Hospices, Palliative Providers Innovate to Better Serve Rural Patients
By Jim Parker at Hospice News, 11/21/19 “Rural families have less access to hospice care programs than people in more concentrated populations, according to a 2015 study. ... “ 'Rural palliative care is different. The expertise that organizations have developed around delivering palliative care in other geographic areas doesn’t always naturally translate,' said Brian Mistler, chief operating officer of Resolution Care. 'Also, a lot of the patient population that we serve in rural communities don’t have the same privileges that some of the rest of us have. It’s hard to wrap our minds around the impact that lack of access [...]
Telemedicine 3.0: How Video Technology Can Support People With Serious Illness
by Michael Fratkin at the Center to Advance Palliative Care's Palliative in Practice Blog, 6/12/19 "The accelerating pace of technology that is pressing us back in our seats – ubiquitous smartphones, lightning fast connections, and cloud-based processing – now support the deep and personal work of caring for our fellow human beings in their most vulnerable moments. Video calls can open a magic window into the lives of people under our care, allowing us to establish and maintain relationships without intrusion, and helping us to reach more people in need. This evolution, what I call Telemedicine 3.0, opens a world [...]
Resolution Care Network with Dr. Michael Fratkin
An interview with Dr. Michael Fratkin by Sheryl Smith on the engAGING conversations podcast at sherylsmithrn.com. "Technology and advances in medicine have increased our longevity. As a result our society is growing older and frailer. But our society is no longer set up to hold us in our frailty The need for palliative care services is growing, and Resolution Care Network is setting the tone for outstanding care." Listen to this interview about ResolutionCare, palliative care, and how you can advocate for yourself and your loved ones at the engAGING conversations podcast.
Michael Fratkin: Soft Landings
By Stephen Waldron at B-TAC February 28, 2019 "Drawing on experience from palliative care leaders like Center to Advance Palliative Care Founder Diane Meier, Dr. Fratkin is driven to use his skills and resources to treat people in the setting that is right for them. Echoing the words of poet Mary Oliver, he said that those with privilege must use their advantages to benefit others. 'We have this one wild and precious life,' said Dr. Fratkin. 'We need to seize the mechanisms of caring in our society. That’s our responsibility.' " Read the entirety of Waldron's blog post at B-TAC, the Blog to [...]
10 Ways Great Companies Show Employees They Care
by Jillian Rodriguez at Small Giants Community, 2/4/19 ResolutionCare is featured under "Care for them as a whole person" in this article about how Small Giants companies make their employees feel valued and appreciated. "Purpose-driven leaders are saying goodbye to the idea of work-life balance and instead inviting team members to bring their whole selves to work ... Here’s how some companies are cultivating emotional, mental, and financial wellness for the whole family." Read the entire article at smallgiants.org.
Woo-Woo and the Hammer
By Thadeus Greenson in the North Coast Journal, 1/17/19 "Here's how Fratkin describes his approach to new patients: 'I let them know who I am and explore who they are. I help them understand the totality of their circumstances. I identify with them what's most important to them, what matters to them given all the things that can't be changed or can't be known about their future course. Then, I roll up my sleeves and let them tell me what my job is.' ... "Having been a part of ResolutionCare for a couple of years now, [nurse Lauri] Rose says it's clear [...]
Local Healthcare Company Focus of WaPo Story
by Thadeus Greenson at the North Coast Journal online, Wednesday 12/24/18. "In case you missed it, The Washington Postrecently put a spotlight on local palliative care company ResolutionCare. The Post’s story, which published Dec. 15, uses the story of Hoopa brothers-in-law Gordon Surber and Mark Hailey — both of whom have been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — to explore the impact of palliative care and the inequities of how insurers cover the costs." Read the entire article at the North Coast Journal online.
How California Is Changing Palliative Care
The Next Avenue story featured in Forbes. "Although other Medicaid programs may pay for components of palliative care — such as advance care planning — 'California is truly leading in this regard,' says Stacie Sinclair, senior policy manager for the Center to Advance Palliative Care, a national organization. ... The ResolutionCare palliative care team includes physicians, nurses, social workers, care coordinators, a spiritual counselor and community health workers. 'We combine telehealth-based videoconferencing with knock-on-the-door, eat-the-cookies house calls,' says Fratkin. ... 'They’re just fantastic people,' says George Johnson, 60, who lives by himself in Eureka, Calif. and has a number of serious [...]
Why California is a Hotbed for In-Home Palliative Care
By Tim Mullaney at Home Health Care News, November 27, 2018 "A Medicaid program in California is increasing access to palliative care services in people’s homes. ... 'California is truly leading in this regard,' Stacie Sinclair, senior policy manager for the Center to Advance Palliative Care, told Next Avenue, which is a PBS website. Palliative care provider ResolutionCare, which serves clients in rural northern California, is featured in the article. About 145 of the company’s clients, representing roughly two-thirds of its total customer base, are on Medi-Cal. Many of these people are in their 50s or 60s and are not initially [...]
