SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 31, 2018
Vehicle
from 1A
Police Chief Tom Turner
said, “We had the opportunity
to get a sticker kit for the car.
Plus, we used one of our older
vehicles, from 2014, and made
it look really cool. The kids just
love it.”
The graphics are printed onto
vinyl material, so no paint work
is involved in the process.
According to Ott, the durable
product is expected to last many
years.
“We put the vehicle back in
service on Jan. 23 and have had
very positive reactions from
those who have seen it,” Ott
said. “The kids think it is really
neat that they have a ‘special’
vehicle at their facilities, not
just a regular old police car.”
He added that the SRO vehi-
cle might be seen during FPD’s
regular calls for service and as
operational needs dictate.
PASS q PORT
ART
FLORENCE
| OREGON
Healthcare
from 1A
Whatever the reasons, to pre-
vent a return, the doctors will con-
tact MIH after a patient is dis-
charged, requesting a patient
checkup. That’s when Martin steps
in.
Instead of having the patient
come back in to the hospital for a
checkup — or have the patient
reach emergency status again —
Martin will visit the patient at their
home.
“Sometimes people are more
relaxed in their house and I can go
in and explain things a little bit
better,” Martin said.
With a home visit, Martin can
see the entire environmental pic-
ture of a patient, something that
can be lost in translation between a
patient and emergency personnel,
particularly during a stressful peri-
od.
“I can go out and figure out, is
the place clean? Do they have the
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right type of food? I can see with
my own eyes what’s going on in
their residence,” he said. “And it
does help because the (patient)
thinks it’s one thing, but it’s really
not. They think (the home) is
clean, but maybe there’s mold
growing and that’s the cause of
their respiratory problems.”
In some cases, Martin can use
the time to educate the patients on
how their lifestyle may be affect-
ing their health.
“I can sit there and educate
them on their diet. ‘The reason
your ankles are swollen are
because of all the salt that’s in that
food,’” he said.
Or maybe the patient is having
frequent falls, and the unknown
cause is as simple as a loose mat
on the floor.
“We can’t find any other reason
why they’re falling other than edu-
cation on fall prevention,” House
said. “We look at the triggers. How
do we prevent them falling and
getting hurt, which would enter
them into the hospital system?”
Sometimes, the help Martin
provides can go beyond just edu-
cation.
“If we’re talking about a mold
issue, that may not be something
that (Martin) can impact directly,
but he may know the resources
that we can plug (the patient) into
and eventually get them help,”
House said. “By having an official
visit, if there is an issue with a
landlord, that person then has doc-
umentation that’s substantial that
says, ‘Hey, there’s a mold issue in
here and it does seem to be affect-
ing their health.’”
Even though the program is in
its infancy — it officially started
Jan. 2 — the program has already
assisted 34 patients and the results
have been noteworthy.
“This month alone, Chris was
referred two patients from the
emergency department just to go
visit, watch and maintain,” House
recalled. “These were really high
users, five to seven times a week.
Almost every day.”
But since the program?
“They haven’t been back yet
because he goes out there visit-
ing,” House said. “And if he’s not
visiting, he’s still calling to check
in, asking if they need anything.”
While the MIH program has had
early success, House and Martin
do foresee some possible hurdles
in the future, particularly with how
the program, and emergency med-
ical services as a whole, is viewed.
These concerns can be seen in why
there is such a preponderance of
emergency visits in the first place.
The reasons that people don’t
visit primary care physicians and
rely on emergency visits vary. One
reason is convenience.
“Some people say, ‘Well, I can’t
get into the hospital for three days,
but I can get into the ER right
now,’” House said. “You can
always get into EMS services, as
they’re open 24 hours a day.”
But more often than not, it’s a
lack of availability.
Peace Harbor’s resent physician
shortage made headlines, though
House stated that PeaceHealth has
made strides in correcting the
issue.
“The hospital has done a really
great job recruiting and they’re not
down on the staffing in the way
that they were three years ago,”
House said.
However, the shortages in staff
and availability are a global prob-
lem.
“We were having a discussion
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about the healthcare system in
general, and it’s stressed in its
capacity,” WLAD Chief Director
Jim Langborg said. “I remember
receiving an email last year where
there were two or three hospital
beds left in the state. This isn’t just
a local or state problem. We all
knew this was coming when the
baby boomers came to retire-
ment.”
Programs like MIH could help
relieve that stress, not only by
freeing up physical space in the
hospitals but by focusing on pre-
ventative care that would alleviate
the need for patients to check into
facilities in the first place.
In order to practice preventative
medicine, the patients have to
accept the help. Some people still
have a fear of services like MIH.
“We’re trying to change their
lives for the better, if they’ll accept
it,” Martin said.
People have offered several rea-
sons to not want MIH services.
“There’s a lot of people out
there that are essentially isolation-
ists who prefer to be by themselves
and not have anybody bother
them,” House said. “Or they feel
like they’re being bothersome to
us.”
Martin added, “And sometimes
it’s fear that they have of being
taken out of the home or not being
brought back to their home. It’s all
on a case-by-case basis. I have
people who are afraid to come to
the hospital because they’re scared
they aren’t going to come home.
And so, you have to talk to them
and reassure them that they will
come home, and if not, there’s a
reason behind it.”
The MIH program won’t come
out to a patient’s home if uninvit-
ed.
“If they say not to come out
there, we’re not going to go,”
House said.
“But the irony of it is, if they
accept the help, their chances of
independence is much greater,”
Langborg said.
It’s not just patient independ-
ence that the program can help
with. MIH, and programs like it,
can also contribute to financial
independence for the entire health-
care system.
“From a long-term funding
standpoint, people are trying to
prove the value of these pro-
grams,” Langborg said. “Because
the reality is, through prevention
and decrease in the number of ER
visits and admissions in the hospi-
7 A
tal that are more costly, they’re
hoping to fund this and ultimately
save money. They’re preventing
strain on the system and their
finances.”
As an example, House pointed
to MedStar Mobile Healthcare out
of North Texas, which was one the
first national systems to offer the
MIH program. It prevented 1,893
emergency department visits,
which saved Medicare more than
$800 million.
It’s those types of savings that
Martin, House and Langborg are
looking to pass on to the district.
As for the future of the MIH
program, the current iteration is
only the starting point. The pro-
gram is starting small right now,
collecting data from each visit and
looking at the gaps in the health-
care system that it can help fill.
“A lot of what we’re seeing is
anecdotal,” Langborg said, “But I
don’t think we know the scope of
what we can do with this yet. I’m
sure it’s a lot larger than what we
are doing. But I imagine that with-
in 10 years, this program could
easily have three (techs) that are
going out and staying busy the
entire day. I think it’s entirely fea-
sible, but a lot of it goes back to
finding out where it’s appropri-
ate.”
The MIH program is not look-
ing to overtake any existing pro-
gram, but it is looking for gaps in
the system as a whole to see where
additional support can be given.
This can be particularly impor-
tant for those who are unable to
enter the large healthcare system
due to lack of insurance and who
rely solely on emergency services.
Medical systems in Lane
County are closely watching how
the MIH program progresses, and
what challenges it decides to
address. As the pilot program for
the entire country, Florence’s MIH
work is vital to shaping the future
of healthcare in the region.
The program is up to the chal-
lenge.
“I’m not patting myself on the
back here, but we’ve got a very
good EMS system,” Langborg
said. “It has a reputation in the
county, the region, and it’s starting
to get to the state level, as being
one of the best EMS systems in the
entire state. The district is trying to
be cutting edge. By stepping out
there a little bit and taking these
projects on, it sets the whole coun-
ty up for future success. We hope
that our community sees that.”