Geriatric Care Manager Del Mar Readmission

Geriatric Care Manager in Del Mar Follows Up on Hospital Readmissions

Medicare Advises Working with a Geriatric Care Manager in Del Mar to Avoid Readmission

In July, we brought you a post on hospital readmission—one of the most frustrating problems facing both hospitals and their patients. Now, Medicare is seeking to force hospitals to come up with their own solutions to the readmission problem or else pay high fines. According to experts, one of the best ways to make sure seniors stay home after leaving the hospital is to get a geriatric care manager in Del Mar involved before discharge in order to help with the transition.

High Readmission Rates Penalized

Government programs often have to decide between handing out incentives or penalties to keep their operations working smoothly. In this case, Medicare has come down solidly on the penalty side, charging hospitals steep monetary fines if they fail to get their readmission rates under control. This approach makes sense because Medicare loses money when seniors have to be hospitalized again. Often, the additional stay could have been avoided with better attention to prescription instructions and other doctors’ orders.

Ideal Situation for a Geriatric Care Manager in San Diego County

Helping seniors adjust to a new set of requirements in order to recover from a hospital visit is just what a geriatric care manager in San Diego County is trained to do. A manager can listen closely to doctors’ orders before discharge, devise a plan for adhering to those orders, organize transportation to follow-up appointments, appoint an in-home caregiver to help with rehab exercises, and take care of the many other details necessary for a successful recovery.

Medicare Recognizes Value of GCMs

Medicare officials hope that GCMs will quickly become a major part of the hospital discharge process when the elderly are involved. In most cases, experts think that readmission could be avoided if a capable assistant were present to process instructions. In San Diego County, seniors and their family members have easy access to just such an assistant.

Originally posted 2013-10-08 10:30:24.

Tim Colling
Tim Colling

Tim Colling is the founder and President of A Servant's Heart In-Home Care, which provided in-home caregiving services in San Diego County, and also of A Servant's Heart Geriatric Care Management, which provided
professional geriatric care management services and long term care placement services in San Diego County. Tim has more than 30 years of experience in management in a variety of industries. He held a Certified Care Manager credential from the National Academy of Certified Care Managers. Tim is also a Certified Public Accountant (retired), and received his Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting from California State University at San Diego. In addition to writing blog posts here for the Servant’s Heart blog, Tim also is a regular contributor to HealthLine.com and to FamilyAffaires.com as well as blogs of other eldercare services provider companies. Finally, Tim is also the president of A Servant's Heart Web Design and Marketing, which provides home care marketing as well as website design and online marketing for those who serve the elderly and their families.

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