How California Is Changing Palliative Care
by Beth Baker at Next Avenue on November 27, 2018: [California's] Medicaid program takes a novel approach for some with life-threatening diseases. "In January, California became the first state to mandate home-based palliative care (care given to improve quality of life for patients with life-threatening diseases) to those in its Medicaid program. In California, that program is called Medi-Cal. ... ... The most important thing though, says Fratkin, is not the savings. 'What we care about is self-reported improvement in quality of life, in well-being, even the possibility of healing, and less drama and insecurity as people move to their death. Those are the [...]
ResolutionCare Portrayals in Months to Years
Dr. Michael Fratkin collaborated with a friend, award winning photographer and journalist Justin Maxon, to produce a project in words and pictures they hope has impact. In addition to being displayed on the Portrayals page here on our website and being produced as a series of limited edition prints, this series has been published in the Fall 2018 edition of Months to Years.
Doctors Wait to See How CMS’ Opioid Changes Play Out for Patients in Pain
A look at concerns about opioid policies for patients on palliative care by Allison Inserro at AJMC, the American Journal of Managed Care, 4/7/2018 " 'In the absence of thoughtful resources to support substance abuse treatment, pushing the problem underground may make the healthcare system feel a little bit better but it won’t move the bar on reducing the terrible impact of opiate addiction in our society,' said [Dr. Michael] Fratkin." Read the entire article at AJMC.
An Interview with Carl Magruder on the This Time I Mean It Podcast
Scott ‘Q’ Marcus interviews ResolutionCare Director of Spiritual Support Services on the This Time I Mean It podcast. "Chaplain Magruder, a non-denominational spiritual leader, and Scott, engage in a free-wheeling and long-ranging talk on everything from ‘What is Mortality?’ to ‘Are computers sentient?’" Listen to the podcast here or at This Time I Mean It on the Community Access Project for Eureka website.
Understanding Palliative Care, Dr. Michael Fratkin: Ep. 29
An interview with Dr. Fratkin by Dr. Bob Uslander of the Integrated MD Care podcast. "In this podcast interview, Dr. Fratkin shares his passion and his intimate experience as a provider of care. He’s innovative; he’s creative, he’s dedicated beyond what I’ve experienced with just about anybody else who I’ve communicated with about palliative care and end-of-life care. I think you’re gonna find this podcast to be incredibly informative and really interesting." Listen to the entire interview at the Integrated MD Care website.
The talk: Younger brain cancer patients provide a model for patient empowerment
by Renata Khoshroo Louwers at SCOPE, 10/12/18 “In a 55-second video that is both playful and profound, patient advocates Liz Salmi and Charlie Blotnerasked Michael Fratkin, MD, a palliative care doctor they know through their advocacy work, to have 'the talk' with them. “ 'We need to have the talk with you about end of life and brain tumors and steroids and swelling, especially related to other cancers and if this looks the same or not,' Blotner says at the beginning of the video, filmed while they were in the car.” Read Louwers' article about the talk Dr. Fratkin had with Salmi [...]
Leveraging Telehealth to Support Aging Americans
C-TAC, the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care, and AHIP, America's Health Insurance Plans, have collaborated to release a summary of information on the benefits of telehealth, particularly for the elderly and seriously ill. They feature ResolutionCare as one of their case studies. "Telehealth has long been viewed as a game-changer for health care service delivery. When fully embraced and executed, telehealth can expand and enhance the delivery of health care services to geographically disadvantaged or underserved populations. ... Beyond promoting remote care that could be provided in the patient’s home, telehealth can also help avoid unnecessary and costly emergent or [...]
An Interview with Dr. Fratkin on the This Time I Mean It Podcast
Scott 'Q' Marcus interviews Dr. Michael Fratkin on the This Time I Mean It podcast. "Dr. Fratkin, in a warm and reassuring manner, speaks warmly, yet frankly, of his experiences helping countless individuals and families make important and end-of-life decisions." Listen to the podcast here or at This Time I Mean It on the Community Access Project for Eureka website.
End-of-Life Doula Training Event
I have always held that the work we do in support of people completing their lives is fundamentally non-medical. The irony is that it’s only this last 50-100 years in the West that such an idea is in any way provocative. A movement is emerging from outside the “normal” healthcare system that has been inspired by the traditional work of Doulas supporting and tending to birthing mothers and families. This rising interest in End-of-Life Doula training is inspiring to me. I am giving energy to building bridges between the medically-centered healthcare system and the people-centered End-of-Life Doula movement. [...]
