Statistics on Home Health Care Growth

New jobs for health aides, such as caregivers, will outweigh other positions in the health field such as doctors or nurses according to Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers.

Compared to other non-health related occupations, health related fields have seen a 12% increase since 2000, of which 48% came from health care support such as home health care aides.

As the aging population continues to increase, there will no doubt be more home health care aide positions available to be filled.

M.M.S. Study on Home Health Care from a Doctor's Viewpoint

A recent research collaboration between the Massachusetts Medical Society and Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts found that doctors supported the benefits of home health care, but found that there were problems within the medical system for wide spread referrals.

From a randomized sample of 3,000 Massachusetts licensed doctors, there were 248 responses from 12 specialties. Over half of the responses were from primary care physicians.

The majority agreed that these services allowed them to better manage their patients’ care, prevented emergency room visits, and reduced family stress.

Around half of the doctors said that paperwork, payment, and access problems interfered with home health services for their patients. Half stated that they had to keep patients in the hospital for a longer period simply because there was difficulty finding home health services.

I would like to thank The Boston Globe for providing much of the information. You can read their article here.

Medical ID Theft

Many of your clients that do not check their medical records closely may be at risk of medical identity theft. According to the World Privacy Forum, as many as 500,000 Americans have been the victims of medical identity theft, most of which don’t even realize until it is too late. Recovery from identity theft can take years at the expense of the victim’s bank account, health plan, and dignity.

Surprisingly, a vast majority of the thieves are corrupt doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals that know their way around medical billing systems. A thief can ruin credit history, medical history records, and can even put the victim at risk of lost insurance coverage.

You can encourage your clients to be more aware of their medical record history by having them follow these simple steps:

• Always review your explanation of benefits (EOB) that is sent in through your medical insurer. Notify personnel if you see changes that do not correlate to your history.
• Monitor your insurance benefits
• Keep a copy of your medical records on hand. In case you would become a victim of medical identity theft, these important documents act as evidence.
• Correct inaccurate medical record immediately. Even minor mistakes need to be corrected to ensure accuracy.

By providing some basic information about medical identity theft prevention, your clients will respect your company for protecting their dignity and be more responsive to your services.