Blog post
Prioritizing Mental Health as a Universal Human Right
By: Neltada Charlemagne, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC, PHN, BHC
During Healthcare Risk Management Week, celebrated June 17–21, Landmark recognizes the important work that our risk management and patient safety professionals do to ensure that our patients receive safe health care.
Risk Management at Landmark
Andrew Krause, a Clinical Supervisor for Landmark in Ohio, is one of our many critical employees responsible for ensuring our patients receive high-value care focused on their safety. Krause oversees, guides and supports the development, implementation and outcome processes of patients’ care management plans. These processes are developed through clinician, case management and allied clinical support evaluation, as well as physical risk assessments.
Krause and his team work to ensure patients receive quality care they can trust. Krause notes, “Because our patients are such a vulnerable population, it is especially important that they feel they can trust us. Sometimes our patients don’t have a support system to rely on. Landmark can help by building a strong relationship with our patients that makes them feel safe and comfortable.”
Reducing Risk in the Home
Landmark care teams work to reduce risks and improve patient safety in many ways. One example comes from our care model of treating the patient in place, through house calls. When a Landmark provider meets the patient in the home, he or she can more thoroughly understand the patient’s environment. This additional information can be hard to garner during clinic-based appointments but may influence recommendations on health or safety measures such as installing hand rails or removing trip hazards.
Multidisciplinary Care to Treat the Whole Patient
In addition to medical providers, Landmark also employs specialists such as pharmacists, mental health practitioners, nurse care managers, social workers, dietitians, healthcare ambassadors and care coordinators. This team-approach helps to ensure the right care comes to the patient at the right time, or is coordinated with other community providers, specialists and resources. All Landmark patients have 24/7 access to providers via phone. Through this multidisciplinary care team and all-hours access, patients can discuss virtually any social, mental or physical health concern.
Landmark Urgent Visits to Avoid Hospitalizations
Krause shared, “Last week, a patient called us and wasn’t feeling well. He showed signs of shortness of breath. We scheduled an urgent visit and adjusted his medication after discussing it with his primary care physician. This was a quick turnaround for the patient that saved him a hospital visit. The patient reached out afterwards to thank the team for their swift response time. Landmark made him feel supported in his own home.”
Keeping patients safe, well and home are key priorities for Landmark. This week, we particularly appreciate our professionals who work to ensure that patients receive safe and trusted health care from Landmark.
By: Neltada Charlemagne, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC, PHN, BHC
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