Dell’Artians Work With Resolution Care
KHUM 6/1/18 "Each year Dell'Arte International students pair with nonprofits in the county to create something special. This year one of the groups paired with Resolution Care and they're performing TONIGHT at Synapsis!" Listen to Dell'Arte students Melanie Schauwecker and Alfredo Romero discuss their process creating "Voice the Journey: Honoring end-of-life experiences," to be performed June 1st, 2018 at 7pm at Synapsis Nova, 212 G St. in Eureka. You can hear the entire interview on KHUM.
Delivering Palliative Care to Medicaid Patients in California
by Anne Kinderman, MD, and Kathleen Kerr, BA, at Palliative in Practice, A CAPC blog discussing pertinent issues across the full spectrum of palliative care, 4/23/18 "Understanding how the needs of the Medicaid population are distinct, and developing policy and care delivery strategies that address those needs, is critical to ensuring that all individuals have access to the right care, in the right setting, at the right time. In California, providers, payers, and policy leaders have adopted strategies for doing just that. ... "By tracking the needs of such patients and the possible/preferred methods of meeting those needs, the ResolutionCare team has [...]
Palliative Care: A Better Life At The End Of Life
by David Shifrin at healthfurther.com, 3/21/18 “Fratkin’s goal is to help people understand and experience the naturalness of death and to complete their lives well. “ 'Everyone has the opportunity to heal up until the very last moments of their life and to come to terms with their life and to feel reconciled and to let go of some of the trauma and pain that they have. And that’s what inspires and motivates us, is to make sure that they’re comfortable […] work from the bottom of Maslow’s Hierarchy all the way up and take it as far as it’s [...]
A Fresh Model Of Home Care For The Chronically Ill, On KZYX Mendocino Works
An interview with Dr. Fratkin and Lynn Dress-Meadows by Jeffrey Parker on KZYX Mendocino Works "Restoring tradition, ResolutionCare and Mendocino Care Network return the center of care and support to the home by seeing patients only with house calls and virtual house calls. ResolutionCare extends access to specialty palliative care clinical services to people with serious illness in their homes through the innovative use of telemedicine technology, a nimble interdisciplinary team, and value-based payment models" Listen to the interview at KZYX.org
How to Improve Care Giver Well-Being with Dr. Michael Fratkin, Director/Founder at ResolutionCare
An interview by Saul Marquez of the Outcomes Rocket podcast "Resolution care is simply of a manifestation of that kind of thinking. That kind of thinking integrated into a complicated crazy healthcare system ... taking advantage of the economics of incenting outcomes that we wish to get to rather than the fee-for-service structure which has constrained our ability to grow and better manage the well-being of our society mates. So, by leveraging value-based payment and structuring our relationship to health plans, not in an antagonistic fashion but actually in alignment around that quadruple aim--well, now we're paddling in the same [...]
Navigating Grief and Condolences
by Mica B. Estrada for the Psychology Today Blog "This experience [with my grandmother's death] made me realize it isn’t easy to know what deeds or words to provide to people when they are in the midst of grief. To learn more about what is helpful, I asked Carl Magruder, a Hospice and Palliative Care Chaplain with ResolutionCare, what his advice would be for people wanting to be supportive, kind and helpful to someone who just experienced a significant loss. These are the words he offered: "Transcend your desire to make it better. The spiritual paradox of creating a space [...]
Dying and Destitute
by Thadeus Greenson for the North Coast Journal "Craig and Lisa Smith are running out of time. They’re dying. He has congestive heart failure and a cancer eating at his kidney. She has a severe respiratory illness and spends her nights plugged into an oxygen concentrator. But that’s not what they’re talking about today, sitting in the bed where they spend most of their lives these days in a cramped but tidy apartment at 833 H St. in Eureka. ... "Nikki Lang sits on the corner of the bed. She’s a social worker with Resolution Care, the palliative care team [...]
“It’s Personal” on the Death by Design Podcast
Interview with Dr. Fratkin by Kimberly Paul on the Death by Design Podcast "We simply are a specialty of medicine, an interdisciplinary team, a group of inspired individuals focused on two things ... number one, symptom control and … number two, we help people and their families to navigate, to make their way through what can be incredibly complicated medical situations … The people we take care of are up against it." Listen to the entire interview at the Death by Design Podcast.
Resolution Care’s Short Films offer Intimate and Inspiring Portraits at the End of Life
On KHSU Magazine, 10/9/17 "Dr. Michael Fratkin, founder of Resolution Care, a home-based, palliative care program, came by the KHSU Magazine to talk about Resolution Care's collection of short films titled AS SIMPLE AS ASKING. These intimate portraits offer words of wisdom from people facing the end of their lives." Listen to KHSU Magazine's interview with Dr. Fratkin and their discussion of "As Simple As Asking."
Hospice in Crisis
by Joanne Kennen for The Agenda. "In an isolated rural stretch of Northern California, Dr. Michael Fratkin, founder of a company called Resolution Care, is 'virtually visiting' seriously ill patients at home with a phone, a laptop, and free teleconferencing software. Many of Fratkin’s patients have scant family support; in addition to physical illness, some are dealing with poverty, food insecurity, and homelessness. He makes in-person visits, too, as do nurses and community health workers. The care he provides is not hospice, but it’s similar, paid for by Medicaid managed care plans in California and a few big insurers." Read [...]
