Dr. Walter Lin, M. D., Physician Advisor Performance Improvement at Lutheran Senior Services (LSS), and the Project Wellness Program at LSS’ Affordable Housing communities have been honored by LeadingAge Missouri for their outstanding contributions to the fields of aging, health care, housing and community based services. Dr. Lin received a Visionary Award for his ‘Treatment in Place’ program that is helping reduce length of stay and hospital readmissions of post-acute care residents, while Project Wellness received the Excellence in Service Award for its telehealth kiosks and related health management programs for lower income older adults. The awards were presented at the 47th Annual LeadingAge Missouri Conference and Exposition on September 14 in St. Louis.
Dr. Lin created and implemented a post-acute care (PAC) model at LSS which places a physician and a nurse practitioner in the PAC setting 5-6 days per week, available by phone 24 hours per day and implementing a series of practice patterns that are managing the overall care and impacting discharge outcomes of residents. Dr. Lin’s approach is a key factor for LSS’ success as the Center for Medicare Services moves the post-acute care payment structure from Fee-For-Service to bundled payments based on lower length of stay and hospital re-admission rates.
Under the direction of LSS’ Affordable Housing Executive Director Susan Hutchison, and Director of Service Coordination Michelle Wamser, Project Wellness provides low-income seniors with a combination of health and exercise programs and a telehealth kiosk to help take control of their health at minimal to no cost. Since its implementation, over 117 serious health concerns have been caught before they escalated out of control. Project Wellness was expanded to non-resident community members in low income areas in July, and more than 50 people have participated.
The LeadingAge Missouri Awards Program recognize those individuals and organizations that have made an outstanding contribution in the fields of aging, health care, housing and community based services.