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Smart Hospital Making the Future of Patient Experience a Reality

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CMS Finalizes 2020 Home Health Agency Payment and Policy Changes

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CONTENTS

Volume Winter 2020

Our Specialty Acute Care Services Include: • Pulmonary/Ventilator/ Tracheostomy Services • Complex Wound Care • Multi-System Complications • Medically Complex • Cardiac Services • IV Therapy

DEPARTMENTS 3

• Renal Failure/Dialysis

Editor’s Corner

10 Caseloads

CMS Finalizes 2020 Home Health Agency 12

Professional Development How to Deal with Management Before Quitting

FEATURES 4

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Smart Hospitals Making Patient Experience a Reality

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Scheck & Siress One Patient Shares Her Story on Regaining Her Life Back

Atria Senior Living Creates a Space for Seniors to Live Healthier Lives

Linda Del Bosque

Editor in Chief

Aaron Foster

Graphic Designer ilcmsw.com | 847.863.1174

Copyright Case Management & Social Work Magazine, All Rights Reserved.

No part of this magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from Case Management & Social Work Magazine.

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Editor’s Corner

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elcome to Case Management & Social Work Magazine. I have made a full circle in finding a passion to share, engage, and bring forth valuable information to each of you. As we grow into a level of accountability to bring forth resources for a sustainable plan of care, I welcome each of you to share your vision, passion, and dedication to patient care.

I come from the field of publishing, and when the time presented itself to relaunch the idea of connecting both the begin and end user through grass roots publishing, it was an amazing opportunity. In the mid 2000’s, I helped develop Texas Case Management Magazine. I published a senior life magazine in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I sold the magazine, and left my position at Texas Case Management.

Years later, I have circled back to the state I now call homeIllinois. I attended college in Chicago in ‘96, and knew one day I wanted to return to doing what I enjoy, connecting companies to grow their outreach.

There is no better industry than the Healthcare Industry within the patient transitional care system. We’re an active industry, with active organizations moving towards making hospital life a better place for both the patients and healthcare professionals.

We depend on eachother to keep the pendulum swinging toward positive outcomes.

I would like to thank Legacy Healthcare for being on the cover of the inaugural issue of Case Management and Social Work Magazine. It was a pleasure learning more about the culture Legacy Healthcare has created from leadership to overall quality of care.

Congratulations to Atria Senior Living in Glenview. The new community is absolutely beautiful, warm and very welcoming. It is important we begin educating people of the benefits of senior living. I can agree that living among peers can enhance and add years to a person’s life.

In the next issue, we welcome CMSA and CMSA Foundation. We will begin learning more about the tools and resources that grow your professional toolbox.

I invite you to attend this years annual CMSA conference. You will find information about the conference including how to register on page 2.

Linda Del Bosque Editor in Chief linda@ilcmsw.com

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SMART HOSPITALS MAKING THE FUTURE OF PATIENT EXPERIENCE A REALITY When Alpa Vyas first asked patients at Stanford Health Care what they would like in a smart hospital room, she was almost certain they’d want to see a digitized care itinerary.

Smart Hospital Rooms Might Look Like Something Out Of The Future, But They Are Slowly Bringing A Modernized Patient Experience To The Present.

“You can imagine if you’re an inpatient and you have an itinerary that says, ‘physical therapy will be by at two o’clock, you will go for your x-ray at four o’clock,’ that’s pretty nice to be able to know when things are happening,” Vyas, who is vice president of patient experience at Stanford Health Care, told PatientEngagementHIT in an interview.

But that wasn’t exactly the case, she recounted.

After consulting patients through the health system’s patient advisory council (PAC), Vyas and her team learned that smart hospital room tech that could improve the patient experience was in fact much simpler.

Patients at Stanford Health Care really just wanted to know who their care team was and what they needed to get back home, she recounted. “So, the

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word we started using was ‘guidance.’

How can we create an experience that offers personalized guidance for patients and family members?”

Many PAC meetings and considerations about patient guidance later, Stanford Health Care was able to open its doors on the new Stanford Hospital last November.

Built with California’s infamous earthquakes, innovations in health technology, and the patient in mind, this newest hospital boasts numerous in-room entertainment options, complete with pillow speakers and patient-operated controls. On the television, patients can watch their favorite shows or movies, access educational materials, and learn more about their own medical records or care team.