Grief in the time of social media
By Angela Gargano on Stanford Medicine's Scope Blog "A palliative care doctor, Fratkin has had about 2,000 patients die over the last 11 years, and when patients died it often felt as if they had just 'disappeared into the blackness.' But things are now changing, he said, as the digital world offers important tools to help him connect with patients and grieving families." Read Gargano's report on the Stanford Medicine X panel, "Grief in the Digital Age," which Dr. Fratkin participated in, at the Scope Blog.
Hacking the Future of People Caring for People
Watch Dr. Fratkin's talk, "Hacking the Future of People Caring for People," for the Ungerleider Palliative Care Fund's Lecture Series on the Ungerleider Palliative Care Fund's Facebook page. "I don't have to tell you that this healthcare system that we have, the delivery of medical technology to serve people is broken."
Models and Strategies to Integrate Palliative Care Principles into Serious Illness Care: A Workshop
Watch Dr. Fratkin talk about "Models and Strategies to Integrate Palliative Care Principles into Serious Illness Care" here or at The National Academies of Science, Engineering, Medicine website. "ResolutionCare is a pope-powered, technology-enabled, home-based palliative care initiative, arising from the soil of where I live in very far northern California, Humboldt County ... Our mission is to bring capable and compassionate care to everybody, everywhere in the face of serious illness."
“Where a doctor saw a treatable cancer, a patient saw an evil spirit”
by Bob Tedeschi at Statnews.com, 6/30/17 "After a doctor delivered what he thought was good news to a patient with cancer, he was met with a response he never expected." Read all of Tedeschi's article about Dr. Fratkin's experience with a patient's different worldview at Statnews.com.
Palliative Care in Rural America: An Interview with Michael Fratkin
Interview with Eric Widera and Alex Smith at GeriPal: A Geriatrics and Palliative Care Blog, 4/25/17 "Alex: What are the main services you provide? If you had to summarize, we see mostly this kind of patient, and these are the main issues that come up that we address. Michael: I'm just going to say, for all of our listeners, and for you guys, the main ingredient of palliative care is love and respect. That's what we provide, and we do that wearing our nurse hat, doctor hat, social worker hat, community health worker hat, etc. That looks like palliative care [...]
Telehealth Is Opening Doors for Hospice and Palliative Care
by Larry Beresford at AAHPM, 3/29/17 "Michael Fratkin, MD, a palliative care physician and telehealth champion in Eureka, CA, has led development of a service called ResolutionCare that covers rural expanses of the state’s rugged North Coast—with an integral role for telehealth. ResolutionCare is pioneering a hybrid programmatic design for palliative care combining videoconferencing, mobile health applications, telephonic support, and on-the-ground care, covered under value-based contracts with managed care organizations. It also is building an infrastructure to remotely offer education and support to palliative care teams in other communities." Read the rest of Beresford's article at aahpm.org.
Cabernet Over Chemo: 4 Physicians, 4 Lessons
by Matt Perry in California Health Report, 3/21/17 “It happened because I asked the community what they needed,” said Fratkin. “I turned my attention away from big systems and health plans and turned it towards neighbors and the people I cared for.” Read the rest of Perry's article about palliative care physicians at the annual Coalition for Compassionate Care of California conference in Sacramento in California Health Report.
Community-Based Palliative Care–California leading the way
by Sue Montgomery, RN, BSN, CHPN at workingnurse.com, 3/21/17 "One of those leaders is Michael Fratkin, M.D., president and founder of ResolutionCare, a community-based palliative care provider and educator in Northern California. Fratkin is a pioneer, both in California and across the nation, in making the most of technology to shift the center of care and support to patients in their own homes, no matter where they may be. Fratkin says that although the healthcare industry has recently had increased calls for person-centered care, the palliative care community has long embraced that model. 'It’s the way we approach caring holistically [...]
Dr. Fratkin is an Enabler
by Kathy Kastner in the End of Life Blog at best endings, 3/13/17 “Most of my healing has little to do with medicine.” “My approach has more to do with being there, listening and helping people with a different approach.” Fratkin, entrepreneur creator of Resolution Care, is a Palliative doctor whose conversations enable people to see things differently. Read the rest of Kathy's interview with Michael in the End of Life Blog at best endings.
Welcome to the Future: Telemedicine and Value-Based Payment
by Michael D. Fratkin, MD, and Stephen G. Franey, MBA at AJMC.com, December 9, 2016 "What we’re doing, as palliative care specialists at ResolutionCare, is what we call Telemedicine 3.0. In some ways, version 3.0 represents the evolution of the technology so that it can disappear— and thus allow for the return of the deep relational work that’s always been at the heart of caring. We’re using these technologies to reach people with ease via technology they already have at their fingertips (or that we provide) to reach them in their homes, to unburden them from travel and transport, and [...]
