Longitudinal Care Center at Euclid Hospital focuses on long-term health

A new model of care is being introduced at Euclid Hospital, and it comes with a new name to go along with the new philosophy on which it is based: Longitudinal Care Center. The goal is to streamline and centralize care for patients and to improve quality and coordination, resulting in more efficient, less difficult encounters. This new Center puts patients in the middle of their care experience and helps the multiple providers caring for that patient communicate and collaborate more effectively. The Center is staffed by a team of professionals – physicians, nurse practitioners, RNs, clinical specialists, pharmacists and social workers.

“Longitudinal care is for people who need long-term care of a condition,” says Mark Froimson, MD, Cleveland Clinic orthopaedic surgeon and Euclid Hospital president. “Current perception of a chronic condition is negative – something that is never gone or over. Our goal with the Longitudinal Care Center is to change that perception.”

Euclid Hospital’s Longitudinal Care Center provides care to patients with one or more chronic or long-standing diseases that require ongoing treatment over a period of time. It is designed to meet their many needs in one setting.

The Center was designed to help patients not only take control of their medical condition, but to optimize their success in self-management over time. According to Dr. Froimson, it’s a new way for patients and caregivers to view and manage a longterm care condition – by thinking of it not just as a problem to deal with now, but one that can be managed over time.

Until recently, the hospital had separate centers for patients with diabetes, high blood pressure, congestive heart failure, wound care, chronic kidney disease and anticoagulation. Providers came to realize that the clinics were treating many of the same patients since those health conditions are often related. “The Longitudinal Care Center allowed us to combine the individual centers into one, making things easier for patients,” says Dr. Froimson. “They benefit not only from improved access to care in one convenient location and the information sharing among various healthcare providers, but also from the camaraderie that develops as a result of the open, collaborative environment.”

At this time, the Longitudinal Care Center is a work in progress – the start of helping patients and providers realize that rather than being a life sentence, with proper education and management, health problems can be much better controlled, resulting in less need for aggressive treatment.

Euclid Hospital’s Longitudinal Care Center is located next to the emergency department. Why? According to Dr. Froimson, many people come to the emergency department when they are experiencing a severe complication associated with a longterm chronic condition. “Once enrolled in the Longitudinal Care Center, when a patient has a health crisis, they will be able to come directly to the Center, allowing the to be managed without being admitted to the hospital,” he said.

For more information about Euclid Hospital’s Longitudinal Care Center,

visit euclidhospital.org/lccenter or call 216.692.8679.