Coulee Medical Center on a Medicare mission to screen

 

Last updated 10/23/2019 at 9:47am

Kelly Steffens, who has been reaching out to groups to get her message across, mans an information table at Gathering of Wellness powwow the hospital organized in September. - Scott Hunter photo

A coming change in federal rules is pushing healthcare professionals to focus more on preventing illness rather than treating it after the fact, and Coulee Medical Center is implementing a plan that focuses on senior citizens.

"It's proven to be quite effective for our patients," Kelly Steffens told people at the chamber of commerce luncheon last week, referring to a free program that has people on Medicare come in once a year for a screening visit.

Steffens, a registered nurse, is in charge of the program under which Medicare patients answer questions that help healthcare professionals better coordinate their care and come up with a longterm plan.

During such an "Annual Wellness Visit," patients first meet with Steffens. Before it's over, they both meet with the patient's provider to go over it all.

Steffens said questions include listing all medications, because those often include some the hospital might not have a record for, prescribed by a specialist elsewhere. They also include other questions that help narrow down what a patient's needs are and what providers might need to look into further.


"We will go through all your health history, your surgical history, your meds," she said. "It's a really good way for us to truly verify what you've got going on."

They also talk about preventative screenings such as colonoscopies, mammograms, cholesterol tests and more.

CMC started the program in March. Steffens said they've already had "a handful" of patients who were recommended for colonoscopies during which pre-cancerous cells were discovered. Early detection in colon cancer is important.

Medicare has set a minimum target for CMC to conduct half of these Annual Wellness Visits each year with some 1,100 Medicare-eligible individuals the federal agency has attributed to CMC's market area.

Steffens said they're trying to see about 115 people in the visits each quarter.

By 2021, Medicare will start reimbursing CMC based on how well its population is, so a healthier population is a financial incentive for hospitals that have traditionally only brought in money based on services rendered to the sick.

"In the end, it's all about wanting you to be as healthy as you can," Steffens said.

 

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