Emergence of the corporate palliative care sector
by Larry Beresford in The Lancet Blog, November 29, 2016 In his article, Beresford calls ResolutionCare "An Upstart Startup Outsider in Corporate Palliative Care." Read the entire piece at The Lancet Blog.
Dr. Michael Fratkin is a “Healthcare Entrepreneur to Know”
Dr. Fratkin was mentioned in Becker's Hospital Review's list of "137 Healthcare Entrepreneurs to Know" "Michael Fratkin, MD, is the founder and president of ResolutionCare, the first crowdfunded healthcare start-up B-corporation delivering hands-on and telemedicine palliative care in rural North California." See the whole list at Becker's Hospital Review.
Mind the Gap
by Michael Fratkin at emmisolutions.com. October 18, 2016 "The practice of medicine is a dance that occurs in the gap between what we know and what we don’t know. The practice of palliative care, my specialty, is uniquely positioned to serve people of all backgrounds and circumstances as they navigate their paths in the face of serious and progressive illnesses of all sorts. The consensus definition is straightforward: Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with serious illness. It focuses on providing patients with relief from the symptoms, pain and stress of a serious illness—whatever the diagnosis. The goal is to improve [...]
What Happens When It’s You?
by Michael Fratkin at Pallimed.org. July 30, 2016 "Many of us are now facing the tragedy of our aging parents as Palliative Care professionals. Do we really need any further experience with the failings of our healthcare system and the failings of our social structures to provide even the most basic needs for our elders?" Read the rest of Michael's commentary on the Pallimed blog.
TOTALLY Awesome Progress in Palliative Care at ResolutionCare
Interview with Joe Lavelle at intrepidNOW, August 26, 2016 "Dr. Fratkin re-joined us to update us on how his practice has incorporated telemedicine to deliver better and more accessible palliative care. We are so excited to share their TOTALLY Awesome Progress in Palliative Care at ResolutionCare!" Listen here or at intrepidNow.
Using Technology to Support Palliative Care
Interview on Bottom Line Radio, July 27, 2016 On this episode of Bottom Line Radio: Geri Lynn Baumblatt, Executive Director of Patient Engagement at Emmi, interviews Torrie Fields, Senior Program Manager of Palliative Care at Blue Shield of California and Dr. Michael Fratkin, President and Founder of Resolution Care. Together they discuss pain points in the palliative care space and how technology can support palliative care conversations by creating comfortable environments for people to consider their healthcare preferences. Listen to the podcast here or at Bottom Line Blog & Radio.
Cool Science Radio
Interview on Cool Science Radio with Lynn Ware Peek and Tim Henney 6/30/16 "Lynn Ware Peek and guest co-host Tim Henney speak about a growing medical industry, palliative care, known as end-of-life care. Mr. Michael Fratkin specializes in this type of medical care at Resolution Care in Arcata, California. www.resolutioncare.com." Listen to the entire interview, encompassing the growing attention to end-of-life issues in our society and the role of palliative care, at Cool Science Radio.
First Person: Michael Fratkin, Resolution Care, on Systems and Human Relationships (Video Interview)
by Jim Rosenberg on OpenIDEO "Michael Fratkin is the founder of Resolution Care, a palliative care group that has helped over 1100 people at the end of life. Michael has been a doctor for over 28 years and started Resolution Care to 'empower patients, to the end.' He's a very open, honest speaker who allows his full self to come out in his work and his conversation." Watch the rest of the video clips of Jim Rosenberg's interview with Michael at OpenIDEO
Palliative Care Conference Challenges with a Call to Action
When the CSU Institute for Palliative Care at Cal State San Marcos teamed with the San Diego Chapter of the Coalition for Compassionate Care, the groups launched a much-needed plan to host a conference on all things palliative for San Diego-area health professionals. As a result, a one-day conference, the first in a prospective series of similar events, is being held on the Cal State San Marcos campus on Friday, June 10, 2016. ... Michael Fratkin, M.D., founder of ResolutionCare in California, will be the final general session presenter. Dr. Fratkin, a true visionary and a featured TEDx Talk presenter, [...]
Michael Fratkin, Founder of ResolutionCare
from Doctor/Preneurs 5/4/16 How did the idea for ResolutionCare come about? The idea was borne out of frustration with the unworkable nature of the US healthcare system, with its questionable economic incentives. The fee for service economics pushed me in the corner. I explored videoconferencing through Google Helpouts [now closed down] and discovered I could use it to provide a tech-enabled, home-centered palliative care program. Then I discovered a concept called “tele-mentoring” through Project ECHO and realized I could sort of clone myself by sharing what I know where it can make a big difference. ... Read the entire Doctor/Preneurs interview.
