SAVE MONEY: READ THIS

I met with the case management team at major hospital today.  The goal of a case manager is to pretty much do two things:

1. make sure the patient receives appropriate care

2. reduce hospital expenditures

In general, they work with patients who can't pay their bill.  This, as you can imagine puts the case manager in very difficult situations- juggling two goals (delivering healthcare while reducing costs) as polar opposite as yin and yang.   

Case managers have access to funds that are derived from tax dollars.  So, case managers often use these funds to buy durable medical equipment, all the while,  there are tons of wheelchairs, walkers and other durable medical equipment that are sitting under a bed- perfectly usable...but stranded.

Embraced works with case managers to empower them with a solution by providing them with durable medical equipment (crutches, walkers, wheelchairs, etc) in an effort to: 

a. not use as much tax dollars 

b. to utilize funds better- ie on disposables, like antibiotics or medications.

I always wondered what happens when a case manager runs out of their fund for uninsured patients...where  or what do they do?  After talking with a case manager today, I learned a startling fact.  For purposes, I will use an example.  Tommy, an uninsured, breaks his leg.  He needs a wheelchair and crutches.  Hospital funds have been depleted for the year.  Tommy sits in a hospital until he can get the medical equipment he needs, thus increasing the LOS (length of stay).  Each day he sits there, he costs the hospital money.

Could this be a reason why healthcare cost so much?

Embraced partners with hospitals to make sure that uninsured/non-paying patients like Tommy are given the medical equipment to get up and out of (reducing the time in the hospital to return to society to be productive, all the while reducing healthcare costs.

If you like this, I encourage you to join in the Embraced movement by:

1. Follow us...on facebook, twitter and blog so you keep up with us

2. Volunteer with us!  Whether it is Saturday Sort day or Battle of the Burgers,we have a wide variety of great volunteer experiences

3. Donate money.   We need donations to support our work.