Optimizing Health in the Community
A local community health center has identified many uninsured patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease of various degrees of severity. Although the community has a hospital based pulmonary rehabilitation program, many insured patients are not eligible and the uninsured cannot afford the fee-for-service charges. A community respiratory therapist who volunteers with the Community Health Center has suggested that they develop an interdisciplinary team to provide group care for their patients with COPD. The goals for the program are:
- Establish baseline clinical and quality of life measures for the participants.
- Involve various healthcare professionals to assure optimal health status for the individuals
- Decrease the participants' use of the local emergency room and reduce hospitalizations over a twelve month interval.
Write a 3-page paper in which you develop the model of group care in which you would address this population including the various health care professionals you would involve and what their roles would be. Address the incidence of COPD in the nation as well as in your local community or state as well as a definition of the disease. Be sure to identify the measures you will assess for the baseline health assessment and for ongoing assessment. Discuss some of the characteristics of the health education you will provide based upon your knowledge of the disparities of vulnerable uninsured populations from your text.
The following provides an outline for your development of this case study:
I. Incidence and Prevalence of COPD
A. National
B. Local and/or State
II. Description of Group Care Model
A. Community Health Care Professionals and Roles
B. Methods of Recruitment
III. Measurement Tools
A. Baseline Clinical Measures
B. Quality of Life Measures
C. Participant Satisfaction
IV. Benefits and Barriers to the Community Model of Care
V. An organized strategy to begin the process of seeking reimbursement (what would you base reimbursement on, what health outcomes, etc.)