Home Health & Low Vision—The Cornerstone of Care Delivery!
Posted on August 17, 2010 in Featured-writers
by Melicia Coleman, RN
Eye diseases such as Macular Degeneration and Low Vision are unknown to many, but can be very important for home health agencies, physicians and in particular, for those affected by them. If you don't know about these diseases, you'd be surprised to find how common they are and how devastating the affect can be on those living with these conditions.
Although somewhat unfamiliar at the moment, most home health providers will encounter these diseases in the near future - low vision will certainly affect your patients (it is likely already a significant issue). Moreover, most of us will experience a family member or a friend that receives a low vision diagnosis. The truth is simple - we are all in some way affected by this disease, we just haven't all realized it yet.
This brief article provides a new awareness of vision loss and the current status of the specialized medical field of vision. Within this specialty, we can observe a variety of opportunities for home health providers. More specifically, we can gain a glimpse of the gap to be filled - a need to be met. Furthermore, as we witness the impact of our fragmented health care system in vision care, we can identify a new opening for home health agencies in the continuum of healthcare delivery.
You will find that the medical field of vision, along with many other specialties, can become a vehicle for change that is both advantageous to home care and to the larger health care system. The medical field of vision is ripe for opportunity. If captured, agencies can further demonstrate their value to the larger health care continuum and foster the beginning of a new era.
Low vision, and the diseases that cause it, are a part of a new frontier in health care; a new challenge of the unknown ready to be conquered. Those living with the disease are often seen by many health care providers, including physicians, nurses, hospitals, and home health agencies. But it is generally a silent problem; one that cannot be seen from those looking from the outside in. Low vision represents a dramatic problem for many, often because it is wrapped in the unknown...an unknown existence, the unknown problems, and an unknown solution, in an unknown world.
Low vision represents isolation and fear to those who have it; however, it also reflects a need for those who can treat it. Yes, it is often an unmet need. A need early in its awareness, perhaps, but so were other diseases before they captured the attention of home care.
Beyond the humanistic element of the problem and the need, these diseases and their treatment represent another aspect that requires our attention - a need for improved communication, collaboration and unity within healthcare. As we are all aware, this is an issue that transcends low vision care and affects all aspects of the care delivery system.
Communication? Collaboration? Unity?
It sounds ethereal and ideological. However, it is a common understanding that our health care system, amongst all of its problems, is fragmented in nature. The reason, among many others, is in part due to the specialized nature of today's system. On the one hand, specialization is a good thing - It is good for patients and medicine, and it has dramatically improved patient diagnostics and treatment leading to better cure rates and outcomes. On the other hand, specialization has also created deep crevices in collaborative care between providers. Specialties may lack an understanding or awareness of the partners in their patients' care. These crevices are precisely what is separating the known from the unknown; from what you know about your patient to what you don't; from what you know about a disease and what you don't. And if we are talking about eye diseases and low vision, I would venture to say that the medical field of eye diseases and its effects certainly fall into this category. Ophthalmologists and retinal specialists are still unable to cure age-related diseases, and the physician-driven services they can utilize for rehabilitation are virtually non-existent. General practitioners are affected as well by the fragmentation; they may have no idea their patient has low vision.
What does all of this information mean to home health care? How do agencies make a difference?
* First, agencies can establish their place in the medical field of vision treatment by becoming experts in low vision home care and preparing to meet the needs of this unique population.
* Second, home health is poised by strength in numbers to address this problem. You are a built in solution! You are present, literally, in the very same communities as these physicians and patients! And in many cases, you are already treating these low vision patients, but because of the fragmentation you may never know it.
* Third, by accepting the challenge to provide your services to low vision patients, you will gain valuable insight into the role of home health throughout the care delivery system. You will grow accustomed to "getting outside of your comfort zone" as you begin to fill gaps within other medical specialties. You will find that your patients are happier, the outcomes better, and your agency will thrive.
How would this be accomplished? It is simple - we must do that which we do best: provide care to those in need, create collaborative relationships, and utilize our unique home health skill sets to improve care delivery. Home health agencies specialize in providing high intensity services through a sophisticated system of care coordination and disease management. In fact, amongst health care providers, home health agencies may arguably be the strongest force in health care to handle the wide array of integrated health needs of their patients.
To illustrate the power of home health in low vision, consider the following true story from a HomeSight-Certified Agency:
The endocrinologist was frustrated because his patient's A1C was higher than expected. The patient's log books showed a different story. Despite, multiple insulin changes made both during office visits and by phone, in addition to diet education, the efforts had not been as effective.
The home health agency nurse visits the doctor that day to discuss the value of home care. He recalls his frustration with his patient's A1C. As the nurse listens, she recognizes that the doctor only has a part of the information he needs.
She offers, "maybe the log book is inaccurate, or perhaps the patient is illiterate, is he applying the correct amount of blood on the strip, is his diet actually being followed?" The nurse encourages the doctor to allow a home health assessment/investigation to learn more.
During the first home visit, the patient was found to have vision loss. He couldn't see the meter or the log book well enough to record accurate information. He didn't want to disappoint his doctor by not keeping his records.
The endocrinologist didn't recognize that he wasn't aware of the complete picture, as treatment of visual diseases isn't his specialty. The endocrinologist was sitting across a crevice of information - Home health was the bridge.
Become a cornerstone of care delivery!
You can start right away. With HomeSight as part of your value proposition, you will be expertly capable of addressing a vastly underserved need in your community. You will dramatically improve patients' lives, all while gaining insight into new solutions for other specialty services suffering from the unknown.
©2010 Melicia Coleman, RN. All rights reserved.
About the Author:
Melicia "Lisi" Coleman is a Registered Nurse, Home Health Agency CEO, and Founder of the revolutionary HomeSight program. She has worked in the Home Health field for 16 years in various capacities including home health agency administrator and owner, quality and special programs director. Ms. Coleman has previously received the State Award of Appreciation from the Louisiana Occupational Therapy Association "for her perseverance, vision, and willingness to help others" and has additionally been honored by NurseWeek magazine as a nominee for the Nurse Excellence Award in Innovation and Creativity in recognition for her development of HomeSight.
About HomeSight:
Inspired by home health clinicians, the HomeSight program delivers an innovative approach to vision rehabilitation by addressing the clinical, functional and psychosocial needs of patients with varying degrees of vision loss in the home health environment. Despair, anxiety, frustration and isolation-all feelings people use to describe life with low vision-are now replaced with hope as patients regain their independence and quality of life.
Designed by the innovators at LiveAbility, HomeSight was specifically created to meet agency needs now and into the future. The HomeSight Model is unique in that it helps agencies enhance performance in a variety of key areas:
* HomeSight facilitates competitive differentiation in today's red ocean of traditional home care referral sources;
* HomeSight provides opportunity to cultivate prosperous relationships with untapped referral sources in the blue ocean of ophthalmology and low vision
* HomeSight contributes substantial human value to those living with vision loss by restoring a sense of hope and independence.
Furthermore, the HomeSight Model fosters agency innovation and clinical excellence, in addition to helping providers discover new ways to convey the home care value proposition. For more information about HomeSight, go to www.HomeSight.biz.
Backed by more than 12 years of research, the HomeSight model offers a 360 Degree Opportunity® by achieving a successful and rare blend of positive outcomes for virtually all facets of home health care.
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