And from a family engagement standpoint, smart hospital rooms are connecting caregivers with more information about patient health and real-time updates about health status and procedures. This helps family members learn more about their loved

ones’ health and know where they are on the care journey.

The smart hospital also connects to existing Stanford Health Care facilities by way of skybridge, creating an encompassing system-wide experience.

These hospital rooms might sound like something out of The Jetsons, but they are increasingly becoming a part of today’s reality. With the surge of digital assistants like Siri and Alexa, the push for connected health, and industry-wide pleas for a better patient experience, smart hospital rooms are becoming accessible models for care for some health systems and health centers.

Designers also looked at how to support patients through the care journey. At Stanford, Vyas and her team designed a program that helps patients with self-management even when they are still in the hospital.

WHAT DOES A SMART HOSPITAL ROOM LOOK LIKE? While smart hospital rooms might vary between different organizations, the intent is largely the same: how can technology create a seamless patient experience, improve communication, and streamline clinical workflows? To that end, there are a number of tools that are seen in nearly every room.

It should come as no surprise that these rooms don’t come cheap – while few organizations are able to share the exact price tag on their smart rooms, it’s safe to say they can run up tens of thousands of dollars per room. One infamous Amazon listing offered the MedModular smart hospital room from EIR Healthcare for a whopping $285,000 for just one room.

But when larger, well-funded institutions can afford these techenabled rooms, the end result can be pretty impressive, according to Brett Seyfried, chief information officer at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), which has implemented its own smart hospital rooms.

Digital signage, for example, has largely taken the place of traditional banners outside the room. At MUSC, Apple iPads connect to the EHR to display relevant information outside of the patient room, Seyfried explained in an interview with PatientEngagementHIT. This includes

patient name and attending physician, but also extends to certain infections a patient might have or her fall risk.

This real-time data helps notify family visitors or other clinicians of certain compliance protocol before entering the room. And the digital signage also helps hospitals keep track of individuals entering the room using a real-time location system (RTOS), which can simultaneously display the name and badge photo of that individual on the patient’s TV display.

At both MUSC and Stanford Hospital, patients can control most of the digital technologies in the room.

Using a tablet, both hospitals are able to integrate multiple operations, including the room lights, television, HVAC, and the patient portal and education platform displayed on the TV. Patients and providers can bounce between different platforms and screens, allowing the provider to seamlessly pull up the EHR for both them and the patient to view, or letting a child keep watching his program on the tablet while his clinician discusses charts with his parents.

“Oftentimes, patients have goals around pain and mobility,” she offered as an example. “We want to make sure that their pain is managed and that they reach potentially some level of mobility, and so we included those goals within the application as well.”

And at both Stanford and MUSC, digital displays help walk patients down the path toward hospital discharge.

“In the room we have a flight path, which includes the items that need to be accomplished in order for you to get discharged,” Seyfried explained.

“It gives you daily and weekly goals so that you can try to achieve those and get discharged more quickly.”

Those care instructions continue post discharge through the patient portal, both Seyfried and Vyas noted.

These technologies have been instrumental in changing the patient experience for the better, creating a connected care encounter inside and outside of the hospital. But they would be nothing, both Vyas and Seyfried pointed out, if the hospitals did not keep the patient at the center of these efforts.

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BUILDING A SMART HOSPITAL ROOM WITH THE PATIENT IN MIND Smart hospital rooms are a lot like snowflakes – although they share a lot of common features, none of them are exactly the same. This is because the best digital hospital rooms are designed with a hospital’s specific patient population mind, featuring different tools that will make the care experience better for that demographic.

“When we were first thinking about designs of the new hospital, one of the very first things we said was, ‘well, if we’re designing this for patients and families, shouldn’t we invite patients and families into the design?’’ Vyas said. “So, consults started early on, even with concepts and decision making, or prioritization of services or elements that needed to be incorporated.”

better,” Seyfried said. “It ultimately is going to lead to better outcomes and quicker discharges.”

At MUSC, including patients and family at every step of the design was the most logical approach. Keeping the patient in mind during each construction decision is what has helped MUSC develop a room that has yielded such positive patient experiences.

