have ever been (and that the senior population is expected to more than double over the next forty years), this readmission problem is certainly not something that will just go away.

“Case managers are looking for ways to reduce this kind of thing,” said Michael, “and to do so in a way that still provides support and a plan of care for their elderly patients.”

“One way to do this,” Michael noted, “is in-home senior care.”

As a former case manager, Michael noted that he and many of his colleagues would leverage crucial relationships with senior care providers to manage and monitor patients outside the hospital.

“Caregivers are trained in helping seniors perform various activities of daily living –things like bathing, dressing, medication reminders, feeding, ambulating, and the like,” Michael said. “Assistance with things like this, sensitivity to how to handle patients with certain conditions, and an awareness of warning signs that come from various conditions – these are things that caregivers provide that are hugely useful to case managers in reducing readmissions.”

Michael’s assertions are independently verified: a 2013 academic study by The Commonwealth Fund showed that case managers’ utilization of in-home senior care services reduced readmissions for elderly patients with heart failure by a whopping 46%. For dually eligible Medicare and Medicaid patients with special needs, readmissions were reduced by 21%.

Michael said a collaborative effort among physicians, case managers, senior care companies and their in-home caregivers can help improve the readmissions problem significantly.

“The resources for lessening readmissions are out there,” Michael said. “Case managers just need to make more use of them.”