Gold Coast Home Health Services and Hospice

Article submitted by Lynda Friedman, Administrator, Gold Coast Home Health & Hospice.
For more information, she can be reached at 954-788-5006.

What makes Gold Coast Home Health Services and Hospice distinctive?

Being a part of and receiving the support of a large integrated health care system, Gold Coast Home Health and Hospice have flourished and continues to grow and meet unmet needs in the community. In fulfilling our mission to provide services to benefit the entire community we work closely with the North Broward Hospital District (NBHD) and other hospitals as well as the large network of ambulatory primary health sites which operate within the system.

Automation
In 1999, we realized that with shrinking reimbursement the need to be optimally efficient was a priority. We began an ongoing journey to automate all processes in the agency. Currently, we have 60 laptops computers in the field which have enabled access to fully automated medical records. The medical record includes digital pictures of wounds. As part of an integrated system we also have access to needed clinical information through the larger district network.

Physician and Provider Communication
To further enhance the coordination of our services we have incorporated a web based program which enables related parties to view the medical record on line. It is electronically interactive so the physician can sign and write orders, and communicate with us after reviewing our assessments and pictures. Physicians and their office staff view this as a great asset to managing their patients.

Quality Programs
In home health, we recently began a highly focused rehab program -"Rehab on the Move". The program is tied to outcome improvement and patient data is tracked, trended, and benchmarked, to demonstrate patient care results.

Our "Stay In Balance" program was developed this year to address the high incidence of patient falls in the home. We are collaborating with North Broward Medical Center's, Dizziness and Balance Center, where the most advanced balance testing can be done. Our therapists received training at North Broward's Neurological Institute.

We work directly with the NBHD laboratory staff and have received approval to use Point of Care testing in the home for those patients who remain on anticoagulation therapy and need real time monitoring. This allows the physician to have immediate lab results to make medication management determinations.

We are in a special position to provide palliative care to patients who do not need the hospice program but need pain management and comfort measures to be in place. Our palliative nurses are trained in hospice and home health and are qualified to work with patients and families during their end of life care.

Our Barbara Zeigler Palliative Care Program manages the inpatient Palliative Care units within the NBHD medical centers. Our program also enables a seamless transition to the patient's home for continued services. With the support of two board certified palliative care physicians, our home program is responsive to the changing needs of the patient and family.

Staffing
Achieving our goal of quality patient care requires a stable, competent and caring clinical staff. In spite of the nursing shortage, our turn over rate is minimal and most of the Gold Coast staff has been on board for over 10 years. We believe this stability and staff satisfaction is what keeps our patient satisfaction rate above 95%. A program is only as good as the caregivers. Therefore a great deal of focus is placed on supporting the staff through a variety of benefits the NBHD offers. Due to the demands of the work we are very sensitive to our staff's need for time off, rejuvenation and appreciation. As full time employees, our staff has to access emotional support, leadership and development training opportunities. They have the chance to continuously build their skill set and grow to maintain professionalism but give the extra care and compassion that our patients need.

Hospice
Our Hospice program has doubled in the past year but continues to be a small intimate program. We believe the key to our success lies in the size of the program which allows us to extend personnel attention to each family. In addition to the full scope of services, we have incorporated a music therapy program and we are training "Abigail" to be certified as a pet therapy dog.
Personally speaking, having been an RN in home care for over thirty years and in keeping with the caregiver focus of the magazine...I believe the greatest asset we have is our staff and through them we achieve success. We have focused on providing them with the tangible resources to make their jobs easier. A caring, and sincere management style sustains the whole team.