Posted on Friday, June 1, 2018 8:17 PM
Commonwealth Fund released a study showing that a strong indicator of quality of care is the improvement of a patient’s mobility and activity. The study also showed that there was a significant increase in mobility in home health care patients from 2013-2016.
This improvement in mobility was not just a statistical blip, as it was seen across all 50 states and Washington D.C.
Providers are attempting to avoid that costly trip to the hospital, so they will regularly come to the patient’s home to assess safety risks and to ensure that there is a good quality of life through activities and medication reminders. Moreover, Medicare patients, who are older and typically have weakened immune systems, are less at risk of getting infections at home as opposed to a nursing facility or hospital. Also, patients are usually happier at home, surrounded by their family and friends versus a strange hospital bed.
One of the most alarming findings in the study is a 50% increase in deaths of despair – death from suicide and abuse of drugs or alcohol – from 2005 – 2016.
Other disappointing findings from the report include:
- A rise in premature deaths in two-thirds of states from 2014-15;
- Widespread gaps in mental health care for adults and children;
- Obesity is a growing problem, with nearly 40% of adults obese in Mississippi and West Virginia;
- The states with the best health rankings in the survey performed many times better than the lowest-ranked states, so where you live makes a big difference in what your health outcomes may be;
- States are not spending efficiently on health care, with too much low-value care and not enough high-value care, particularly failure to get the right cancer screenings.
Source: NAHC Report
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