Tenn. Clinic Serving IDD Adults Closing
Please help us #SaveKramerDavis
KramerDavis Health, Tennessee’s only clinic serving adults who have complex intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), lost its funding and is closing by month’s end. Employees and patient families were notified late last week. Six hundred and fifty individuals will lose health, dental, and behavioral care, as well as needed speech, physical, and occupational therapies as a result. The clinic also provides nutritional and psychiatric health services.
Yet, clinic co-founder Dr. Matt Holder, MD, MBA, is hopeful that with citizen input and state governmental intervention from Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, that funding for the next two years will enable the unique facility to become self-sustaining. Holder believes that the clinic more than pays for itself with quickly-realized healthcare savings.
Why this matters: Adults with IDD, who often have complicated health issues, are highly underserved, are often misdiagnosed, are extremely overmedicated, and find themselves forced into ERs, hospitals and ICUs more than necessary. Said Holder, "I can tell you horror stories of simple UTIs, dental pain, or other easily treated issues that ended up costing hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical misadventures that threatened the patient's life, all because the healthcare system doesn't know how to approach these patients."
When proper care is provided, explained Holder, it saves the government and taxpayers money and the patients have improved health outcomes. Preliminary data suggests that KramerDavis reduces the overall cost of care for its patients—who are reliant on Medicaid—by a whopping 44 percent. Initial data also showed large and significant decreases in ER visits, hospital admissions, and readmissions.
Currently, KramerDavis serves individuals from 52 Tennessee counties, which is 55% of the Volunteer state’s counties. Families, desperate for IDD-informed care, travel up to four hours, one-way, to reach the facility. Until recently, many Tennesseans with IDD had no access to dental care, plus, some disabilities have exacerbated dental issues.
Said Holder, “It would be a terrible shame if KramerDavis is forced to close. Without IDD-informed medical specialists, these individuals receive terrible healthcare. KramerDavis solves that problem and saves the government money. Yet, without continued funding, we can't access those savings."
Holder is asking Governor Lee for temporary financial assistance. “We would greatly appreciate if Gov. Lee would step in to use shared savings with discretionary dollars to help us out one time to make it through the next couple of years to get enough additional patients and become self-sustaining. That way everyone wins—the individuals with IDD, their families, and the state.”
”This is not chump change, but it’s not a ridiculous amount either,” added Holder. “We have the support of the disability advocacy community because we provide a service that no one else does for the state.”
Sixteen percent of every Medicaid dollar goes to the IDD population, and yet almost no doctors are trained to care for the adult IDD population which is why, Holder says, healthcare outcomes are worse and costs are higher. “Everyone wants to do something about healthcare and this is a real opportunity for the state of Tennessee to do something that is both fiscally and socially responsible.”
Holder has a decades-long proven track record with the Lee Specialty Clinic, which he co-founded in Louisville, KY. Lee Clinic is funded by Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Department of Behavioral Health Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities.
KramerDavis was established approximately two years ago with the help of a group of investors. But, with the convoluted nature of the healthcare payment structure, the clinic hasn't been able to work with all insurance companies in the proper way to pay for the time that people with complex disabilities need in order to prevent them going to ERs and hospitals unnecessarily.
"Unfortunately, the private funding for the clinic dried up, so we are now turning to public sources to see this through. At the governmental level, we are saving the taxpayer a lot of money, we just need time to work with all of the entities in the healthcare infrastructure to get on even footing.”
The Kramer Davis Clinic has been built to accommodate more than two to three thousand patients. Holder estimates that there are about 10,000 people in TN who have complex IDD and could benefit from a clinic such as Kramer Davis.
"We just need time to reach them, I truly hope the Governor can help."
If you’re in Tennessee or have Tennessee connections, will you share this post through email or Substack and on your personal and group social media platforms? (Use the hashtag: #SaveKramerDavis ) Will you call or email your state representative and senator and Gov. Bill Lee and ask them to save healthcare for 650 individuals with IDD who desperately need KramerDavis to remain in operation? #SaveKramerDavis
Talking Points:
-650 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities are losing the only specialized healthcare option they have in the state.
-Providing informed care to the IDD population saves the state money.
-Temporary funding from the Governor Bill Lee for two years will enable KramerDavis to become self-sustaining.
https://kd.health/savekramerdavis/
Woo-hoo! Restacked by Aftyn Behn! Thank you! I heard you were already on this. Thank you, dear one! You rock, sister!