The work of patient-centricity shouldn’t end with PACs and room design, both Seyfried and Vyas said.

Patients must remain at the center of care once smart hospital rooms are up and running, with providers practicing strong patient engagement strategies amidst a tech-heavy environment.

“There have been multiple patient family advisory committees involved in every one of the decisions around how the rooms were laid out, around what they would like to see from a clinical perspective, around what they would like to experience more or less in a hospital,” Seyfried said. “All of that was taken into consideration in every single aspect of the design.”

PUTTING PATIENTS AT THE CENTER OF SMART HEALTHCARE DELIVERY

Forming a PAC when designing hospital rooms – especially ones building on technology, which can come with a high price tag – is intuitive for all the reasons Vyas said.

Why would a hospital build a room for patients without patient input?

Patients want personalized healthcare encounters, complete with good relationships with their doctors and nurses.

But the eventual outcome is more than that, Seyfried suggested.

“Ultimately, for the patient, the more comfortable that she feels, the more control that she has over her healthcare and what she needs in order to get

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The advent of smart hospital rooms is a major disruption to the industry, and yet Vyas asserted that one thing will always remain the same: patient interactions are crucial.

A 2017 report from the Council of Accountable Physician Practices (CAPP) found that patient-provider interactions are the single most important aspect of quality care.

Patients are looking for a provider they feel listen to them, understand their needs, and can explain complex information in understandable terms.

On the surface, adding more sophisticated technology into the patient-provider relationship doesn’t sound like the path to that ideal patient interaction, but it actually helps promote it, according to Vyas.

“The idea here is that we’re bringing things to automation, where we can then use the human capital to really focus in on the interactions and work at the bedside,” she explained.

Seyfried sees smart hospital rooms as a way to bring patients and their providers closer together. Before implementing their smart technologies, providers at MUSC sat at a small computer screen, often physically far away from the patient, to discuss patient cases.

“The patient and family can’t see what the provider’s doing on that PC. They can’t see what they’re looking at, but they’re asking questions and the provider’s back is turned to them,” Seyfried recalled.

“The whole concept around that single TV point of focus in the room was to actually bring everyone together,” he continued. “Now, the whole care team is able to focus on that patient, face that patient, review the data together, place orders together as they’re all reviewing the same concept, and get away from the old way of providing care.”

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point – where the tech is enabling interpersonal connection, not hindering – need to remember that technology is an accessory, not a replacement.

Patient education delivered on tablets cannot replace the personalized care instructions a nurse can offer a patient, nor can a good entertainment system stand in place of an empathetic medical assistant.

“Our hope and intention is that the technology never supersedes the human interaction,” Vyas aid. “It only enhances it or supports it in some way.”

That mindset was front and center from the start for Vyas and her team. Going into smart hospital room design, they were adamant that technology should not disrupt clinician workflows, leaving them fumbling with a portal password or distracted by entering information, at least at the point of care.

“When we did the workflow designs, it was intentional that a nurse or a provider or a physician should never have to enter information into anywhere to make the portal work,” she explained. “It has to be incorporated into their existing data entry workflow.”

ACCOUNTING FOR FAMILY, CAREGIVER ENGAGEMENT Smart hospital rooms were designed not just for the patient, but for family caregivers, too. After all, medical experts are increasingly regarding the family as an equally important part of the patient engagement equation.

Strong family engagement, especially at the point of care, has been tied to better health outcomes, namely preventable hospital readmissions, multiple reports have found.

The new technologies cropping up in this wave of smart hospital rooms are set to address family engagement, both Vyas and Seyfried suggested, with both experts citing family members multiple times when describing hospital room design. Building the hospital room of the future is going to require hospital leaders to look at patient and family engagement as two sides of the same coin.

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“The concept is about engaging not just the patient but engaging the care team, engaging the family or other personnel or persons in the room,” Seyfried explained. “It’s about utilizing technology in a fashion to better educate and integrate the clinical care side of things.”

Like he mentioned above, Seyfried designed the smart room TVs to be a central point of reference and discussion between the patient, provider, and the family caregiving team. MUSC also offers a FaceTime capability on bedside tablets that help patients speak with – and possible confer with – family members who are not physically in the hospital room.

But looping in a family member in a smart hospital room is not always easy for the same reasons family engagement is always challenging: it wholly relies on patient consent.

