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| Posted on Thursday, June 01, 2006 |
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But There Is Good News, Too
By Wendy J. Meyeroff
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE
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A Doctor, a Fitness Trainer, and a Hot Tub
Health and Wellness Is a Stroll Just Down the Hall
Are all your health care providers located in one place that is easy for you to access no matter what the weather? That’s how the Erickson HealthSM team works. Every community built and managed by Erickson has its own onsite Medical Center, where our Erickson HealthSM physicians practice. | |
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Then each community adds other professionals, such as physical and speech therapists; cardiologists; ophthalmologists; and home health aides. Each community also has an all-season pool and stateof- the-art Fitness Center to keep you physically and mentally refreshed. And climate- controlled walkways and transportation mean you never need to miss a health appointment or relaxing in the hot tub.
The Next Step Is Easy
You are growing older and smarter, so take the next easy step to find out more about Erickson HealthSM, and other benefits of living in a community built and managed by Erickson. get your free Information Kit. You can also request, for free, the Guide to Good Health. If you can’t get through by phone, try online: click on “Free Information Kit” at www.EricksonCommunities .com. |
Many people are unaware how serious and dangerous hospital-based infections are. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), about 1.9 million patients in U.S. hospitals get an infection every year. Between 1993 and 2004, the number of people who died from infections rose from 13,300 to about 90,000.
These infections are also costly. One report says an infection acquired in the hospital can tack anywhere from $38,600 to over $58,000 onto your hospital bill.
What Is Causing the Rise in Infections?
Usually the human body and bacteria have a friendly relationship. “Your skin is a wonderful barrier against the bacteria that cover it from head to toe. The problems start arising when the barrier is broken.
Although IV lines, urine catheters, and other new advances in medicine help save lives, they create dangers too. Both devices bypass some of the body’s protective mechanisms and can introduce infections,” says Stephen Baum, M.D., chair of the department of medicine at New York’s Beth Israel Medical Center, and an expert in microbiology and immunology.
Even smaller punctures pose dangers. “Diabetics are especially at risk. Using lancets to get blood samples and needles to deliver insulin create breaks in the skin,” says Suzanne Bradley, M.D., a spokeperson for the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology (SHEA).
The bacteria growing resistance of medications used to fight them is a major problem. Antibiotics have saved countless lives for more than five decades, but overuse has helped create increasingly resistan strains of bacteria. According to the CDC, more than 70 percent of bacteria causing hospitalacquired infections are resistant to at least one of the drugs used to treat them. MRSA, a highly resistant form of staphylococcus (AKA staph), is creating serious hospital infections.
Older people are particularly vulnerable. They tend to have more than one chronic illness and when they come into a hospital they are generally sicker than younger patients. Their immune system is already somewhat compromised for fighting infections.
“In order for your nursing home or rehab center stay to be covered by Medicare a ‘3-day rule’ requires you to stay in the hospital for three days before you are discharged. But if you are well enough to leave the hospital after a day or two, why keep you, since being in the hospital only increases your risk of infection?” asks Matt Narrett, M.D., Erickson Communities’ chief medical officer.
What Is Being Done to Fight Infections?
The good news is more is being done to fight infections. “I wipe my stethoscope with alcohol after every use. Manufacturers are looking for ways to make disposable stethoscopes, just like the disposable thermometers most health facilities now use,” says John Marcelis, medical director of Ann’s Choice, a community in Pennsylvania built and managed by Erickson.
Many facilities have instituted extensive hygiene rules, everything from hand-washing guidelines to better ways to keep computers sterile. Medicare is also experimenting. A new Medicare Advantage plan offered at select communities built and managed by Erickson, called Erickson AdvantageSM, does not require the 3-day rule. Its members can be discharged to a rehab center or nursing facility sooner.
What You Can Do
“Don’t take antibiotics if you don’t need them and don’t put pressure on your doctor to give them to you,” says Baum. Bradley agrees, pointing out, “Often antibiotics aren’t necessary, and will only cause more resistant strains of bacteria.”
If you have to take antibiotics (and to be clear they should not be totally avoided) take the full dose. There are endless stories of people who feel better after only three days on their seven day course of antibiotics, stop taking the medication, and “save” the remainder for the next time they don’t feel well. That behavior has helped create bacterial “superbugs.”
Use your vote. In 2004, Gov. Schwarzenegger of California vetoed a bill that would have forced hospitals to publicly disclose their infection rates. Some states—including Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Florida— now require such information be made available to the public. Find out if that’s true in your state and if not, start lobbying your politicians for a change.
Finally, keep the risk of hospitals infection in perspective. “Bacteria is on patient charts, guard rails, and doorknobs. Even your doctor’s tie can pick up bacteria as he leans over, so some hospitals are now urging physicians to wear bow ties. We are never going to totally eradicate bacteria,” says Marcelis.