This month’s meeting will be at North Austin Medical Center Auditorium on the 2nd floor, Tuesday, March 9, 2010. (Click here for MapQuest Directions) The meeting will begin at 11:45am preceded by lunch from approximately 11:15-11:45am. You can RSVP onlne. Visitors are welcome for a $5.00 charge which includes lunch and the CEUs.

Our topic this month is “Care Transitions; Breaking through the Silos of Care.” Decreasing avoidable Acute Care Hospital and readmissions within 30 days is definitely the hot topic right now. Patients that impact that rate are elderly and have one or more chronic disease, multiple medications and possibly no help at home. Today we are turning the focus to the patient and making the patient the center of care, with the physician as the team leader and showing how all the health care provider’s are a part of the team. Improving coordination of care by closing those communication gaps and learning how each care setting can play a valuable role in reducing avoidable admissions/readmissions.
Terry Greene, R.N. has 11 years experience in the field of nursing and has worked in many roles from staff nurse to leadership positions and is dedicated to promoting nursing education for her and others. Terry has worked for Girling Health Care for the past 6 years in a number of different roles from direct patient care to mentoring new nurses to branch supervisor. Terry’s current role is the Director of Education, responsible for overseeing the Continuing Nursing Education Provider Unit, where she is developing and presenting educational activities. She is currently a team member of the Quality Improvement Committee and working towards becoming certified in Chronic Care.

Our sponsors this month:

Girling Health Care is an Austin based home health care agency that was founded in 1967. Girling Health Care has a long history of providing the highest-quality healthcare in the home. We have operations that cover most of Texas and eight other states: Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and West Virginia. At Girling, we strive to meet the healthcare and personal care needs of our patients and clients using a team approach. Our home health program is designed for patients with specific medical needs and includes a broad array of skilled services including nursing, PT, OT, ST, social workers and home health aides. We also offer disease management programs that are proprietary to Girling Health Care and are led by a team of professionals working with the physician to create a personal care plan to meet the needs of each patient. Advanced Care Transitions (ACT) is our newest program that we are providing to our patients, hospitals and other referral sources. For more information about the ACT Program or to receive the BEST home care available please call our office at 512-342-0331.

Response Link is a national company utilizing the Personal Medical Alert System -with medication reminders and wellness checks available. Jim brought Response Link to Central Texas in 2002 as an independent distributor and he has been offering simple and effective security for people who want to continue living an independent lifestyle in their own homes. Call Jim at 512-407-9640 or visit the website at www.responselink.com.