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(Medical-NewsWire.com, November 13, 2012 ) San Francisco, CA -- An assistant professor at the Mississippi University of Women has created a new program designed to bring healthcare to patients who otherwise would find it difficult to receive needed medical attention.
The Golden Triangle Geriatric Collaborative, founded by MUW’s Mary Atkinson Smith and working in conjunction with a patient’s primary care physician, allows board-certified nurse practitioners to be able service patients who have been referred a number of different sources, including hospitals, nursing homes, and family members.
Smith, who earned a doctorate of nursing from the University of Alabama after graduating from MUW, developed the in-home health care program due to a pressing need she saw in the area.
“I watched the decline of my own grandparents, and I saw there are gaps especially for elderly, high-maintenance patients,” Smith said. “I wanted to do something to help.”
In order to qualify for the program, which took approximately nine months to come to fruition, patients must have their own private health insurance, Medicare, or Medicaid.
Currently, there are five nurse practitioners as part of the program, four of whom – along with Smith – are faculty members at MUW. The collaborative, which has been operating for the past three months, recently added a dietitian to the staff because, as Smith put it, “diet plays a huge role in chronic illness.”
Working with primary care physicians, which is mandated by law, allows the collaborative to increase the quality of healthcare available to those residents of the Golden Triangle who might otherwise go without. Care can even begin while the patient is hospitalized.
“We are able to work with hospitals to provide transitional care to patients prior to their discharge and follow the patient into their post-discharge setting to ensure continuity of care and encourage compliance,” Smith said.
Among the services the mobile nursing group can provide are renewal of medication, basic lab work, and administering vaccinations like flu shots. In addition to homebound patients, the collaborative handles patients in assisted living facilities, such as nursing homes and hospices.
The popularity of the program has been notice by other communities in the area. Nurse practitioners from Greenwood, Meridian, and other Delta-area municipalities have express interest in expanding the program to their area.
The program received formal approval by the Mississippi Board of Nursing and the Mississippi State Board of Medicine.
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Benjamin Wrights
4157669098
news@postpressrelease.com
Source: EmailWire.Com 
Source: EmailWire.com
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