By Dr. William M. Hasbun
Geriatricians specialize in the unique health needs of the elderly, including chronic diseases, nutritional problems, skin ailments, cognitive loss, memory impairment, adverse effects of medications, immobility, and balances issues.
Older age involves a distinct set of challenges. Many older people are living with multiple long-term conditions and are much more vulnerable to a range of problems. Your reaction to medication also changes in older age. A geriatrician is a specialist in how different conditions interact with one another, how various medications will affect you, and how to spot the signs of potential problems such as vulnerability to falls.
Geriatricians work alongside different specialties to plan and coordinate your care. They can work in many different medical settings, or even come to the patient’s home or residential facility. A geriatrician will assess a patient holistically and look not only at the multiple medical issues, they may have but also how it impacts their day-to-day functioning. This is a comprehensive medical assessment plays a key role in assuring quality of life and daily living activities.
In addition, because of the many conditions older patients may have, they may be taking multiple medications. While the medication may be appropriate and in line with current guidance for the single organ needing treatment, it may be having a harmful effect on another organ. The other issue is that the more medications a patient takes, the more likely they are to suffer from harmful interactions between different drugs.
When you go to the General Practitioner you might have several complaints, not all of which can necessarily be addressed fully. A geriatricians’ job is to work out the most important problems you face, including those you haven’t identified yourself, and put together a program of individualized care. A geriatrician’s work is a complex balancing act and listening to your priorities and the things that are most important for you in life is a key part of the role. Geriatricians often see patients who have been seen by a range of specialists for an individual condition, an organ problem for example. However, these specialists have frequently failed to see the person behind the condition and how their various conditions impact them as a person.
Geriatricians are also important when planning your care after an operation or accident. They will work with clinicians as well as social care staff to plan your care and help you maintain your independence. Finally, geriatricians are trained to talk to patients towards the end of their life and help them make appropriate plans. This can include setting out treatment preferences in advance and planning care at the very end of life.
Concierge medicine is a health care model in which a patient pays a monthly or annual fee to see their physician. Concierge medicine creates affordable health care plans for small businesses and self-employed professionals, or those that need more coverage than their basic health care plan provides. Concierge medicine is like an agreement with an attorney on retainer, in which the lawyer provides legal services for a flat fee, rather than charging by the hour or case. A patient could call or see a doctor whenever he needed to, much the way a client could call a lawyer on retainer whenever he or she needed legal advice. Many health care consumers have a high-deductible plan where nothing is covered until the deductible – in the thousands of dollars for some people – is paid out of pocket. Paying for a concierge plan might be less costly for these consumers than paying toward their deductible for their primary care needs.
Doctors in concierge medicine groups typically have fewer patients than physicians who are in traditional medical practices. That means shorter waits for patients, who can access their doctor or another concierge physician immediately, even on holidays. Patients can typically reach a doctor quickly by phone or text and make an appointment the same day. Some concierge medical practices even make house calls. A concierge provider is also an excellent option if you are traveling or away from your primary home and other medical providers would be “out of network”.
William M. Hasbun, M.D.
Board Certified in Internal Medicine & Geriatrics
Personalized Geriatric Services
Dr. Hasbun Is announcing that he’ll be accepting patients for home evaluation and management.
At present, he is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Geriatrics at Rowan University in New Jersey. He is a former Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine & Geriatrics at the College of Physicians & Surgeons at Columbia University in NYC. He has been the Medical Director of various nursing homes in the New Jersey area. He is also the inventor of numerous medical devices and owns numerous patents in the medical field. He will be available for home visits to patients In gated communities within the Collier County area He will be accepting private patients starting September 1, 2022.
For more information, Dr. Hasbun can be contacted at (856) 577-6627 from 10 am until 2 pm Monday thru Friday. His hours of service are from 10 am until 2 pm except in cases of an emergency.
Fluent in Spanish and English.