I’ve always felt that service developers and deliverers can
be the most creative marketing people in business. As a group, they are
remarkably adept at recognizing market needs and creating and launching services
to meet those needs.
Last year when my mother was taken to the ER by ambulance, the
facility where she lived, which was about 40 miles away from me, did not notify
me. The first I heard of it was when the ER called and said, “Your mother has
been brought in for treatment, and she‘s upset and asking for you. Can you give
us a little medical history?” As I left an appointment to drive to the
hospital, I remember thinking, “I wish she had someone with her to calm her and
make sure that she gets the attention and treatment she needs in that busy ER.”
Fortunately for my mother, when I arrived an hour later, all
was well. But what if she’d had no nearby family?
In fact, today many elderly people live on their own and far
from family members and cannot count on friends, who also tend to be elderly, for
help in a crisis. Since Janis Carney is
an attorney specializing in elder care, she was well aware of this dilemma, which,
with an aging population, will only grow greater. In 2013, she created a
company, EASE Plan Inc., to provide 24/7 patient advocacy for elderly patients
in the ER. Her plan, which for a monthly fee offers Emergency
Advocacy Support
and Education (EASE) to enrolled members,
seems to strike a welcome chord in Santa Clara County (SF Bay Area), where she launched
the service.
“As a doctor for 20 years, I know how complicated the medical
systems has become,” says Dr. H. A. Satri Sukhdeo of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, in Palo Alto, CA. “Patients can easily get lost in the healthcare
system, and [it] is especially dangerous for them when they end up in the ER.
These patients need an advocate,” One of every five members of the Boomer
generation and almost 1 in 3 of us over the age of 75 will visit a hospital
emergency room at least once this year. Demand for EASE Plan services seems likely
to grow with the shifting demographic.
Current
clients are finding that Ease Plan offers significant benefits. “I have two grown children, but neither of
them could be here in less than 5 hrs. if I had a medical emergency. I felt bad
when my own mother had a medical emergency and could not get medical attention quickly.
I signed up for Ease Plan as soon as I heard of it,” Said Linda C., Ease Plan
client.
The
service not only supports its clients in the ER but also helps them organize
their medical information, be clear on the services to which they are entitled,
and, generally, be more effective consumers of healthcare even outside of the
ER.
“My
mother needs 24-hr. care and is in a skilled nursing facility. Unfortunately, I
have found that without a professional care advocate, she does not receive all
of the care she should be getting. Our [Ease Plan] Care advocate has been a
tremendous help to mother and to me,” said Connie F., another Ease Plan member.
