About one in four patients treated and then discharged at Southeastern Regional Medical Center is back at the hospital within a month, a high percentage, but one that should be kept in context, meaning factors beyond the hospital’s control, especially local demographics, must be part of the conversation.
The reality is that SRMC serves an unhealthy populace, one that suffers disproportionately with obesity, heart disease, diabetes and substance abuse — and folks aren’t exactly diligent in preventing health problems or dealing appropriately with them when they occur and have been treated.
It’s costly not only for the patients, but for SRMC, which faces the possibility of fines under President Obama’s Affordable Health Care Act when the government deems that too many followup visits are necessitated. Last year the cost was about $400,000; SRMC officials say almost 70 percent of the hospitals across the United States faced some kind of penalty because of repeat visits.
SRMC and Lumberton Rescue and Emergency Medical Services have taken the problem head-on, securing a two-year $310,000 grant from Duke Endowment that will pay for home visits by paramedics to recently released patients in Lumberton who have been treated for congestive heart failure, heart attack and respiratory illnesses. The county Board of Commissioners on Monday amended a franchise with Lumberton Rescue and EMS that frees the paramedics to make the home visits without a 911 call, and they will be paid $35 an hour through the grant.
Expectations are that paramedics will provide care and identify potential threats that will mean fewer return trips to the hospital, saving unnecessary costs and — more importantly — improving the patient’s health and that person’s quality of life.
“I like to call this community medicine,” Greg Bounds, director of Robeson County’s Emergency Services, told the county commissioners on Monday. “If we educate the patients, there may not be another need for them to return to the hospital.”
Education is a vital component of health care, from knowing how to eat correctly to the importance of exercise and how to properly take prescribed medicines.
The program, which will begin in February, will initially be offered only in the zip codes of 28358, 28359 and 28360, where the majority of SRMC’s patients live. But hospital officials say that if it succeeds in reducing the number of quick return visits by patients to the hospital, that it will be expanded, presumably to other parts of Robeson County and perhaps even beyond.
Credit SRMC and the Lumberton Rescue and Emergency Medical Services for their collaboration — and let’s hope for healthy outcomes and an expansion of the program as it is needed.
You cant fully blame the patients nor SRMC. Its both parties here that need to be blamed. Most of the nurses forget their material they learned from online courses where they are easily able to cheat on exams. The others forget that they are.there to serve.the public and not for a paycheck. Most of them just wanf a paycheck.
If they begin to stress the importance of secondary checkups and rules they will be okay. Also the costs are so.high they have to avoid unecessary cost by being refered to five specialist when its not needed.
Look at how many people dont get treated right there. Family members have to beg and stay at the hospital just to make sure that their suck loved one us being taken care of. When this IS THEIR DUTY ALL ALONG.
They are uneducated by not attending in class room sessions to have to learn the material. or they only need to give advice online.
AVOID SRMC!!!
You never hear of a truely sick person complaining about SRMC, because THEY will get the best care. The ones who do all the complaining, ask them 1) do they pay, or 2)are they on medicaid. Those 2 are the worlds worst walki-talkie people.(walking around talking, complaining, but yet claim to be sick).
SRMC cares for the true sick, but easy money is EARNED off the others who limp in with a tooth ache begging for pain meds. NO! They will hear that word more and more when it comes to handing out narcotic pain pills... Again... NO!
Ross (staff sup)
ps. And you said they cheat with on-line courses, They can't cheat when they take their state BOARDS,pal.
pss. And about wanting just a paycheck? They're not up there volunteering. Would you work for free? Of course IT'S ABOUT THE MONEY.
And again do a survey of the ones who return and you'll find out it's not the people with jobs, or the ones with the ability to pay. The majority of returns are the guess who... That's right, being poor causes sickness and takes your ability to follow directions with common sense. Ross MD.