Just as it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a village to care for an elder. With this philosophy in mind, a community health center in California has partnered with various local organizations to better serve its growing elderly patient population. Partners include food banks and other healthcare organizations involved with the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE).
“Healthcare has become so incredibly complex, and there are so many different components to it that no one entity can do everything,” says Marie Russell, MD, MPH, chief medical officer and chief operations officer at TrueCare in San Marcos, CA. “What we’ve learned from the pandemic is that healthcare is really about a village. The system cannot operate in a silo.”
Healthcare organizations should think more like case managers. When considering a patient’s health, they should see the whole picture of what is preventing someone from making the best health choices. This also works to improve population health.
It also is important for providers to use their resources to help patients overcome barriers and to improve overall community health. Partnerships with local organizations allow providers to care for their communities more effectively and efficiently.
“Our role as primary care providers and a safety net is to really ensure the health of the patients we serve is being proactively addressed,” Russell says. “It’s all about prevention.” … more
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