SeniorBridge's Dr. Eric Rackow discusses how healthcare reform will impact labor planning on Monster.com 

Monster.com - Recruiting and Hiring Advice - May 28, 2010 

With about 10 million uninsured people with chronic illnesses about to get insurance, “you can’t train enough doctors to do all the work,” says Eric Rackow, M.D., president and CEO of SeniorBridge, a provider of home healthcare. “The scope of practice will have to expand for many allied professionals,” says Dr. Rackow. “There’s no reason you can’t train home health aides to dispense many medications” assuming legal and regulatory obstacles can be overcome. Expanding the responsibilities of less-skilled workers can also provide them with a career ladder, Dr. Rackow says.

When the physical or mental health of a parent (or both parents) starts to fail, it’s a natural Pressure to ensure more effective treatment post-charge will also motivate hospitals to make referrals to home-care providers, according to Dr. Rackow. “We’re planning to double the size of our company, to accommodate more patients from healthcare reform,” says Dr. Rackow. “We plan on increasing our headcount of professionals such as nurses and social workers by as much as 50 percent over the next two years, and increasing our nonprofessional workforce by 20 to 25 percent.”

As more treatment diagnostics like blood pressure and ECGs are made available in the home setting, SeniorBridge expects more patients to spend more time in home care and less in provider facilities. To do that “we need a broader workforce that includes nurses, home health aides, exercise and nutrition specialists and telemedicine specialists, all coordinated by care managers,” says Dr. Rackow.

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