Geriatric Psychiatrist Case Study

My role as Geriatric Psychiatrist, providing care in the general hospital, also enables me to see other aspects of our health care system. Recently, our hospital announced the closing of Geriatric Assessment Clinic due to it’s financial return or lack there of. This is the place where we could refer the Geriatric patients with complex issues that required the team of different disciplines to figure out how to best care for those particular patients. There is no incentive to provide care for the Geriatric patients, as it is money-losing service. The complexity in providing care to Geriatric patients who experience many challenges both medical and psychosocial issues – can’t see, can’t drive, can’t remember, can’t get up and down, can’t pay bills, too many specialists, can’t keep track of medications. Many of these services are not supported by health insurance. Is there any surprise that increasing numbers of providers are opting out of Medicare?

More than ever, I often feel the sense of powerlessness when I take care of some patients. It is difficult for me as physician taking care of them, knowing that what I do here is only a bandage, because the system fails them. More often than not,
The type of follow up the …show more content…
Where can they go and be cared for appropriately, ethically and humanely? How we can provide more support current facilities that provide care for dementia patients, so they feel more equipped to take care of this difficult group of patients. I am hoping that, with better education and support will help the facilities feel more comfortable accepting the patients and reducing the time spent in the acute hospital due to placement problems. Survey of current needs and develop the work force to address the area of needs i.e. facility to manage dementia patients with behavioral problems. More specialized facility for more difficult