In 2010, there were 40.3 million people aged 65 and above, about 13% of the overall population. By 2050, projections indicate the population over 65 would double at 88 million people, representing 20.9% of the population. In 2015 alone nearly 4 million new people will turn 65 and 10,000 baby boomers are turning 65 every day. At least 90 percent of those 65+ have one or more chronic conditions. So are we ready to handle the problems of the elderly with healthcare technology?
This is where home health comes in, the reason for many elders to live at home and manage their health. Most Medicare and Medicaid services, government agencies and assisted living centers want cost effective help and also want a way that elderly can keep up with their personal lives without having to visit the hospital, here technology has been able makes things easier and affordable.
How Home Healthcare helps
Internet of things is here and we are in a healthcare scenario where everyone and everything is connected, technology is making a giant leap and the biggest change and impact will probably be on home health. It has been projected that elder care alone will be approx. $319 billion by 2016 in the US.
Senior with chronic illnesses including diabetes, asthma, and blood pressure might end up in the emergency room of a hospital in case they miss a dose of a certain medication. Home health care can help prevent such instances by managing the health of the elders as well as closely monitoring the dosage of eth medicines.
Below are a few benefits of home healthcare
- Better health: The biggest benefit of home health is close monitoring of health by the provider; a tab is kept on the medications and the timings. This can help the chronic patient improve their health as well as prevent any emergency situations.
- Early detection of problems: It was noted that due to the remote monitoring of patients, it was infact easier for doctors to spot trouble early, especially for patients with chronic conditions, tracking of vital signs allows quick adjustments in care and helps in prompt action for an emergency in the near future.
- Cost savings: The admission in a hospital requires huge shelling of money in case of admission of a patient to the hospital. This helps in keeping a tab on the health as well as save huge money due to admission of chronic patients. Medicare spends more than $12 billion a year on “potentially preventable” repeat hospital admissions, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, an independent agency that advises Congress. And that number, according to the commission, is likely to grow, given that the Census Bureau projects that by 2025 there will be nearly 64 million Americans older than age 65, an increase of more than a third over today’s total.
- Reduce physical monitoring: Since the instruments and applications connected with the health of the senior are many, the requirement of physical presence of someone is reduced and also saving costs. As per the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) estimates that 8,090 home health care agencies in the United States provide care for more than 2.4 million elderly and disabled people annually.5 To be eligible for Medicare reimbursement, home health care services must be deemed medically necessary by a physician and provided to a home-bound patient. In addition, the care must be provided on an intermittent and noncontinuous basis.
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