Senior Home Care Releases UPDATED Patient Re-Hospitalization Scores for Ft. Myers Office

CLEARWATER, Fla., Sept. 20, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Senior Home Care's Ft. Myers office, a Medicare-certified home health care agency located at 14421 Metropolis Avenue, is pleased to report updated patient re-hospitalization scores that significantly beat the national averages.

The office's 30-day re-hospitalization rate for Medicare patients with congestive heart failure has improved to 7.69%, while the national average stands at 24.7%. For all patients and all diagnoses, its re-hospitalization rate is 11.19%, compared to the national average of 20%, reported by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Rates are for Medicare-only patients for the period 1/1/13 through 7/31/13.

Senior Home Care believes the rate improvement is likely due, in large part, to the office's new telemonitoring service for high-risk patients. This service is in addition to home visits by trained clinicians. Using a Commander FLEX device from Medtronic, Inc., telemonitoring enables seven-days-per-week monitoring of a patient's vital signs. Data is transmitted to Senior Home Care and integrated into the patient's established Electronic Health Record, which clinicians monitor, review and follow up as appropriate. 

Lynn Wilson, Florida's Regional Vice President of Sales and Operations for Senior Home Care, says, "Quality care and minimizing costs are top of mind in the industry these days. We understand that doctors and hospitals are concerned about avoiding penalties associated with patient hospital re-admissions. That is why our company developed a Transitional Care Program that uses evidence-based practices especially geared to the care of patients with chronic conditions, like heart failure and cardio-pulmonary disease. Those patients are at higher risk for avoidable re-admissions."

"Our outcomes are only as good as the clinicians behind the care," adds Karen Fellers, the office's Director of Operations. "We work closely with patients to show them how to recognize early indicators that their condition may require intervention or a call to their physician. Our goal is to promote self-care management and empower patients to take important steps that can help minimize last-minute trips to the emergency department."

Senior Home Care's Transitional Care Program focuses on providing four pillars of care, including: medication self-management; appropriate follow up with primary care physician/specialist; use of a personal health record; and coaching patients to recognize important warning signs/symptoms – like weight or blood pressure changes and swelling -- and teaching patients how to respond.

Senior Home Care, Inc. has been treating seniors throughout Florida and Louisiana with quality home health care services since 1994. With 47 branch locations (Senior Home Care in Florida and Synergy Home Care in Louisiana) and 1,800 employees, the company is one of the largest home health care providers in the Southeast. Working in conjunction with patients' physicians, Senior Home Care's clinicians treat more than 50,000 seniors each year in their homes and assisted/independent living facilities. For more, visit www.seniorhomecare.net.

SOURCE Senior Home Care