Long-term care consultants will be able to help medical organizations handle the many stresses associated with managing the health of the elderly population. Right now, many medical facilities are attempting to develop new routines for reducing the rate of hospital readmission. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has instituted new requirements for reimbursement payments, which necessitate facilities to curb patient readmissionsbefore 30 days out of the hospital.
With the baby boomer population aging and bringing a higher likelihood of geriatric concerns to the medical industry, it is beneficial for providers to work with long-term care consultants who have experience with managing chronic medical conditions.
A new health concern called post-hospital syndrome will likely bring even more problems for healthcare organizations, according to FierceHealthcare. One in five elderly citizens end up back in the hospital with a new condition after less than 30 days. The specifics of this syndrome was outlined in the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The researchers found that stress, loss of sleep, malnutrition, lack of exercise, discomfort and pain experienced while staying in the hospital all contributed to the patients being readmitted to the same medical facility.
“At a minimum, we should assess a patient’s condition at discharge by soliciting details far beyond those related to the initial illness,” the researchers wrote in their final report. “As we determine readiness for transition from the inpatient setting, we should be aware of functional disabilities … We should also use risk-mitigation strategies that stretch beyond the cause of the initial hospitalization and seek to prevent infections, metabolic disorders, falls, traumaand the gamut of events that commonly occur during this period.”
