Five Ways Assisted Living Communities Benefit with Onsite Medical Services
Studies have confirmed that primary care's consistent management of chronic conditions helps prevent hospitalizations. A report published by the Primary Care Collaborative in December of 2020 states that primary care spending in the US was only 4.67% of total healthcare spending. It appears our healthcare system has it backward with the lion's share of healthcare spending on hospitalizations. In assisted living, residents with unmanaged conditions often ping-pong between the community and a hospital emergency room. Providing frequent primary care visits onsite in these communities can break this cycle by replacing reactive care with proactive care.
1. When a primary care doctor or nurse practitioner is onsite in an AL, they become intimately familiar with the resident population and their issues. This familiarity has the advantage of providing a more consistent level of care and better coordination and communication between internal staff and family members.
2. Als who have onsite primary care available have a marketing advantage when offering those services to potential residents. Family members are often frustrated to learn they are on the hook for all transportation to and from doctors' appointments and the ongoing coordination of medication management between those providers and the community.
3. Medication mismanagement is a leading cause of hospitalizations in the US. South Carolina & Georgia House Calls (SC & GA HC) has Pharmacists on staff to routinely perform pharmacy consults with new and existing patients. The consult is an essential assessment of all medications currently prescribed. The consult includes patient education about proper dosage and the critical importance of medication adherence.
4. The primary care provider is integral in coordinating any specialty services a patient might require. WITH A COMPLETE PATIENT APPROACH, the SC & GA HC team has over ten specialty services in-house that can assess the patient virtually and recommend ongoing treatment options.
5. Technology should not be a roadblock in the delivery of healthcare services. With the proliferation of telehealth as a viable option, access to those services becomes critical. SC & GA HC developed a Patient Care Coordinator program to assist AL patients with the technology portion of that equation. The PCC frees up community resources by coordinating the technology between the provider, patient, and family members.
SC House Calls & GA House Calls is a network of over 250 medical professionals providing In-home medical house calls and Telehealth visits to Private Residences, Assisted Living Communities, and Skilled Nursing Facilities. SC House Calls serves all 46 Counties of South Carolina. New patient registration, appointments, and 24-7 access to medical professionals is available through its Center for Telehealth @ 800-491-0909
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