In a letter-to-the-editor, Innovive Health’s CEO Joseph McDonough applauds a recent Boston Globe editorial (“Home care workers should be licensed and regulated”), but wants to make sure behavioral health patients are considered in these conversations.
The editorial “Home care workers should be licensed and regulated” underscores the urgent need for stronger standards in home care. Licensing, training, and oversight are all essential protections, but the piece overlooks a population for whom these safeguards are especially critical: behavioral health patients living with severe mental illness and complex medical conditions.
As the CEO of a home health care agency serving some of the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable behavioral health patients, I see daily how essential proper training and certification are to properly serving this population. Our typical patient is over 50, with between 10 and 15 comorbidities, and relies on highly skilled clinicians who can navigate significant medical, behavioral, and social complexities.
Undertrained caregivers are more likely to have patients who end up back in the emergency department, a serious concern given that complex behavioral health patients represent a relatively small fraction of the patient population yet drive a significant portion of health care spending. The last thing our hospitals need is this additional strain.
Without the proper care of well-trained and certified clinicians, these individuals are at a heightened risk of preventable hospitalizations, poor outcomes, and fragmented care. Lawmakers should move swiftly to enact these protections.
Joseph McDonough
Founder and CEO
Innovive Health
Medford
Read more >> Safeguards are especially critical for behavioral health patients (bostonglobe.com)