Senior Living
active seniors
Ochsner Program Keeps Seniors Active
Compare Before You Commit WRITTEN BY TINA PATEL GUNALDO, PHD
CHOOSING A NURSING home, home health agency, or physician for you or your loved one can be a daunting task. Did you know the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has developed several websites that allow you to compare physicians, hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies and dialysis facilities in your community? The rating system offered by www.Medicare.gov can help guide you in making health care decisions.
Where do you start if you need to place your loved one in a nursing home?
www.medicare.gov/NursingHomeCompare www.medicare.gov/HomeHealthCompare www.healthcare.gov/compare www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov
Sophisticated Woman | November 2012
Let’s take a look at nursing home placement. There are over 17,000 certified Medicare and Medicaid nursing homes in the United States. Where do you start if you need to place your loved one in a nursing home? You might begin by asking your health care providers, family and friends about what they have heard about the nursing homes in the area. Most importantly, you should visit each facility that will meet the needs of your loved one. Consider a visit to www.medicare.gov/ NursingHomeCompare. Once at the homepage, simply type in the zip code of interest. The next screen has a listing of nursing homes in the area.
Along with general information, such as address and phone number, this website rates the nursing homes based upon the following categories: Overall Rating, Health Inspections, Staffing and Quality Ratings. The rating system is based upon one to five stars. This year the website added additional information on quality measures, such as the percentage of residents who have suffered a fall with major injury, or the percentage of residents with pressure ulcers. Remember, there are other websites with the same comparison opportunities. For instance, Hospital Compare provides information on heart attack or pneumonia care, and Home Health Compare provides information on the percentage of patients who got better at performing activities on their own. Many times, we have to make quick decisions about our health care. It is nice to know there is a resource available that can help us learn more about the quality of services in our communities, so we can make informed decisions. Tina Gunaldo, PhD, teaches at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. She specializes in Health Care Administration.
FOR LOCAL SENIORS who believe that 50 is the new 30, Ochsner North Shore’s Golden Opportunity program provides health education, preventive screenings and trips to places as far as Hawaii and as close as the World War II Museum. All of this, while meeting new people, trying new things and learning new ways to stay healthy. Specially created for those 50 and better, Golden Opportunity members receive information on fitness programs, tips for disease prevention, guidance in understanding medications, and the latest in Medicare news. Ochsner physicians also provide information on a range of topics especially important to local seniors. For example, the treatment of movement disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease. Ochsner neurologist Nisha Chhabria, MD, specializes in movement disorders and sees patients at Ochsner Health Center-Slidell. Also, Ochsner’s team of local cardiologists, including Dr. Gerardo Aristimuno, Dr. James Lam, FACC, and Dr. Jose Silva, FACC, provide comprehensive cardiology services at Ochsner Medical Center-North Shore, and Ochsner Health Centers-Covington, Slidell and Bogalusa. For orthopedic services to repair a lifetime of wear and tear on the joints, look to five local orthopedic specialists who provide care for everything from hip and knee pain, to shoulder and foot problems. You will find them at Ochsner Medical Center-North Shore, Ochsner Health Center-Covington, and Ochsner Orthopedic Clinic-Slidell. To learn more about Ochsner North Shore’s Golden Opportunity Program call 985-875-2799 or log on to www.ochsner.org. To learn more about Medicare Advantage log on to www.ochsner.org/65.
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