According to Gloria McClain, the period before receiving support services from CareOregon was one of the loneliest and darkest times of her life. “For a long time, I didn’t think anyone was listening, and that is what scared me the most,” says McClain, “No one knew my story, and I wanted others to know that [Read more… ]
Patient care
Washington County’s COAST helps families find solutions
Complex problems require well-coordinated solutions, and for residents of Washington County, the Collaborative Older Adult Solutions Team (COAST) is working to identify and implement solutions to even the most difficult situations. COAST works with adults, their families, and support systems to develop and facilitate solutions to complex problems by bringing together a variety of resources [Read more… ]
In-home primary care for the elderly one way to prevent hospitalizations
In the recent Kaiser Heath News article entitled “Elderly Hospital Patients Arrive Sick, Often Leave Disabled” writer Anna Gorman paints a very bleak picture of the state of elderly care in hospitals around the U.S. Gorman cites research that shows about one-third of patients over 70 years old and more than half of patients over [Read more… ]
Changes to Medicare in 2016: advance care planning & more
by Kim Magness, Billing Administrator Every year the Medicare program evolves and the subsequent changes affect millions of Medicare beneficiaries. This year, Medicare has adjusted its benefits to cover advance care planning for patients that want to discuss end-of-life care options with their providers. Beneficiaries have also seen increases in their monthly premiums and deductibles [Read more… ]
Formal advance directive, DNR and the POLST: what you need to know
With the widespread success of Dr. Atul Gwande’s book, “Being Mortal”, which spent most of the past year on the New York Times Health Best Sellers list, more and more people are beginning the conversation about the type of care they would want or not want at the end of life. While this is a [Read more… ]
Connect to your health 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Housecall Providers is pleased to announce that we are now offering our patients, and their authorized families and caregivers, access to a secure on-line patient portal. The patient portal provides registered users with 24 hour access to the patient’s personalized health information and the convenience of communicating with the patient’s health care team through a [Read more… ]
The importance of communicating your end-of-life wishes
By Terri Hobbs, Executive Director “The failure of doctors to have discussions with patients about how to live life’s final chapter…is one of the most important problems facing American medicine today,” writes Harvard Medical School physician and researcher Dr. Angelo Volandes in his important new book “The Conversation: A Revolutionary Plan for End-of-Life Care.” Dr. [Read more… ]
Why we do the work we do
In his sixth installment of the “Business of Dying” series, ‘Warehouses for the dying’: Are we prolonging life or prolonging death? The Washington Post staff writer Peter Whoriskey, brings to light many of the sad realities faced when terminally ill elderly patients spend their last days or weeks receiving aggressive treatments in hospital intensive care [Read more… ]
HCP hospice director lobbies Congress on behalf of hospice patients
Housecall Providers Hospice Program Director Rebecca Ashling, MSN-RN traveled to Washington D.C. last month in support of hospice patients all across America. Rebecca was part of the five member Oregon delegation that was calling on Congress for assistance in halting a recent Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) action that is leaving hospice patients [Read more… ]
Patient credits Housecall Providers for saving his life
When Robert Ray, 75 moved into Macdonald Residence off West Burnside in 2003, his outlook on life was far from positive. “I never thought I was coming here to recuperate or get better,” Ray said. “My thought was that I was moving to Macdonald Residence to die.” Ray, who had relocated with four other residents [Read more… ]