ResolutionCare Proves that Telemedicine Can Thrive in the Unlikeliest of Places – At the End of Life
from TeleMedMag 3/10/16 "Can telemedicine save the soul of palliative care? Dr. Michael Fratkin tells us how virtually delivered palliative care lightens the load of dying patients, increases the effectiveness of pressured providers, and elevates the role of ‘healers’ in the healthcare of the future." Read the entire interview at TeleMedMag, Charting Healthcare's Digital Future.
Palliative Care Physician-Partner Opening
ResolutionCare seeks the most inspired, qualified and adventurous palliative medicine physician as a partner in our groundbreaking enterprise. It’s a unique opportunity to redefine medicine by joining our team as we restore the tradition of person centered home care through the soulful application of technology. This incredible transdisciplinary team supports people and families to chart their own path on their own terms in the face of serious illness. It’s a rare opportunity to participate in creating the future of healthcare. ResolutionCare seeks a Board Certified/Board Eligible Palliative Care physician-partner to extend our clinical capacity, provide mentorship for our growing team, [...]
ResolutionCare on Good Grief with Cheryl Jones
Listen to Cheryl Jones' interview with ResolutionCare's Michael Fratkin, M.D. here or at VoiceAmerica. "The obstacles to exercising our own choices at the end of our lives sometimes seem impossible to overcome. We are part of a culture that refuses to accept death, a medical system that reflects that culture and a lack of capable help in navigating an unfamiliar territory. When we add geographic impediments, once travel becomes difficult, a rural death can be particularly isolating. Micheal Fratkin, a doctor working in hospice and palliative care, felt compelled to do something about it. ResolutionCare, the organization he founded, integrates [...]
Telemedicine and the Changing Healthcare Landscape in America
by Michael Fratkin, M.D. at MedTechEvents. "As a palliative care physician, I’m not really a technology guy. My choices in gizmos reflect this…the intuitive Apple computer, Zoom videoconferencing, athenahealth’s EMR, etc… My view of “meaningful use” is very different than that of the Department of Health and Human Services." Read the rest of Michael's article at http://medtechevents.blogspot.in.
Telemedicine doc: Value-based payment will restore physicians’ role as part of care teams
by Neil Versel at MedCityNews. “Doctors need to be the stewards of the relationship,” Fratkin said in a video chat that was not recorded. “Wise guidance is what’s missing.” Yes, guidance, not authoritarian decision-making. “We will restore the role of the physician,” Fratkin added. “But it will be team-based and what the patient deems appropriate.” Read the rest of the article at MedCityNews.
Bringing Capable and Compassionate Palliative Care as Life Approaches Completion
Interview of Michael by the Death Chicks, 11/12/15 Join the Death Chicks for an electrifying conversation with the Founder of ResolutionCare, Dr. Michael Fratkin. Watch the video here or on YouTube.
“Niche-ifying” telemedicine with MedHeads on MedCityNews
Telemedicine is going niche on MedHeads 11/13/15 "The MedCity News team was joined by special guest Dr. Michael Fratkin this week on MedHeads to discuss how issues like reimbursement, interconnectivity and “niche-ification” are impacting the current state of telemedicine." Watch the segment here or at MedCityNews.
Telemedicine and the changing healthcare landscape in America
by Michael Fratkin at MedCityNews. "As a palliative care physician, I’m not really a technology guy. My choices in gizmos reflect this…the intuitive Apple computer, Zoom videoconferencing, athenahealth’s EMR, etc… My view of “meaningful use” is very different than that of the Department of Health and Human Services. "While they define 'meaningful' with a carrot and a stick, I tend to define it in relational terms. "As somebody who has worked with thousands of patients approaching the end of their lives, I have come to realize that in all of human history, people have never suffered in the approach to dying as they do [...]
The Strange Landscape of Living and Dying in the United States
by Michael Fratkin at KevinMD, social media's leading physician voice. "The extraordinary pain of many people around you is unaddressed, and the scale of that unmet need would shock you if you saw it. Compartments of privacy separate you from the experience of your neighbors and even your own families. I understand that you have been unaware as well as hopeful that our medical system will either fix the problems or, at least, soothe the pain. It does neither consistently. The grappling of human beings to make sense out of the fact that they die has only been hiding in [...]
UPDATE: Gov. Brown Approves Right-to-Die Bill
by Grant Scott-Goforth in the NorthCoast Journal online, October 06, 2015 "Local doctor Michael Fratkin, who began the palliative care program ResolutionCare featured in the Journal here, emailed the following response to the news that Gov. Brown had signed the bill." Read the rest of the article at the NorthCoast Journal.
Dr. Michael Fratkin on Life, Death and Palliative Care
Podcast by Socrates at Singularity Weblog, 9/19/2015 "Whether we like it or not, the current reality is that every day 150,000 people die. And while I have no doubt that one day humanity will defeat death of old age, like anyone else, I am not guaranteed that I will be alive to benefit personally from such a radical development." Read the article, listen to the podcast or view the video at the Singularity Weblog.
