More Geriatricians Vital to Ensure Quality Care for Older Adults

More Geriatricians Vital to Ensure Quality Care for Older Adults Geriatricians are vital to ensure quality care for older adults. Medical transcription companies can help geriatricians with accurate medical records.

Geriatrics is a branch of the healthcare industry that focuses on the needs of older patients. A whole team of geriatric health professionals, physician assistants, pharmacists, social workers and others work together to provide better care. As people age, their heath starts deteriorating which may lead to complications like fracture, dehydration, infection and so on that may not heal quickly. So, the geriatrics department works to improve the patient experience and provide high quality care at a lower cost. Some patients may have more than one chronic health condition. Geriatric physicians also need accurate medical reports to provide the right care at the right time. Medical transcription companies play a key role in keeping up the health documentation for our older adults.

Older People Need Geriatricians A therapist in Hackensack, N.J., Ms. Poskanzer was severely overweight and grew short of breath after walking even short distances. The antidepressant she was taking didn’t seem to help. One of her daughters made an appointment with a geriatrician Dr. Manisha Parulekar, now chief of geriatrics at Hackensack University Medical Center. Sheadvised her new patient to act on several fronts. A sleep study was conducted and found that Ms. Poskanzer suffered from sleep apnea. So, the doctor prescribed a different antidepressant and physical therapy in a pool to rebuild the patient’s stamina. The doctor also advised to reduce weight. In nine months’ time, Ms. Poskanzer lost 75 pounds. Now Ms.Poskanzer is about to turn 80 and she continues to see her geriatrician every four months.

This example shows a rising need for geriatricians who can help monitor and coordinate treatment for many ailments and disabilities their patients have and help them lead a good quality life.

As the nation’s older population increases, there is a rising gap between the need and supply for geriatricians and this shortage of geriatricians is a concern for the medical industry.

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An analysis published in 2018 showed that over 16 years, through academic year 2017-18, the number of graduate fellowship programs that train geriatricians, underwritten by Medicare, increased to 210 from 182. But this figure shows no growth when compared to the rising population of the United States. Geriatrics fails to attract enough doctors to this fellowship and last year a third of 384 slots were unfilled according to the American Geriatrics Society reports.

As per federal model estimates, if one geriatrician can care for 700 patients with complicated medical needs then the nation requires 33,200 such doctors in 2025.But in reality, there are only 7000 doctors with only half of them practicing full time. Not every older person needs a geriatrician, but the federal model estimates that 30 percent of the over-65 population does.

This is especially true when someone has three or more chronic conditions and is over 85.

Though salaries are rising, total compensation (wages plus certain benefits) for geriatricians in 2018 averaged $233,564, according to the Medical Group Management Association.

Dr. Mark Supiano, a geriatrician and researcher at VA Salt Lake City Health Care System, treats patients covered by Medicare, which pays less than commercial insurance and it is a slow way to repay medical school loans. However, a 2009 survey of 42 medical specialities found that geriatrics reported higher career satisfaction than most other specialties.

Higher Job Satisfaction for Geriatricians According to an article by Medscape, every hour a baby boomer is turning 65 years of age and by 2030 the country’s population of "senior boomers" will double to an estimated 71 million individuals. However, the doctors and the healthcare industry are poorly prepared to face the rising needs of the growing older population. As people turn 65 years, they are likely to have at least one chronic medical condition. These conditions will often present in atypical and subtle ways that may go unnoticed by many healthcare providers. With time they will develop geriatric syndromes like fall, dementia, frailty etc and become more dependent.

Though there is increased demand for healthcare services, there is considerable shortage of physicians with expertise in the care of older adults.

The reason why more physicians are not joining geriatrics could be due to the costs incurred with extra years of training, as well as the relatively low income compared with fields like cardiology or radiology. The complicated nature of caring for older patients, their families, and their caregivers may also turn away medical students and residents from careers in www.medicaltranscriptionservicecompany.com

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geriatrics, especially if they train in environments that are not well-equipped to deal with this population.

But being a geriatrician, you can make a positive impact on others’ lives like that of the elderly patients, as well as family caregivers. Geriatricians are trained and skilled to care for older adults with multiple complicated medical, psychological, and social problems. They also know how to take care of complex patients in a holistic, interdisciplinary, and systemsbased manner which involves learning strategies for successful aging, learning how to manage progressive functional disability, and learning how to care for those at the end of their lives.

Geriatricians not only monitor and coordinate treatment for the many ailments, disabilities and medications their patients contend with, but also help them determine what’s most important for their well-being and quality of life. Just as any other medical specialty, accurate medical records are important in geriatrics also. To make timely entries in the EHR and to maintain accurate medical documentation, geriatricians can rely on medical transcription outsourcing companies with skilled transcriptionists to handle all types of records linked to the elderly population and provide them better patient care.

www.medicaltranscriptionservicecompany.com

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