Christine Ritchie Reimagines Home-Based Care

05/24/22 • 28 min

When the Institute of Medicine defined health care quality, patient-centeredness was one of the five core dimensions. Yet as many have noted, the health system often seems to be more organized around the needs of providers than patients.

This reality is particularly true when it comes to older Americans. An entire system of coverage and care has built up around institutional needs and institutional definitions - nursing homes, hospitals, assisted living centers, rehabilitation centers, and more.

Christine Ritchie from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School joins A Health Podyssey to discuss what a reimagined health system truly designed around the needs of older patients could look like.

Ritchie and coauthor Bruce Leff of Johns Hopkins University published a commentary in the May 2022 issue of Health Affairs describing the elements of a new home and community-based care ecosystem for older people.

They argue for a system grounded in principles like respect for caregivers and medical and social integration.

Order the May 2022 issue of Health Affairs for research on telemedicine, disparities, pharmaceuticals, and more.

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They argue for a system grounded in principles like respect for caregivers and medical and social integration.

Order the May 2022 issue of Health Affairs for research on telemedicine, disparities, pharmaceuticals, and more.

Subscribe: RSS | Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts

Previous Episode

Caitlin Hicks on Telemedicine and Care Inequities

When medical offices shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic and people were encouraged or required to avoid public spaces, there was a dramatic and rapid increase in the use of telemedicine.

Telemedicine has the potential to open up access to care, particularly to people who are geographically isolated or have mobility limitations, but it can also exacerbate existing inequities given its relevance upon broadband internet access and other technologies.

Caitlin Hicks from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine joins A Health Podyssey to discuss whether telemedicine expands or narrows care inequities.

Hicks and colleagues published a paper in the May 2022 issue of Health Affairs examining the impact of Medicare's pandemic-era telemedicine coverage waiver on utilization by geographic area.

They found that Medicare's telemedicine access expansion increased utilization overall and that those beneficiaries in areas of greater depravation, as measured by the Area Depravation Index, had greater odds of utilization than those who live in areas with more resources.

Order the May 2022 issue of Health Affairs for research on telemedicine, disparities, pharmaceuticals, and more.

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Next Episode

Rachael Bedard Explains Health Care in Jails

The United States has the highest rate of incarceration of any country in the world.

Health care for people in jails and prisons is rarely part of mainstream health care and health policy conversations. But people who are incarcerated have significant health needs and a legal right to medical treatment.

In addition, with 10 million people released from jail every year, needs that aren't met while people are incarcerated re-emerge in the community.

While the number of incarcerated people in the United States has started to decline, the share of the incarcerated population that's older has grown, placing additional strain on health system's that are already under a great deal of pressure.

Dr. Rachael Bedard joins A Health Podyssey to discuss the health needs of older people in jail.

Bedard and coauthors published a paper in the May 2022 issue of Health Affairs assessing the health and health needs of incarcerated older adults in New York City. They found that older incarcerated had greater health vulnerabilities than their younger counterparts. They are also more likely to suffer from serious mental and physical illnesses.

Order the May 2022 issue of Health Affairs for research on telemedicine, disparities, pharmaceuticals, and more.

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