Why Haven’t They Been Listening? An Interview with Zubin Damania
Michael's interview of ZDoggMD at Pallimed.org "The ground is shifting under our feet as our society seems finally to be looking at the nature of human mortality and the way we care for each other…or don’t…as we complete our lives. Zubin Damania, MD aka ZDoggMD is now part of that conversation since the release of “Ain’t the Way to Die” his first not-so-funny medical parody music video focused on how we so many of us die in the hospital in a not-so-funny way."
PBS features Resolution Care palliative telemedicine
by Neil Versel in MedCityNews, August 24, 2015 "Remember back in May when we told you about Dr. Michael Fratkin and his remote palliative care startup, Resolution Care? Word seems to be getting around. Fratkin and Resolution Care were featured on “PBS NewsHour” last week in a substantial 7-minute 'Breakthroughs' segment." Read the entire article at MedCityNews.
Local Doctor’s End-of-Life Telemedicine Project Featured on PBS NewsHour
by Ryan Burns in the Lost Coast Outpost, August 19, 2015 "Last night’s episode of the PBS NewsHour featured a seven-minute segment on the work of Dr. Michael Fratkin, the Humboldt County internist who last year launched a program called ResolutionCare that offers palliative care to people facing terminal illness. Fratkin often confers with his far-flung rural patients in their own homes through videoconferencing." Read the entire article at the Lost Coast Outpost.
ResolutionCare on PBS Newshour
August 18, 2015: "Telemedicine connects rural patients nearing the end of life"
Why haven’t they been listening?
Pallimed ZDoggMD Interview by Michael Fratkin MD at ResolutionCare "Why haven't they been listening?" An Interview with Zubin Damania, MD aka ZDoggMD with Michael Fratkin, MD of ResolutionCare. The ground is shifting under our feet as our society seems finally to be looking at the nature of human mortality and the way we care for each other…or don’t…as we complete our lives. Zubin Damania, MD aka ZDoggMD is now part of that conversation since the release of “Ain’t the Way to Die” his first not-so-funny medical parody music video focused on how we so many of us die in [...]
Cool Science
John Wells and Lynn Ware Peek of KPCW radio in Park City, Utah interview Michael on their show Cool Science, August 13, 2015. ResolutionCare is featured in the second segment, beginning about the 28:00 minute mark. "When you take a person who's seriously ill and import them into the system, they become patients, no one really looks directly at them," said Michael Fratkin, an internist and founder of ResolutionCare. "When you see people in the home, they're people."
Unusual Entrepreneur Interview
by Tito Philips, Jnr. in naijapreneur "In today’s edition of the Unusual Entrepreneurs Interview, I have on the hot seat a medical Doctor whose passion for palliative care – specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses moved him to embark on the entrepreneur’s journey. I present to you Dr. Michael D. Fratkin, the founder of ResolutionCare – a community based palliative care startup dedicated to empowering patients, till the very end!" Read the entire article at naijapreneur.
Death in America: Dealing with an Uncomfortable Subject
by Michael Fratkin in MedCityNews "Death is inevitable. How we deal with it, culturally and medically, is a topic that has generated lots of interest of late. There are as many ways of dealing with the end of life (or not dealing with it), as there are people who die. In my practice, I see them all ... And now, the challenges all of us face of the end of life has its own music video. That’s right. A good friend of mine and fellow physician, Zubin Damania, M.D. is the Director of Healthcare Development for Downtown Project Las Vegas, an [...]
‘Visionary’ Pilot Targets Palliative Care
by David Gorn in California Healthline online "A Medi-Cal managed care pilot program announced last week in Humboldt County will try a team-based, telemedicine-enabled approach to palliative care for patients with serious illnesses." Read the entire article, published July 21st, 2015, at California Healthline online.
ResolutionCare Fund Deploys Project Echo with Partnership HealthPlan of California
Press Release RESOLUTIONCARE FUND DEPLOYS PROJECT ECHO WITH PARTNERSHIP HEALTHPLAN OF CALIFORNIA Powerful learning model acts as a force multiplier; extending the reach of limited hospice and palliative care medicine resources and training “Primary Palliative Care Champions” EUREKA, CA – JULY 10, 2015 –ResolutionCare FUND, an innovator in providing hospice and palliative care medicine (HPM) services and fiscally sponsored project of Community Initiatives, working with Partnership HealthPlan of California (PHC) announced today that it will deploy a unique learning model called Project ECHO® in a nine-month pilot program to extend the reach of limited specialist hospice and palliative care resources by training primary care teams as “Primary [...]
