El Camino Focuses On Senior Health
El Camino Hospital is launching what it calls a “patient-centered” medical home devoted to improving the health and quality of life of the region’s seniors.
Located on El Camino’s Mountain View campus, its Senior Health Center will focus on providing primary rather than the tertiary care services offered by the typical hospital. It has a staff of four physicians, including two newly minted in geriatrics, as well as allied health professionals including specially trained nurses, a nutritionist and a pharmacist.
According to the American Geriatrics Society, there is only about one geriatrician for every 2,600 patients over the age of 75, but the ratio is expected to rise to one for every 3,800 patients by 2030 as the U.S. population continues to age.
Local demographics strongly suggest that the region, which is located about 20 miles south of San Francisco, is no exception to this trend. It is projected that about 300,000 residents of Santa Clara County will be over the age of 65 by 2020, nearly double the current 166,000.
“These adults will be dealing with a wide array of chronic conditions like arthritis, diabetes and cardiovascular disease,” said the center’s medical director, Patrick Kearns, M.D. “This makes it imperative to have this 'patient-centered medical home' model that offers a better way to help them manage their ongoing care.”
The county, which is home to Northern California’s Silicon Valley, also has one of the state’s highest per-household incomes. At nearly $87,000, it is 44% above the statewide average, strongly suggesting that region’s residents will have the purchasing power to demand specifically tailored services as they age.
El Camino said it will help seniors streamline the care they receive via a data portal that would combine all of their medical records. It will allow them to quickly communicate with their physicians and check tests in a timely fashion.
The physicians and allied professionals will check patients’ diets and medications, offer assessments of future medical risks and provide psychological assessments.
Center employees will also work with patients regarding tweaking their Medicare coverage to fit their current needs.
And at a time when more physicians are grumbling about accepting Medicare patients due to lower payments, El Camino is being ecumenical. Patients can receive care in conjunction with their current doctors, walk into the center to receive primary care on their own, or even be referred from a doctor who is no longer accepting Medicare Part B enrollees.
“Here, the patient comes first,” said Scott Farr, the center’s vice president of the continuum of care.
Moreover, the Medicare program will begin monetarily penalizing hospitals beginning next year that have large levels of seniors who are readmitted as inpatients within 30 days of discharge. Some hospitals in California are at risk of losing millions of dollars annually, though El Camino is one of the few hospitals in the Bay Area not expected to experience any sort of penalty next year, according to available data. However, El Camino’s focus on improving preventative care and disease management may keep potential readmissions in check.
