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Is the Health Care System Ready for Aging Baby Boomers?
By Denise Mann, MS
WebMD Guest Blogger
Oct. 28, 2009 -- There’s a silver tsunami gaining strength, and the health care system may not be able to weather the storm.
“As the tidal wave comes, are we prepared?” asks Margaret Scott, chief investment officer of Belmont Village Senior Living in Houston. “Do we have health care providers, doctors, nurses’ aides, or systems in place to keep people at home.”
The answer is a resounding “no”, but many in the health care field are furiously working on developing innovative, multi-pronged solutions to these problems. Improved disease prevention efforts and technology are two important parts of any potential solution, but the clock is ticking.
“It’s very scary to all of us in terms of solving this,” says geriatrician Mark Leenay, MD, MS, senior vice president of medical management and physician services at UnitedHealth Group-Ovations, based in Minnetonka, Minn. Scott and Leenay took part in a sobering panel discussion on the challenges of providing quality care to the elderly and chronically ill at the General Electric Healthymagination conference in New York City.
Changing the rules of engagement
Fully 75% of today’s health care dollars are spent on treating chronic illness, Leenay says, and half of that is used to treat illnesses caused by poor diet, poor exercise, and tobacco use -- i.e. preventable causes of illness.
“The focus needs to be on preventing them from getting sick,” he says. That is easier said than done, but making risks very specific to the patient, rewarding them for positive behaviors, and motivating doctors to prevent diseases can help.
Technology and prevention can go hand in hand, he says. A diabetes pump can be programmed to monitor a person’s blood sugar and adjust insulin levels accordingly. This technology will lead to tighter control of diabetes, and a lower risk of complications and hospitalization down the road.
“Technology allows the caregiver or physician or registered nurse to do what they are there to do -- not fill out charts for four hours a day,” says John Cobb, CEO of Senior Lifestyles, a Chicago-based corporation that owns and manages 54 retirement communities across the map.
He is referring to things like electronic medical records that can put needed information at a doctor’s fingertips instead of having to sift through mounds of paper files located miles away from the patient.
This paves the way for more face time between doctors and patients and can help compensate for the shortfall of doctors by allowing them more time to practice medicine.
Telemedicine can also play a role in caring for baby boomers, says Lynn Townshend, executive aide to the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health in Hartford. Video conferencing and other technologies can allow doctors to reach out to patients in their homes, and can allow specialists to have a presence in communities that they would not otherwise have access to.
All this works to improve care and keep people home longer, she says.
Preparing for the silver tsunami is an uphill battle, Scott says. “They will not come simply, but we will find solutions.”
SOURCES:
Margaret Scott, chief investment officer of Belmont Village Senior Living in Houston.
Mark Leenay, MD, MS, senior vice president of medical management and physician services at UnitedHealth Group-Ovations.
John Cobb, CEO of Senior Lifestyles, a Chicago-based corporation.
General Electric Healthymagination conference in New York City.
WebMD Guest Blogger
Oct. 28, 2009 -- There’s a silver tsunami gaining strength, and the health care system may not be able to weather the storm.
“As the tidal wave comes, are we prepared?” asks Margaret Scott, chief investment officer of Belmont Village Senior Living in Houston. “Do we have health care providers, doctors, nurses’ aides, or systems in place to keep people at home.”
The answer is a resounding “no”, but many in the health care field are furiously working on developing innovative, multi-pronged solutions to these problems. Improved disease prevention efforts and technology are two important parts of any potential solution, but the clock is ticking.
“It’s very scary to all of us in terms of solving this,” says geriatrician Mark Leenay, MD, MS, senior vice president of medical management and physician services at UnitedHealth Group-Ovations, based in Minnetonka, Minn. Scott and Leenay took part in a sobering panel discussion on the challenges of providing quality care to the elderly and chronically ill at the General Electric Healthymagination conference in New York City.
Changing the rules of engagement
Fully 75% of today’s health care dollars are spent on treating chronic illness, Leenay says, and half of that is used to treat illnesses caused by poor diet, poor exercise, and tobacco use -- i.e. preventable causes of illness.
“The focus needs to be on preventing them from getting sick,” he says. That is easier said than done, but making risks very specific to the patient, rewarding them for positive behaviors, and motivating doctors to prevent diseases can help.
Technology and prevention can go hand in hand, he says. A diabetes pump can be programmed to monitor a person’s blood sugar and adjust insulin levels accordingly. This technology will lead to tighter control of diabetes, and a lower risk of complications and hospitalization down the road.
“Technology allows the caregiver or physician or registered nurse to do what they are there to do -- not fill out charts for four hours a day,” says John Cobb, CEO of Senior Lifestyles, a Chicago-based corporation that owns and manages 54 retirement communities across the map.
He is referring to things like electronic medical records that can put needed information at a doctor’s fingertips instead of having to sift through mounds of paper files located miles away from the patient.
This paves the way for more face time between doctors and patients and can help compensate for the shortfall of doctors by allowing them more time to practice medicine.
Telemedicine can also play a role in caring for baby boomers, says Lynn Townshend, executive aide to the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health in Hartford. Video conferencing and other technologies can allow doctors to reach out to patients in their homes, and can allow specialists to have a presence in communities that they would not otherwise have access to.
All this works to improve care and keep people home longer, she says.
Preparing for the silver tsunami is an uphill battle, Scott says. “They will not come simply, but we will find solutions.”
SOURCES:
Margaret Scott, chief investment officer of Belmont Village Senior Living in Houston.
Mark Leenay, MD, MS, senior vice president of medical management and physician services at UnitedHealth Group-Ovations.
John Cobb, CEO of Senior Lifestyles, a Chicago-based corporation.
General Electric Healthymagination conference in New York City.
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