Aging and Disability Network of Saratoga County Meeting Minutes 10/10/17

Aging and Disability Network Meeting 10/10/17

Present: Cindy Harrington (Shelters of Saratoga), Lauren Carpenter (Peregrine Clifton Park), Karin Drozdick (Mechanicville Senior Center), Kim Swire (Retired- CHOICES), Mini Tharian (Sage Graduate School), Kyla Loucks (Saratoga Senior Center), Jane Kerr Sussman (Saratoga Senior Center), Bill Hinrichs (Alzheimer’s Association NENY), Mary Moller (Albany Medical Center of Excellence for Alzheimer’s Disease), Kym Hance (Herzog Law Firm), Tena Bunnell (Home Helpers), Carol Palmieri (Saratoga Hospital), Karen Laing (Health Literacy for All), Amy Ponessa (Saratoga Hospital),  Jess Flynn (Eddy Daybreak ADS), Keith Kirchoff (Saratoga County AFS), Donna Rudzinski (Shenendehowa Village), Maria Geizer (Home Instead).

Introductions and Announcements: The next meeting will occur on November 14^th from 2-330pm at the Malta Community Center, 1 Bayberry Drive Malta. Victoria Clingan from The Brain Injury Association of NY will give a Brain Injury 101 presentation.

The December 12^th meeting with be held at The Saratoga Springs United Methodist Church, 175 5^th Avenue Saratoga Springs. This will be a networking meeting. Please bring business cards and agency information to share with other members! From 2-330pm.

Today’s Presenter and Topic: Dr. Kevin Costello of Albany Medical Center, an Internal Medicine and Geriatric Medicine Specialist, presenting “The Home Front- Providing Care to Patients in the Home”.

Dr. Costello provides house calls, which is a misunderstood concept, and rare. Why? WWII accelerated health care technology, MDs came back from serving in the War and decided to specialize in different areas of medicine, rather than be a general practitioner. Before WWII, 40% of MD visits were performed in the home. By 1980, this had reduced to .6%.

Other factors leading to this decrease were an increase in liability, as well as an increase in other home health care services.

However, some of these factors are also responsible for the return of house calls currently! Technology makes it possible to have smaller portable tools, for example.

Why do House Calls?

-Greater access to care- some people can’t get out of the house.

-Diagnostic and therapeutically important, MD gets the whole picture.

-Improved MD-patient relationship.

-Reduced hospital days and costs.

-Family Caregiver support.

-Job satisfaction.

For example – MD can see how someone lives, gives a much greater picture than the presentation of a person at an office outside the home. MD can see if/how basic needs are being met, if someone is sedentary, etc.

Who needs Home Visits?

-Severely impaired mobility

-Disruptive behavior in an office

-Terminal illness

-Agoraphobic

-Family caregiver strain

-Suspected abuse or neglect

Definition of Homebound under Medicare Part A: Leaving home requires considerable, taxing effort.

Dr. Costello doesn’t necessarily subscribe to this, he considers other factors, as mentioned above.

Challenges to doing House Calls:

-Difficult patients or caregivers

-Dangerous environment

-Bad weather, fuel prices

-Communication

-Tests and Consults unavailable in home

-Logistical challenges, like scheduling, geographic clusters.

Referral Sources:

-          Former office patients

-          Parish nurses

-          Specialists

-          Emergency Rooms

-          Discharge planners

-          Attorneys

-          Case managers

-          Home health

-          Word of mouth

For more information on this program, please call The Albany Med Internal Medicine Group at 518-262-5735.