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Cost-saving isn’t the only reason to enroll in a Medicare Advantage Plan. One of the main reasons Medicare beneficiaries in Nevada join a Senior Care Plus Medicare Advantage Plan is for the care coordination services. The Senior Care Plus Care Coordination team helps members navigate what can be a complex healthcare system. Care coordination is a popular and extremely important service for members because keeping members healthy is the number one goal. One way they help reach this goal is to encourage members to participate in a no-cost, comprehensive health assessment. At this Quick Start Health Assessment, members meet with a geriatric specialist – a provider who specializes in the care of seniors – to discuss the 4 Ms: Mentation – Thinking, memory and mental health Medications – Understanding your medication Mobility – Staying physically active What Matters to You – Let your provider know what is important to you – examples could be family, health and independence The results of this detailed visit are then shared with the member’s primary care provider, so a customized care plan can be developed. This is a free service for Senior Care Plus members, along with an annual wellness visit and an annual physical exam. Care Team Approach – Laying the Foundation to Improve Health Health assessments and annual visits are offered so Renown Health providers can build relationships to improve care. This approach, also known as the Building Relationships to Improve Care or BRIC Model, is the care model used across Renown Health. “What’s special about this care model is that it really puts our patients at the center of their care,” says Savannah Gonsalves, a registered nurse with Senior Care Plus. “Members have their providers and nurses, Senior Care Plus personal assistants, case managers, and within the BRIC Model, they’re all talking to one another and putting the focus on the patient to meet needs.” Personal Assistants – A Unique Connection to Each Member A team of personal assistants is available to help members coordinate care by: Scheduling a member’s appointments Answering a member’s benefits questions Helping navigate care – these are experts in both health insurance and healthcare Answering questions about medications Working with providers to coordinate a member’s care The Senior Care Plus personal assistants are one of the most popular services that the Medicare Advantage plan offers. Each personal assistant has a direct phone line so members can call them to ask questions. “After my hip surgery my personal assistant, Megan checked in on me every day,” recalls Janelle, a Senior Care Plus member. “She made sure that I was doing alright and that I didn’t need anything. She just let me know that she was there for me.” To Learn More Senior Care Plus is the largest Medicare Advantage Plan in northern Nevada. They offer $0 plans with low co-pays with access to Renown Health and Teladoc Virtual Visits that cover you nationwide. To learn more about Medicare Advantage plans and to see if you qualify, visit SeniorCarePlus.com or call 775-982-3158 to speak to an enrollment specialist.

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Breast cancer screening has long been a cornerstone of women's healthcare. With 1 in 8 women diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime1, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has developed screening recommendations to help detect early-stage cancer. Notably in 2023, the USPSTF revised the recommended age for biennial mammogram screenings for women with average risk to start at age 40 instead of 502, estimated to result in 19% more lives being saved3 by starting screening earlier. While initiating screening at an earlier age offers advantages to a wide demographic, concerns about the potential of over-screening prompted research into the feasibility of identifying women with lower breast cancer risk who could safely delay mammograms. While guidelines address high-risk individuals, a notable gap exists in providing recommendations tailored to those at lower risk. To gain insight into a patient's risk level, physicians are able to utilize genetic testing to understand an individual's genetic makeup, providing precise insights into their predisposition to various health conditions, including breast cancer. Armed with this genetic information, healthcare providers could craft tailored screening strategies that align with an individual’s specific risk profile. This genetic risk-based approach underscores the value of genetics in individualizing the onset of screening to help avoid over-screening and its associated costs. Surprisingly, genetic information is not currently being widely utilized to identify women at risk of breast cancer or other diseases in clinical practice, despite its potential to make a significant positive impact for patients. A recent retrospective analysis of 25,591 women from the Healthy Nevada Project4 sheds light on the potential benefits of this genetic risk-based approach. The study classified 2,338 (9.1%) of these women as having a low genetic risk for breast cancer. What's remarkable is that these women exhibited a significantly lower and later onset of breast cancer compared to their average or high-risk counterparts. This finding suggests that it might be safe for low-risk women to delay mammogram screening by 5 to 10 years without compromising their health.

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