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Disease-State Management
Disease-State Management (DSM) Programs intensively manage a particular disease while emphasizing prevention and health maintenance. These programs focus on treating the whole patient and the entire disease, not just specific episodes. Since health care providers in the home are uniquely suited to evaluate each patient's particular situation, home health care is the ideal setting for implementing disease-state management. In addition to providing the best care possible, Alacare nurses and therapists educate patients so they become empowered to manage their own illnesses to the best of their ability and become more involved in their own care.
Alacare is continually working to develop more disease-state management programs. Some of the programs we currently offer include:
- Systematic assessment by skilled staff
- Evaluation of medication interactions
- Evaluation of medication adherence
- When appropriate, use a telemonitoring system to monitor vital signs daily.
- Critical pathway utilization
- Collaboration with hospitals and physicians
- Extensive patient education and follow-up
- Comprehensive evaluation and care for COPD patients, including those with:
- Chronic bronchitis
- Chronic obstructive bronchitis
- Emphysema
- Combinations of the above
- Encourage and teach patients self-management of their disease
- Assess the patient's medication regimen and assist with compliance
- When appropriate, use a telemonitoring system to monitor vital signs daily.
- Educate patients about appropriate use, storage and safety of oxygen
- Provide palliative care for COPD patients with the following indicators:
- Dyspnea at rest
- Signs or symptoms of right heart failure
- O2 saturation < 88% while on oxygen
- pCO2 > 50 mmHg
- Unintentional weight loss
CANCERcare
- For patients seeking either curative treatment or palliative care
- Special emphasis on the needs of patients with chronic and/or terminal illness
- Emphasis on pain management
- Nursing staff specially trained to recognize and care for the symptoms of cancer and its treatment
- Occuptional, physical and speech therapy available
- In-home caregiver education
- Ongoing assessment of the patient's condition
- Mental health nurse consultations available
- Education for caregivers regarding disease progress and techniques to keep the patient as functional as possible
- Physical and occupational therapy available to help patients re-learn activities of daily living
- Certified diabetes instructors on staff can provide consults or in-home visits when necessary
- Full-time registered dietitian on staff can formulate an individualized diet for patients in accordance with American Diabetes Association guidelines
- Foot health closely monitored and foot care techniques taught
- Anodyne therapy available to help improve circulation in the extremeties
- Designed to meet the home rehabilitation needs of joint-replacement surgery patients
- Occupational and physical therapy as needed
- Fall prevention assessment and personalized safety training
- Home safety evaluation performed by therapist
Alacare offers several specialty services to provide exceptional, individualized care to our patients. Here are some of the services we can provide:
Anodyne Therapy
- Delivers monochromatic infrared energy (MIRE), which causes a release of nitric oxide from the patient's red blood cells in the targeted area, improving circulation and nerve function
- Treatment lasts 30-45 minutes, 3 times a week, for a total of 12 treatments
- Studies show that it restores sensation, lessens pain, and decreases the number of falls
Bedside Coumadin® Testing
- Portable monitor for Coumadin® and warfarin testing
- Measures PT-INR results in seconds
- Allows frequent testing, leading to better control and fewer complications
- Compares well with the same test performed in laboratories
- Safe and accurate
Home Telemonitoring System
- Daily monitoring can prevent hospital readmissions and ER visits
- Monitors heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen saturation and weight (up to 500 pounds)
- Also asks patients as many as 10 subjective questions to further evaluate their conditions
- Physicians can quickly review patient data to determine if adjustments in treatment or office visits are required
- Allows patients with more critical needs to quickly get additional attention