Local Palliative Care Outfit Launches Pilot Program
by Grant Scott-Goforth in the North Coast Journal UPDATE: "ResolutionCare has launched its education portion, Project ECHO, in a nine-month pilot program, also in conjunction with Partnership HealthPlan of California. Project ECHO uses a hub and spoke model to "demonopolize the scarce resource of a palliative care team," according to a press release" This article update on the partnership between ResolutionCare and Partnership HealthPlan of California was published on July 15, 2015. You can read more at the North Coast Journal online.
ResolutionCare Announces Launch of Palliative Care Pilot Program with Partnership HealthPlan of California
Press Release RESOLUTIONCARE LAUNCHES PALLIATIVE CARE PILOT PROGRAM WITH PARTNERSHIP HEALTHPLAN OF CALIFORNIA Hospice and palliative medicine innovator expands access to services for Partnership HealthPlan of California members EUREKA, CA – JULY 13, 2015 –ResolutionCare, an innovator in providing hospice and palliative care medicine (HPM) services today announced the launch of a pilot program to provide access to comprehensive home-based palliative care for members of Partnership HealthPlan of California (PHC). PHC is a non-profit, community based health care organization that contracts with the State to administer Medi-Cal benefits through local care providers to ensure Medi-Cal recipients have access to high-quality, comprehensive and cost-effective healthcare. The organization has [...]
Innovative Use of Technology for Palliative Care
by Karen Ayers in Oncology Nursing News "With concern, you have just sent your patient home from the oncology clinic where you work. She’s just heard the results of her latest imaging studies and learned that her cancer has progressed, despite the efforts with first-line agents. You’ve seen her lose weight, slow down, and have trouble thinking and remembering things. You’re not sure how much support she has at home. You know that she’s been scheduled to start the second-line treatment soon. This is really taking a toll on her. " Read the rest of Karen Ayers' article at Oncology Nursing [...]
Change is Good, but Let’s Remember: Innovation Follows Inspiration, Not Technology
by Michael Fratkin in MedCityNews “I’m not really a technology guy. My choices in gizmos reflect this… the intuitive Apple computer, Zoom videoconferencing, athenahealth’s EMR, etc… My view of “meaningful use” is very different that that of the Department of Health and Human Services. While they define “meaningful” with a carrot and a stick, I tend to define in relational terms. To me, the amazing technology at our fingertips is only as valuable as its ability to serve and support our relationship to each other and to our collective wellbeing. And most importantly, to the patients we serve.” Read Michael’s entire [...]
The Art of Living and Dying: A Workshop with Dr. Fratkin
“Our goal in this workshop is to move people towards a greater acceptance of death. In order to do that we must accept life. To live more fully and be more present. People often don’t talk about death because they fear it. The fear of death is rooted in the fact that people fail to observe the death process. We can start to overcome that fear by doing exactly what we have done today. Talking openly and honeslty about it. We can take it further by serving others in the dying process.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuPnjcq3nlQ
ResolutionCare, Virtual Photo Walks and Zoom Announce Partnership
ResolutionCare would like to introduce this community to a new friend and partner, John Butterill. A professional photographer living in rural Ontario, John simply attached one tool (his camera) to another (his smartphone) and discovered an amazing opportunity to provide freedom to the isolated, the disabled, and the shut in. Read the Press Release. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1Uv7as5ZmI Visit the Virtual Photo Walks website to learn more about John’s innovative project.
An Interview with Dr. Fratkin on The Journey Podcast
An interview with Michael on The Journey Podcast, produced by Quality of Life Care, LLC, the world’s first podcast devoted to palliative care.
“Empowering Patients, to the End” HealthLeaders Magazine Interview with Dr. Fratkin
by Ryan Chiavetta in HealthLeaders Magazine “…[W]hen you take a person out of the constraints of their role as a patient, you restructure and orient the central focus of care back on them and their lives, rather than the disease and its treatment.” This article on Michael and ResolutionCare was published in the May edition of HealthLeaders Magazine.
ResolutionCare on NPR’s All Things Considered
Dr. Fratkin and his work featured on NPR. Fratkin is an internist and specialist in palliative medicine. He’s the guy who comes in when the cancer doctors first deliver a serious diagnosis. He manages medications to control symptoms like pain, nausea and breathlessness. And he helps people manage their fears about dying, and make choices about what treatments they’re willing — and not willing — to undergo. In rural Humboldt County, in the far northern reaches of California, Fratkin is essentially the only doctor in a 120-mile stretch who does what he does. Read the full transcript on the NPR Blog.
Crowdfunding Campaign Fully Funded (and Then Some)!
We reached 137% of our goal on Indiegogo, which will allow us to get ResolutionCare off to a great start. However, to help us fully implement our program, you can still donate to the nonprofit arm of ResolutionCare through Community Initiatives by clicking the button below. When you fill in your information, don’t forget to choose “ResolutionCare” from the dropdown menu in the section that reads “If you have a special purpose for your donation, please let us know.” Thank you! Donate at Community Initiatives