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MATRIX Home Health Care
Author: | Monday November 28, 2005
Owner realizes vision for her home health care company.
Focus on Client,
Not the System
Pernile Ostberg had a vision of for home health services that responded to the needs of the client, not the health care system. Achieving that vision would mean facing some tough challenges, but Ostberg had experience as a manager in large health systems and in overseeing the care for her own parents.
"The vision for my company, (Matrix Home Health Care,) began in 1999 following the illnesses of my parents. I had had years of experience at the national level with home care. It is a culture that is highly regulated and restrictive as far as providing customized services," Ostberg said.
Since then Matrix Home Health Care has grown to 37 counties in Florida and will begin providing services in Houston, Texas.
The company also serves the workers' compensation industry. "I had experience at the national level and workers' compensation did not always speak to the needs of the injured workers," Ostberg explained.
Matrix Home Health Care customizes service for each individual and clients include ventilator dependent and spinal cord injured persons.
Expanding into the workers' compensation market broadened the scope of the company which meant that Matrix Home Health Care less susceptible to the rapid changes that occur in the HMO and Medicare environment.
"Companies want to work with providers who are quick to act to meet the needs of their injured, worker," Ostberg said. "They want providers who are quick to treat and can provide assessments quickly," she added.
With that objective in mind, Matrix Home Health Care has added another component that has gone over well with the workers' compensation industry.
"We have a Champion Program which provides for an overseer of each individual being treated in the home. With this approach we can be the eyes and ears for adjusters," Ostberg said.
The overseer could be a physician, adjuster, case manager or even a family member who is not close to the individual.
The care is clinically driven with trained nurses and therapists working with the individual. The approach is to respond to needs of the person being treated rather than taking a negative approach to care.
Ostberg believes that Matrix Home Health Care has developed a model for the industry that will become the standard in the future. She has taken the company on a path of sustained growth, partly because of the time it takes to hire professionals and train them in the system.
As for the name of the company, Ostberg said that she wanted something that represented the bringing together of many parts into a whole.
It is a good name for the company, as it brings together the sometimes complicated aspects of health care and puts the focus on the needs of the patient.
"The key is to understand the social aspects of care in the home. You are going into someone's home and the challenges that are faced are true in every population," Ostberg pointed out.
Matrix Home Health Care is a good example of a vision that was carried out with practical experience and application. And remembering that the patient comes first.
Ed. Note: Matrix Home Health Care can be reached by calling 888-806-9040. Carol Mangan, RN, CRRN, is Director of Case Management.
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