In order for a provider to discuss medical records with a family member, the patient must first give her permission for that family member to have access.

And while this is not usually a huge problem, clinicians have faced hurdles in cases where patients want some medical conditions kept private or family politics cause tension.

Clinicians may use their patient (or family) communication skills to overcome some of these differences, but at Stanford, Vyas and her team were able to use hospital design to accommodate the family in other ways.

“Some of the feedback that we heard was really like, ‘I would love to have a place to go as a family member, but I don’t want to go too far. I don’t want to leave my loved one, but want a place to be by myself or collect my thoughts.’ And that’s fair,” Vyas said.

Stanford Hospital created nontechnology spaces catered to family members, a key foil to its efforts to build smart hospital rooms. Rooftop gardens, walking paths, artwork, and integration of other natural elements were important for creating a safe

space for family and loved ones.

Stanford Hospital also has a health librarian, who is ready to help family members do research on a particular diagnosis as they prepare to be an athome caregiver.

“As an academic medical center, we have very complex patients,” Vyas explained.

“Oftentimes, there is a family member or a loved one who is with the patient, who may be the person who’s going to take care of the patient once she’s discharged.

Helping those folks prepare and feel at ease, or that they actually can be confident in the next step in the process, is important.”

Stanford’s focus on these non-technical elements proves that the patient experience must be front and center in any technology initiative. Balancing out these new, futuristic room elements with natural oases and empathic provider communication will be essential as more hospitals begin to invest in a techenabled hospital environment.

Walking paths and rooftop gardens aren’t quite The Jetsons, but that might be the point. As hospitals and health systems surge into the future, they must stay grounded in the very thing that has always defined a good experience: elements that put the patient at ease, comfort her, and make her feel cared for.

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CASELOADS

CMS FINALIZES 2020 HOME HEALTH AGENCY PAYMENT AND POLICY CHANGES

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n October 31, 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized its 2020 payment and policy changes rule for Home Health Agencies (HHA Rule). The final rule is scheduled to be posted in the Federal Register on November 8, 2019, and allows for comments until December 30 in advance of its January 1, 2020, effective date. The HHA Rule makes changes to the Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS), including the implementation of the PatientDriven Groupings Model (PDGM), and makes other policy changes for home health agencies to the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model and the Home Health Quality Reporting Program (HH QRP).

These changes further the shift to a value-based payment system focusing on patient need over volume of care.

Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) The most significant change to the HH PPS is the implementation of the PDGM, an alternate case-mix adjustment methodology, which overhauls the payment structure for home health and better aligns reimbursement with patient needs. CMS explains in the final rule that “the PDGM relies more heavily on clinical characteristics and other patient information to place patients into meaningful payment categories and eliminates the use of therapy service thresholds.” The HHA Rule changes the unit of payment from a 60-day episode of care to a 30-day episode of care which will be reimbursed at a standardized amount, adjusted by PDGM case-mix weights. Case-mix weights are generated by classifying each 30-day period of care through several clinical characteristics and other patient information (timing, admission source, clinical grouping, functional impairment level, and comorbidity adjustment) into a PDGM payment group or Home Health Resource Group (HHRG).

The rule requires that CMS calculate the 30-day payment amount for calendar year (CY) 2020 in a budget-neutral manner such that estimated aggregate expenditures under the HH PPS during CY 2020 are equal to the estimated amount that otherwise would have been made under the HH PPS during CY 2020 in the absence of the change to a 30-day unit of payment. CMS set the CY 2020 30-day payment amount at $1,864.03, which reflects an adjustment of -4.36 percent to maintain overall budget neutrality under the PDGM. The amount will be adjusted by the case-mix weights as determined by the variables in the PDGM. Other policy changes to the HH PPS include: (i) finalizing changes to the fixed-dollar loss ratio to 0.56 for CY 2020

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under the PDGM to ensure that outlier payments as a percentage of total payments is closer to, but no more than, 2.5 percent, as required by law, (ii) updating the use of wage index data for the home health wage index, and (iii) allowing therapist assistants to furnish maintenance therapy under the Medicare home health benefit.

Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model The HHVBP Model is a value-based care test model required for all Medicare-certified HHAs providing services in Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Washington. The Model adjusts Medicare payment rates up or down based on each HHA’s Total Performance Score (TPS) in a given performance year, which is comprised of performance of certain measures and quality metrics. The HHA Rule requires publication of these scores on CMS’s website to allow consumers to evaluate competing HHAs, in an attempt to encourage quality care.

Home Health Quality Reporting Program (HH QRP) The HHA Rule proposes to adopt the following changes to the HH QRP: • Removes the Improvement in Pain Interfering with Activity Measure in an effort to mitigate any unnecessary or overprescription of opioids.

• Adds Transfer of Health Information to Provider–Post-Acute Care quality measure. This measure will be calculated by “the proportion of quality episodes with a discharge/transfer assessment indicating that a current reconciled medication list was provided to the admitting provider at the time of discharge/transfer.”

• Adds Transfer of Health Information to Patient–Post-Acute Care quality measure. This measure will be calculated by “the proportion of quality episodes with a discharge assessment indicating that a current reconciled medication list was provided to the patient, family, and/or caregiver at the time of discharge.”

• Updates the specifications for the Discharge to Community- Post Acute Care Home Health Quality Reporting Program Measure to exclude baseline nursing facility residents from the measure.

These changes are effective January 1, 2020. CMS is accepting comments on the final rule until 5:00 p.m. on December 30, 2019.

Comments can be sent electronically, by regular mail, or by express or overnight mail.

This post was co-authored by Michael Lisitano, legal intern at Robinson+Cole. Michael is not yet admitted to practice law.

Copyright © 2020 Robinson & Cole LLP. All rights reserved.

ABOUT THIS AUTHOR Leslie J. Levinson Partner Leslie Levinson is co-chair of the firm’s Transactional Health Law Group and a member of both the Health Law and Business Transaction Groups. He has represented private and public businesses throughout his more than 30-year career. Although Les maintains an active business law practice, he concentrates on the transactional, regulatory, and compliance representation of health care and life science clients, including home care and hospice companies, physician practices, hospitals, information technology and medical device companies, health care equipment providers, and health care investors...

David R. Gilboa Associate David Gilboa represents hospitals, health systems, physician groups, home care agencies, skilled nursing facilities, and other health care entities (both for profit and not-for profit) on a variety of health law and business issues, including transactional, corporate, regulatory, and compliance matters. He has extensive experience representing healthcare providers in all legal and regulatory matters. David is a member of the firm’s Health Law Group.

llevinson@rc.com 212-451-2979 www.rc.com

dgilboa@rc.com 212-451-2959 www.rc.com

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

How To Deal with Ineffective Management Without Quitting Your Job

makes mistakes and has weaknesses, so it’s rarely worth taking action over one irritating incident.

It’s also possible you’re taking things too personally. If you find your boss is giving you lots of negative feedback, it may be his/her way of trying to help you grow as a professional. On the other hand, it could be an unfair or unproductive means of evaluation.

Try to step back from the situation to see if there really is a pattern. Talk to your friends and family about the situation, focusing only on the facts, and see what they think. You can also reach out to other coworkers you trust--but remember that gossip can only do harm. If you determine that your manager is objectively taking bad or counterproductive actions, you can start taking action.

Find Compromises There is always more than one solution to a problem. In the above example, a manager is demanding his/her staff to arrive half an hour early every day when it isn’t necessary. To the worker, eliminating this practice altogether may seem like the obvious solution.

However, finding a compromise can help your manager understand and compensate for your objections without completely disrupting his/her original vision. For example, maybe coming in 10 minutes early is plenty, or maybe you can come in half an hour early for two days out of the week.

There’s no question about it; some workplaces are toxic, and downright hostile, and in these cases the only logical option is to pursue a different opportuniThis is a simple example, but what’s important to remember is that compromises are always ty. There’s no question about it; Talk to Your Boss Directly available to those willing to search for them. some workplaces are toxic, and first step must be speaking with your Speak to Others Who Can Help downright hostile, and in these Your boss directly. Do not ignore the problem. cases the only logical option is to Do not go above your manager’s head. Do If your direct conversation didn’t happen, if not adopt a passive-aggressive attitude. All it didn’t help, and none of your compromises pursue a different opportunity. of these measures are counterproductive. are panning out, don’t hesitate to go to Instead, schedule a meeting with your Got a bad boss? Does your firm’s leadership manager and tell him/her exactly how you lack vision? Here’s how to deal with these feel about the situation. issues without quitting your job.

