CENTRAL COAST — To ensure that vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities continue to receive at-home medical services, CenCal Health is launching a pilot project with DASH (Doctors Assisting Seniors at Home) to serve its members. DASH is a program in which Dr. Michael Bordofsky and his physician partners with Palliative Care Consultants of Santa Barbara serve members in South Santa Barbara County.
DASH has served nearly 2,000 adults (ages 18 and up, although primarily seniors). Of the more than 1,000 currently active enrollees, many are CenCal Health members. The program helps seniors and persons with disabilities feel comfortable and safe living in their own home knowing that medical care is a phone call away.
“The DASH program has proven to be very successful in keeping seniors independent and in their own homes by bringing health care services to them,” said Bob Freeman, CEO of CenCal Health. “This approach has proven both cost effective and beneficial to the patients’ well-being. We’re therefore very excited to partner with DASH to serve our membership.”
DASH focuses on immediate and urgent care as a compliment to routine primary care and is unique in that it also promotes the completion of advanced care directives, health risk assessments, home safety evaluations for seniors and nurse or physician visits.
“We’re pleased to partner with CenCal Health on this initiative to continue to respond to the medical needs of its members,” said Dr. Bordofsky. “Having continuity of quality, in-home care is crucial for the people we serve as well as their caretakers.”
This program has successfully reduced emergency room usage by over 30 percent and hospitalizations by over 25 percent. Importantly, patient satisfaction with the program is high, with 95 percent of members describing DASH as easy to reach, quick to respond, listening carefully and spending enough time with members.
The partnership with DASH comes as CenCal Health is in the process of developing a special needs program that would allow it to provide the full spectrum of health care benefits to low-income seniors that qualify for both Medicare and Medi-Cal. The program is slated to launch in 2019.
“We’re confident that by partnering with DASH, we’ll be able to provide a valuable benefit to CenCal Health members – receiving high quality and compassionate in-home health care,” said Freeman.
CenCal Health provides health coverage for 180,000 members in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. Operating in the community for 33 years, CenCal Health partners with many local providers, hospitals, community and nonprofit agencies to better serve their membership and coordinate care. If you would like to learn more about these services, visit CenCal Health’s website at www.cencalhealth.org or call (800) 421-2560.
About CenCal Health: CenCal Health provides health insurance to approximately 20 percent of residents in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. CenCal Health coverage is accepted by the vast majority of local health providers. CenCal Health also provides education and assistance to its members in order to reduce potential health problems from chronic illness such as diabetes and asthma. For more information, visit www.cencalhealth.org. Find CenCal Health on Facebook.