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Home Health Care is vital to any area.  In the Grand Junction, CO area there are online comparisons available for facility performance in terms of:

• Percentage of patients who get better under the care
• Percentage of people who needed additional, unplanned care
• Percentage of people who get better at taking their meds correctly
• Percentage of people who stay at home after an episode of home health care ends.

Medicare.gov or HHS.gov are excellent websites for those who want to go online and see the comparisons themselves, but for our purposes for western Colorado residents we looked at the following facilities based on region:

Alpine Home Health Care in Clifton, CO –

• Scored typically lower than the state and national averages for patients who get better under care
• Scored typically lower than the state and national averages for patients who needed additional, unplanned care
• Scored a bit lower than the state average and 10% lower than national average for patients who get better at taking their meds
• Scored the same as the state average and higher than the national average for patients who stay at home after an episode of home health care ends

Community Hospital Home Health Services in Grand Junction, CO -

• Scored typically higher than the state and national averages for patients who get better under care
• Scored typically much higher than the state and the same as the national averages for patients who needed additional, unplanned care
• Scored higher than the state and national averages for patients who get better at taking their meds
• Scored much higher than the state and national averages for patients who stay at home after an episode of home health care ends

Hilltop Community Resources in Grand Junction, CO -

• Scored typically lower than the state and national averages for patients who get better under care.
• Scored a little higher than the state and national averages for patients who needed additional, unplanned care
• Scored considerably lower than the state and national averages for patients who get better at taking their meds
• Scored higher than the state and national averages for patients who stay at home after an episode of home health care ends

Homecare of the Grand Valley in Grand Junction, CO –

• Scored typically higher than the state and national averages for patients who get better under care
• Scored typically lower than the state and national averages for patients who needed additional, unplanned care
• Scored higher than the state and national averages for patients who get better at taking their meds
• Scored higher than the state and national averages for patients who stay at home after an episode of home health care ends

See :  about-the-nursing-home.doc for comparisons on long-term assisted living homes in Mesa County area.  You can view inspection information, quality, staffing and more at this link Nursing Homes.

Prescription Tidbits – for the insured

If you have prescription coverage in your health plan, you’ve probably noticed the difference between Brand Name coverage and Generics – especially in out-of-pocket costs.  But, did you know why that is?  Most drug companies are allowed to carry patents on their new drug releases for 17 years.  They must wait for the patents to run out before the drug can go out to market in a generic form.  Typically the savings discount for generic drugs compared to their Brand Name counterparts is about 65-70%.  According to the Congressional Budget Office, generic drugs save consumers an estimated $8-10 Billion a year at retail pharmacies.  Even more Billions are saved when hospitals use generics. 

 Worried about the differences in effectiveness between taking a Brand Name drug and a generic drug?  Prescription drugs are regulated by the FDA.  They require that all generic drugs have the same high quality, strength, purity and stability as brand-name drugs.  Although, it is believed that current regulations permit a variation of approximately 20% either way in the bioavailability of the active ingredient in generic drugs.  Bioavailability is used to describe the fraction of an administered dose of unchanged drug that reaches the systemic circulation (oxygenated blood flow from the heart to the body) – or, in other words, absorption into the bloodstream.  However, the general consensus is still that if there is a viable generic alternative to the Brand Name then that is the way to go. A little history on how and why Brand Name drugs “go generic.”  Drug Patents are protected for 17 years in order to protect the original developer.  Creating drugs costs a lot of money.  So, drug companies have exclusivity in a way to sell the drug at the price they want to.  When the patent expires and the FDA approves the generic version any other drug companies can start selling the generic version.   

August 6, 2008

UNINSURED vs. UNDERINSURED

Colorado Public Radio host Ryan Warner held an interview with Dr. Kent Voorhees, Vice President of Education of Family Medicine for the University of Colorado’s School of Medicine, on a Focus Group study he did on the underinsured (for healthcare) in Colorado.  For the purposes of the study he defines “underinsured” as those who spend 10% or more of their income on healthcare OR those who are at 250% of the poverty line and spend 20% or more of their income on healthcare.

 Dr. Voorhees stated that they went to 37 different doctors offices to get their statistics and the patients they used included a combination of people who are uninsured, have health insurance, have Medicare and/or have Medicaid.  Approximately 36% of the group were underinsured - they have health insurance, but often skip treatments, recommended care and prescriptions because they cannot afford to pay for them due to high deductibles, copays, etc.  50% of these underinsured feel that their health suffers because of this.   Of the Uninsured who skip treatments and prescriptions, 48% felt their health suffers. 

Another point brought up by the underinsured is that there are often exclusions or limitations in their health coverage that prevent them from getting covered for certain treatments that ARE AVAILABLE TO THE UNINSURED.

 This study did not even include people who never go to the doctor at all for treatments.

1/3 of the total group said they often skip recommended treatments and prescriptions due to cost.