When you initiate this, be careful not to We’ve all been in a position where we feel our criticize your manager harshly or personally. superiors aren’t handling things correctly. Instead, focus on your professional needs It could be that your direct supervisor isn’t and how he/she is or isn’t fulfilling them. managing your work schedule efficiently or Describe specific events to illustrate your your CEO has a concerning new vision for the points, and listen to what your manager has Hospital’s future. It could be that your CEO to say about them. In most cases, you’ll find isn’t treating you and your peers on equal your manager can illuminate these situations ground. with an alternative perspective, and your manager will be more than willing to make Poor and ineffective management come in adjustments in the future. many forms, and all of them can wear on you professionally. When you deal with these If you find your manager is unwilling to talk habits daily, it’s only natural to want a change, about the problem, or is unreceptive to your but many people immediately resort to the requests for change, you’ll need to find an final option: quitting and looking for a new alternate route. job.

There’s no question about it; some workplaces are toxic, and downright hostile, and in these cases the only logical option is to pursue a different opportunity. But in most cases, ineffective management can be dealt with, and you can keep your job without having to tolerate it further.

Look at the Situation Objectively Your first step is to try and objectively analyze the situation. You may feel that your boss has directly insulted or offended you, but one incident doesn’t necessarily mean your boss is an ineffective manager. Everybody

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Avoid Making Ultimatums

Throughout the course of your discussion and even in the back of your own mind, avoid making ultimatums or becoming fixated on one solution. For example, saying to yourself, “If he doesn’t stop demanding me to be here half an hour early, I’m going to quit,” can distract your attention from the root of the problem, and can prevent you from making other meaningful changes.

Threatening to quit in front of your manager, or in front of others, can also make you appear unprofessional and weaken your overall position. Instead, try to keep an open mind.

someone else in the company for some extra assistance. Your manager’s supervisor or your HR Director shouldn’t be your first stop, but if you’ve made a serious effort for positive change with no results, these people can help drive a more meaningful change.

Your identity can be kept confidential, and these superiors can help oversee a process that targets and corrects the destructive behavior.

Escalate Your Actions If none of these options work and upper management isn’t taking your complaints seriously enough, escalate your actions at the ground level. Gather your peers, coworkers, and other managers to discuss the problem and petition for a change. Many voices have more power than one voice, and if you’re having a problem with a manager, chances are someone else is too.

Put these strategies to use if you’re currently dealing with ineffective management in your position. After consistent use, you may find that they aren’t of any help; if this is the case, it’s likely in your best interest to move on to a new opportunity. However, you may find that these strategies negate, improve, or lessen the impact of those nasty managerial habits, leaving you to better enjoy and execute your daily work.

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Atria Helps Create Better Outcomes For The Older People You Serve

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ccording to the New England Journal of Medicine, 20 percent of older adults are readmitted to the hospital within a month of discharge. Two of the most common reasons are failure to keep physician follow-up appointments and errors in medication management.

Atria Senior Living offers supportive settings for older people, whether they need assistance with daily activities or are recovering from an illness or hospital stay. With 24/7 care staff, scheduled transportation and medication administration, your older clients will have the help they need to keep track of treatment plans and appointments. Onsite physical therapy, nutritious dining and daily instructor-led exercise opportunities

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MISSION STATEMENT RECOGNIZING THE CHALLENGES OF AGING, WE ARE DEDICATED TO ENCOURAGING A FULFILLING LIFESTYLE AND PROMOTING INDEPENDENCE.

Exceptional service for our residents growth, development and rewards for our employees. Viability for the long term for our company.

We listen. We engage life with pride, professionalism, creativity and fun.

We strive to enhance lives and exceed expectations every day.

can help them regain strength and mobility.

In Cook County, Atria Glenview is a new community offering assisted living and memory care, with short-term recovery stays available.

Surrounded by parks and nature preserves in the Village of Glenview, this modern residence offers a selection of studio, one- and twobedroom apartments, most with a kitchenette.

Just steps away are a variety of convenient amenities, including a movie theater, sports lounge, fitness center, salon and barber shop, art studio, library and welcoming outdoor spaces such as a courtyard, patio and walking paths.

