News release
MomsRising Joins New Campaign for Better Care to Focus Health Reform Implementation on Care for Older Patients
April 8, 2010
Lisa Lederer, 202-371-1996
MomsRising Joins New Campaign for Better Care to Focus Health Reform Implementation on Improving, Coordinating Care for Older Patients
WASHINGTON, D.C. – To ensure that health reform works for those with the most at stake, MomsRising, the online and on-the-ground grassroots organizations for moms and everyone who has a mom, is joining the National Partnership for Women & Families, Community Catalyst and the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) today in launching the Campaign for Better Care, a multi-year initiative that will focus on improving care, coordination and communication for older patients with multiple health problems and their family caregivers. The Campaign will build a consumer movement of and for older adults and those with multiple chronic conditions, who are counting on reform to provide the comprehensive, coordinated, patient-centered care they need.
“As the family members who do most of the caregiving not just for our children, but also for our parents, moms are extremely concerned about ensuring the best quality care for their moms and dads,” said MomsRising Executive Director Kristin-Rowe-Finkbeiner. “Health care reform is finally here. It’s an exciting time and an exciting step in the right direction, but now we have to be sure we stay on the path to better care for all Americans. And to make that happen, MomsRising is joining the Campaign for Better Care to create a health care system that best serves patients with multiple, co-occurring chronic health conditions.”
A national survey of Americans age 50 or older, conducted by Lake Research Partners in March for the Campaign for Better Care, finds that three in four respondents (74 percent) say that they have wished that their doctors talked and shared information with each other. Millions have experienced problems related to a lack of communication and coordination:
- 40 percent of people who take five or more medications, 47 percent of heavy users of the health care system, and one in three people age 50 or older say their doctors do not talk to them about potential interactions with other drugs or over-the-counter medications when prescribing new medications.
- 36 percent of heavy users of the health care system, and 20 percent of people age 50 or older, say they have received conflicting information from different doctors.
- One in eight (13 percent) respondents – and 20 percent of Latino respondents – has had to redo a test or procedure because the doctor or hospital did not have the earlier results.
- 35 percent of respondents with multiple chronic conditions, and 30 percent of respondents overall, has had to bring an X-ray, MRI or other test result to a doctor’s appointment.
- 45 percent of heavy users of the health care system, 40 percent of those with multiple chronic conditions, and 29 percent of respondents overall has had to act as a communicator between doctors who weren’t talking to each other.
- Three-quarters of heavy users of the health care system (76 percent) has left a doctor or hospital confused about what to do at home.
“These numbers are unacceptable,” continued Rowe-Finkbeiner. “We’re proud to join this multi-faceted new campaign aimed at ensuring that health reform works for those who need it most – vulnerable older patients with multiple health problems, and their family caregivers.”
The new Campaign for Better Care’s policy agenda aims to ensure that the reformed health care system provides the comprehensive, coordinated, patient- and family-centered care that older adults and individuals with multiple health problems need. It will advocate for better ways of delivering care including effective care coordination, transition management, medication reconciliation, support for patients and their family caregivers, and care that is culturally and linguistically appropriate. It will support payment strategies that enhance primary care practice and reward better quality, coordination and communication among providers, patients and family caregivers. It will press for performance measurement that holds providers accountable and sets priorities for quality improvement. It will promote effective use of health information technologies. It will press for assessment of patient experience to improve care and tools that empower patients and caregivers to make fully informed decisions.
“In the wealthiest nation in the world, it’s just not right that older people -- who are often the sickest and most vulnerable – are not getting the health care they need and so often are left to fend for themselves,” said Rowe-Finkbeiner.
Learn more, and read stories of patients who need better care, at www.CampaignForBetterCare.org.