| Community Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #1607 | |||||||||
| Physician House Calls for Frail and Homebound Elderly | |||||||||
| Requester: | Jose R. Fox, President and CEO | Organization: | United Home Care Services, Inc. | ||||||
| Project Title: | Physician House Calls for Frail and Homebound Elderly | Date Submitted | 1/12/2005 3:44:58 PM | ||||||
| Sponsors: | Rodolfo Garcia | ||||||||
| Statewide Interest: | |||||||||
| The elderly population in the State of Florida is growing rapidly; approximately 22% of the population are 60 years and older, with over 350,000 individuals 85 years and older. Florida is ranked first in the proportion of individuals aged 65 and older. The 85+ group is the most rapidly growing age group in our society. Almost 30% of the elderly Statewide are Hispanic or a minority; 18% of the elderly live at or below the poverty level. Almost 75, 000 of these elderly have major mobility and self care limitations or are afflicted with Alzheimer's disease. For a variety of reasons, low socioeconomic level and minority status is highly correlated with lack of access to routine medical care. This results in an increase utilization of more costly acute care resources (emergency rooms, hospitalizations), premature Nursing Home admission, ultimately leading to increased morbidity and mortality. The proposed pilot project for an in home geriatric physician and physician extenders is easily replicated statewide. | |||||||||
| Recipient: | United Home Care Services, Inc. | Contact: | Jose R. Fox, President and CEO | ||||||
| 5255 N.W. 87th Avenue, Suite 400 | Contact Phone: | (305) 716-0765 | |||||||
| Miami 33178 | Contact email: | jfox@unitedhomecare.com | |||||||
| Counties: | Dade | ||||||||
| Gov't Entity: | Private Organization (Profit/Not for Profit): | Yes | |||||||
| Project Description: | |||||||||
| United Home Care Services (UHCS), a Lead Agency operating in Miami-Dade county, currently case manages 3900 frail elderly individuals whose medical needs are not being met by traditional office based medical care. UHCS mission is to provide quality home and community based care to increase the quality of life and community tenure of frail elderly. Within UHCS's service population, 44% of the clients are 85 years or older; most have multiple chronic medical conditions and are quite frail; a subset takes a mean of 9 medications a day; 54% indicated that their medical conditions prevented them from doing things they wanted to do all the time. Relatively minor incidents can easily precipitate a cascade of complicating events, exacerbating their chronic illness(s), resulting in an acute episode, leading to additional functional and physical decline, readmission to hospitals, iatrogenic complications and ultimately death. UHCS's clients are of varied ethnic backgrounds and they directly reflect the ethnic composition of the community UHCS's services, 80% of our clients are Hispanic; and most exist at or near the poverty level. UHCS's clients advanced age, increasing frailty and low socioeconomic status make accessibility to routine and preventative healthcare services a myth, mostly due to their frailty and difficulties with mobility and transportation. The difficulties this population experienced in accessing their primary care physicians reinforce the utilization of acute care services as the majority of their medical care. UHCS is proposing, through this CBR, funding for a Home Visiting Physician program start up, and operations, to develop an on-staff program with a geriatric physician and physician extenders (physician assistants, registered nurses) to provide medical care to this frail homebound elderly population at their homes. Extending UHCS's services to include physician house visits will allow greater continuity of care and earlier medical intervention for its clients. The objective of this program will be to provide at home early medical intervention for UHCS's clients. | |||||||||
| Is this a project related to 2004 hurricane damage? | No | ||||||||
| Measurable Outcome Anticipated: | |||||||||
| The anticipated outcomes to be measured for this program will be: number of reduced internments to nursing homes and hospitals, and reduction of acute medical care interventions. | |||||||||
| Amount requested from the State for this project this year: | $270,000 | ||||||||
| Total cost of the project: | $300,000 | ||||||||
| Request has been made to fund: | Operations | ||||||||
| What type of match exists for this project? | Private | ||||||||
| Cash Amount | $ | In-kind Amount | $30,000 | ||||||
| Was this project previously funded by the state? | No | ||||||||
| Is future-year funding likely to be requested? | Yes | Amount: | $200,000 | To Fund: | Operations | ||||
| Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request? | No | ||||||||
| Was this project included in the Governor's Recommended Budget? | No | ||||||||
| Is there a documented need for this project? | Yes | ||||||||
| Documentation: | Young, H. "Challenges and Solutions for Care of Frail Older Adults", Online Journal of Issues in Nur | ||||||||
| Was this project request heard before a publicly noticed meeting of a body of elected officials (municipal, county, or state)? | No | ||||||||
| Is this a water project as described in Section 403.885, Laws of Florida? | No | ||||||||