For people living with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia, Atria Glenview offers Atria’s forward-thinking approach to memory care. Residents enjoy exercise and social engagement in a secure, thoughtfully designed

space with specially trained caregivers who focus on ways to help them continue to live a fulfilling life.

Atria intentionally cultivates a culture of well-being, where opportunities to stay active, eat healthily, connect with neighbors and achieve personal goals are right outside one’s apartment door, every day. Surrounded by highly trained staff and daily encouragement to adhere to treatment plans, your older clients can recover in comfort at Atria and lessen the possibility for hospital readmission.

“Living in an active, engaging environment that supports healthy choices makes a huge difference,” said Christy Phillips, Gerontologist and Vice President of Resident Engagement for Atria Senior Living. “Atria’s thoughtful programs offer regular opportunities to keep moving, nurture relationships and continue to pursue new challenges and personal growth.”

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I “

went on a boat with some friends on the Fox River in Saint Charles, Illinois. It was a beautiful night and as it got dark, the river had just us and one other boat out. We were coasting in but decided to take our time to sit on the boat and watch fireworks. The other boat was on the river decided to take the turn they couldn’t cut and crashed into the back corner of my boat, exactly where I was setting. When the other boat hit me, my leg was severed and partially amputated. I was then brought to a hospital. I had lost over half of my blood volume, and was not stable enough to fly out to a level one trauma hospital. I was brought to emergency surgery where they completely amputated my right leg above the knee.

I handled my amputation well because of what could have happened. I had drowned. I had seven broken ribs and I cracked sternum. I almost bled out. I had two blood cots in my lungs that could have taken my life away. I escaped death numerous times in a short period of time. For me, the choice was between life or limb. I was just happy to be still be breathing.

There have been hard times the moments that I was sad. I knew it was normal to grieve. So I would let myself get sad. But for only a minute. I would take a deep breath and remind myself that I am lucky. I am still here. There is still life after limb loss.

I also found myself talking to other amputees groups online.

The amputee community is strong. Within moments of saying a simple “hello” I had hundreds of other repeat he’s willing to support me through this life change.

I know it was hard to think that things happen for a reason, but in my case, I believe it is true. My accident made me appreciate life in a different way. It showed me how much good is in the world, and with hard work it is worth it. My biggest motivation was to show my appreciation for my support system by never giving up. “Be Stronger Than the Storm,” I told myself often.

Life is what you make it. Happiness is a choice, you choose to dwell or you choose to move forward. You either get bitter or better, I choose better.

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When my accident happened, my son was upset thinking I would never be a mom again. He was happy I was alive. We talked often about how he felt about my accident. One day while crying, he looked at me and said, “you could have lost all your limbs and I would still be happy and I am here with my mama.” This broke my heart. I knew that I had to show him how strong his mom is. I knew that if I showed him how strong I could be, one day when he faces hard times, he’d know that being strong and not giving up will help him achieve his goals.

I was told about Scheck & Siress when I was with a patient at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital. I was having a hard time finding a socket that was comfortable and gave me a range of motion I was looking for. My sister introduced me to a member in her church who is also an amputee. He told me about Scheck & Siress Practitioner, Ryan Caldwell, CPO/LPO, at Schaumburg location. I knew I wanted a lower socket but I also knew that not many prosthetic companies could make this specific socket. I came here and found out that Ryan was an expert! As soon as I was fitted in one of Ryan’s sockets, my progress was very rapid. This was a game changer. This gave me hope that I can achieve my goal of returning to work and school six months after the accident. I was given the tools to work toward my goals. I truly think that finding Ryan wasn’t a coincidence. I met the right person at the right time. There is no way to show my gratitude in words. Ryan along with Scheck & Siress gave me the chance to get my life back This gave me hope that I can achieve my goal and returning to work in school six months after the accident. I was given the tools to work toward my goals. I truly think that finding Ryan wasn’t a coincidence. I met the right person at that time. There is no way to show my gratitude in words. Ryan along with chicken Cyrus gave me the chance to get my life back.

We look forward to helping your next patient.

Contact our team at 312.789.4297 or email Michael Angelico at Michael.Angelico@scheckandsiress.com

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