This week, I was out of town on Tuesday-Friday, so my only blog will be from Monday.
Monday, March 8th: Today, Mercy had a pretty light patient load, so I focused mostly on remote phone calls with the patients. I continued on my database collecting information of patients over the age of 64 that are interested in receiving the COVID-19 Vaccination at Mercy when they arrive. I went through a spreadsheet of every Mercy patient over the age of 64 and called them to determine whether they were still eligible for Mercy (uninsured or Medicare part A only),and if they would want the vaccine when we get it. Many patients were ineligible for Mercy care due to recent Medicare coverage, many patients were eligible and wanted it, and many of them were uninterested. This information was crucial to determine which patients to prioritize when scheduling the COVID-19 vaccination appointments, and we will access their contact information from the database as soon as we get the vaccines.
After calling these patients, I realized many of them were unsure of how to transition to Medicare and felt uneasy about leaving Mercy. I took this as an opportunity to connect them with resources on how to transition to Medicare, and I scheduled many patients for one final Mercy primary care appointment to educate them on how to transition to Medicare part A and B and how to find a primary care provider to transition their care to. I realized today the large amount of people unaware of how to take charge of their health after turning 65, and I believe there should be more transitional assistance programs in our community to provide elders with tips and tricks on how to transition to Medicare smoothly. I am really looking forward to meeting these patients in person and helping them optimize their health with Medicare.
5.5.3 Develop strategies to reinforce or change organizational culture to support health education/promotion
1.6 Examine factors that enhance or impede the process of health education/promotion
1.6.1 Analyze the capacity for providing necessary health education/promotion
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