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Welcome to the Good Samaritan blog.

As we approach the new year, I'm thinking about the changes we've seen over the years and the terrific speed and frequency with which change continues. Long-term care will face new challenges in the year to come but the opportunity to be creative and continue resident centered approaches remains at the center of our future. Here's a little preview of topics I plan to talk more about in future posts.

Preventing avoidable re-hospitalizations has been in the news this year as hospitals face increasing penalties for failed care transitions. A quick Google search will hook you up with lots of news and analysis about the impact to hospitals and role long-term care plays in curing this budget buster. As care-givers, Good Samaritan invested several years ago in an electronic data collection and assessment tool called COMs Daylight (you can find out more about this company and their product at www.comsllc.com). Through frequent, focused assessment our nurses use the system to help identify changes early and communicate with doctors prior to an issue being critical enough to warrant a trip to the hospital. Generally speaking, that's what we mean by avoidable. One of the key outcomes the healthcare system is measuring is returns to the hospital less than 30 days after a hospital discharge. The average is 25%. At Good Samaritan we've managed to keep that percentage below 15% for much of the year and I'm particularly proud to report that we had no under 30 day returns to the hospital in November. As we continue to focus on that number, we are looking at other opportunities to enhance our performance and outcomes. In 2013 we will expand the use of data and early identification though the use of the Interact II process (see their website www.interact2.net). We will also be working with our residents are their decision makers to have early conversations about their care goals for management of chronic illnesses and symptoms.

Something else to look for in 2013 is coordination of healthcare. Ohio has applied to the federal government to coordinate care for "dual eligibles." A dual eligible person is participating in both Medicaid and Medicare. Dual eligible persons are sicker and use the healthcare system more frequently. Under the plan, a dual eligible person will be covered by a managed care program (think managed Medicare) which, as the plan projects, will help keep costs under control through reducing hospitalizations and unnecessary treatment (due to better coordination). If accepted, the program will be piloted in counties surrounding Ohio's major metropolitan areas and for us here in Lorain county, this means that all dual eligible persons will be covered by either Buckeye, CareSource or United.

-Kerry Bohac, Administrator