| The Right Cure For Ailing Elder Care?
At the end of our lives, we can only hope to see the face of someone like Renee Roberts. She is a 42-year-old geriatric nurse practitioner employed by Evercare, a division of UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UNH ) that coordinates care for elderly clients. She also represents a possible solution to the worsening shortage of doctors trained to treat the elderly. A health-care model that relied heavily on nurse practitioners for senior citizens rather than physicians could save the nation money--a lot of money--arguably without compromising quality. "We know that investing in an NP up front leads to better care and a lower cost at the back end," says Evercare Chief Executive Dr. John Mach, himself a geriatrician. "We've achieved a 45% reduction in hospitalizations with no negative impact." .
Better skilled nursing facilities for Medicare patients
The best way for the federal government to preserve Medicare beneficiary access to quality rehabilitative care is to implement current rules governing that care, according to an alliance of national and regional health care providers. These rules, often referred to as "the 75 percent rule," require 75 percent of patients receiving care in inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) to meet certain diagnosis requirements for the facility to qualify for Medicare payments that are higher than rates paid to hospitals. "At a time when government officials are struggling to ensure adequate funding for the care and needs of Medicare beneficiaries in all settings, it simply doesn't make sense to stall implementation of important government rules addressing the appropriate placement of patients needing rehabilitation under Medicare," said Alan Rosenbloom, president of the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care.
Collier, Lee students honored for 'Doing the Right Thing'
While less dramatic than preventing a murder or stopping drug dealers, Seniors Helping Seniors saves lives in a different way. The group of 30 seniors mentored 48 others in reading and mathematics after Immokalee High School received a low overall score for FCAT performance. Lucio felt a calling to step in a find a way to change that. She and her group gave up their lunch hour on a daily basis to mentor those who needed it the most. The group's theme was, aptly, "No Senior Left Behind." "One student came up to me after he got his FCAT results," said Lucio. "He said, 'I'm gonna be able to pass school because of your program.'" Along with nine other outstanding area students, Lucio was honored Saturday for her compassionate actions at the 2007 Do the Right Thing awards banquet at the Harborside Convention Center in Fort Myers.
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