HealthEast leader chosen to help guide major home care study

Nadine Paitich joins National Steering Committee of leaders guiding National State of the Home Care

HealthEast leader chosen to help guide major home care study ST. PAUL, Minn. (July 15, 2009) - Nadine Paitich of HealthEast Care System has joined an influential group of health care leaders who will help guide the largest study of home care delivery and the shape it's likely to take in the future.

Paitich, Home Care executive at HealthEast since 2008, joins 21 colleagues from throughout the United States in the effort to examine current technology, clinical and operational aspects of home care, and what future strategies may guide the growing field. Paitich and the National Steering Committee will share their findings this October at the annual meeting of the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NACH) in Los Angeles.

"Home care is already an integral part of the U.S. health care system, filling a professional role in helping ensure care is provided in the most appropriate setting. As the number of seniors in the nation begins to increase dramatically, it's critical for us to examine where we are now and where we will be as our profile expands. I'm honored to be part of this crucial endeavor," Paitich says.

The study has three goals:

To determine the present technology, clinical and operational state of the home care industry and the future strategies that leaders are considering in these areas.
To explore relationships and strategies being used by agencies in their interactions with hospitals and health systems, including the differences in strategies between hospital-based, hospital-affiliated and free-standing agencies. The study will also explore how various hospitals or systems work with agencies that who may be fully or partially owned by them.
To provide all of the findings to the field in order to help agency leaders better understand and better plan for their future.

To accomplish its goals, the study will survey a representative sample of more than 1,000 U.S. agencies that provide care in the home. The study is sponsored by Research in Motion (developers of BlackBerry), along with co-sponsors NACH, the Hospital Home Care Association of America and Fazzi Associates, a consulting firm. Get more information on the study.