ARLINGTON, Va. — Last week the American Association for Homecare noted the current flu outbreak is a reminder of the key role that home care providers will likely play in responding to an influenza pandemic.
Two years ago, the association participated in the development of a report prepared by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which points out an expected shortage of health care professionals during a pandemic could leave family and friends to care for flu-stricken patients.
The AHRQ report, "Home Health Care during an Influenza Pandemic: Issues and Resources," summarizes what home health care workers can expect during a pandemic, noting they will be called on to provide care for two main patient populations:
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Medical and surgical patients, not hospitalized because of the pandemic, who are well enough to be discharged early to free up hospital beds for more severely ill patients; and
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Patients who become or already are dependent on home health care services (predominantly elderly persons with chronic disease) and will continue to need in-home care during the influenza pandemic, whether or not they become infected with the flu virus.
According to a Friday report from the Los Angeles Times, emergency facilities across the country are already "straining at the seams" even though the current flu outbreak "is relatively small and the federal government has launched a mammoth disease-control effort."
Of the nation's confirmed H1N1 cases, relatively few have required hospitalization. By contrast, the newspaper reported, HHS' "moderate pandemic influenza model, based on the last flu pandemic in 1968, envisions 90 million Americans becoming infected and 865,000 requiring hospitalization."
"The nation's infrastructure of home medical equipment providers represents a critical piece of any front-line response to pandemic flu," said Tyler Wilson, AAHomecare president. On Thursday, the association sent a survey to its members "to get an accurate picture of what is occurring in the home medical community nationwide with respect to preparations for emergencies."
According to a message from the VGM Group, Waterloo, Iowa, this is a good time for HME providers to remind members of Congress of the important part HME providers play in taking care of home-based patients. "It is important for congressional members to understand this," the message said. "Inform them that programs such as competitive bidding would not be beneficial in times of a pandemic."