What Holistic Healthcare Looks Like in Senior living according to Dr. Rocky Samuel, MD

The True Value of Holistic Primary Care

This episode discusses the importance and benefits of holistic medicine within primary care. It emphasizes that value-based care is more cost-effective than the current fragmented healthcare system. The conversation between Erin and Dr. Rocky highlights the role of primary care physicians in improving patient outcomes by addressing both physical and emotional health, promoting independence, and enhancing overall wellness. The focus is on looking at patients as whole individuals rather than just addressing individual symptoms.

You can contact Dr. Rocky Samuel, CMO with Troupe Health, with the below information:

rocky.samuel@troupehealth.com
www.troupehealth.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rockysamuel/

Office: (332) 895-3363 

00:00 Introduction to Dr. Rocky Samuel
00:10 Challenges in the Current Healthcare System
00:25 The Role of Primary Care Physicians
00:32 Improving Patient Medications and Independence
00:54 The True Meaning of Value in Healthcare
00:56 Holistic Approach to Patient Care

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Transcript

Erin: 0:35

Hello again, it is Aaron from aspire for more with Aaron and I have probably one of the most educated guests ever on my episode today, although he's shaking his head, but let me tell you, he has two degrees from Harvard business. And medical. I like humility. I love humility. But come on, let's give Dr. Rocky Samuel a little respect for what he's been able to accomplish. Not only two degrees from Harvard, but he's also the chief medical officer for Troop Health. So welcome, Dr. Rocky Samuel. How are you?

Dr. Rocky Samuel: 1:15

Great. Great. Thank you, Aaron. It's an honor to be here. I am, as I am a big fan of your podcast and I have learned a ton. and, I was just listening to today. so it's great to be here and it's great to talk with you, today.

Erin: 1:30

So tell us about what, troop health is. Or maybe we should ask you, how was Harvard? Was it hard? Did you have to study hard?

Dr. Rocky Samuel: 1:38

And I'll tell you the truth, right? so I slipped through the cracks, right? I had this kid from Sacramento, California, never thought I would leave California, somehow got in and, and that was what made me leave California. and, when I got there, I was so impressed. With all the people around me, incredible people, smart, caring, passionate, work, incredibly hard geniuses, but the healthcare system that they were in. Was stopping their hard work from actually making a good for patients for the patients that we were seeing. And so that's what inspired me to get an MBA and to really focus on how we can deliver health care in a better way. Because we know there's great providers out there. there's great people who want to care for residents and patients, but sometimes the system is broken and needs to be. Needs to be fixed. And so that's what I've, that's what my passion was. And as is, and keeping folks out of the hospital and serving vulnerable populations like seniors. it's great. and Harvard specifically, I'll tell you a little secret. so when you get to Harvard, the secret is, you study hard. Everybody's really like working hard. they spend their whole lives. Trying to like to work hard and be the best so they purposely never ranked us like you never knew like we were ranking and every class was pass fail, really just, because they knew that we were passionate and we would work hard. they didn't know we knew we weren't lazy, but they also didn't want us to be too stressed out and not be good people to one another. So they made the pass fail. and the funny joke was that it's not pass fail, it's pass now or pass later. So that was the common phrase at, in med school.

Erin: 3:27

I like that. I like that. So Yes, business in healthcare, healthcare is a business, and ROI are like the magical three letters. There's no other letters in the alphabet in healthcare and business than the letter R, the letter O, and the letter I. And it's interesting that you have started Or a part of a company, Troop Health, where you put your two passions together. And this is value based care. And I am super excited to learn more about the buzzword, value based care. So can you educate us, and me, on What is value based care?

Dr. Rocky Samuel: 4:13

It would be a pleasure. It's, it's, and value, the word value in healthcare has really only, been, in the healthcare, vocabulary for about, it's been for about 20 years, it's been healthcare vocabulary, actually a little bit less, maybe about 15 years. And when value first became, came a thing in healthcare, And in care, it was really, it's defined very simply it's outcomes, which is outcomes being, how well are our patients and residents do in terms of not only their life expense, but their overall activity and joy and functionality and all the good things that we try to do with health and wellness outcomes. That's great. And it's divided by, or on the bottom of the denominator before below that is costs. And so costs, If we say, okay, I'll talk to ourselves, okay, I could add one more day to this patient's life, but that day will be filled with pain and suffering. And they won't be with their family members and they won't have, their wishes for their last day of life. And that day will cost a million dollars. That's low value because it's not good outcomes and it costs a whole ton and, so I work as a primary care physician inside assisted living and senior living, but I'm also an emergency physician as well. and I see it from the emergency side in the fact that, when residents come to me. And come to the emergency department, and they may be, on their deathbed, and for whatever reason they didn't have their end of life wishes documented, usually not assisted living. Usually this is coming from home. Many of them would have rather had been with their families, been comfortable, not had all sort of these painful things with strangers. And so that is a good example of low value. High value is doing great and really practicing great holistic medicine. and we know that overall, it's, the costs are actually. Lower than the high cost system that we have now, which is disjointed and fragmented with a million different people doing a million different things with no one communicating, and the patient suffering at the middle of it. But it's been an honor to be. A primary care physician as well to really bring that value based care. Think of those yourselves. How can we do this better? How can we get this resident on better medications? How can we get off the harmful ones? How can we focus on not only their high blood pressure, but how do we get them? Off of this walker and walking around right and doing their being more independent inside of this facility. So they can have joy, they can be more functional and they can have overall wellness. that's value.

Erin: 7:02

It is value. And it's valuable when somebody Like a primary care physician looks at a person as a whole and not as just the symptoms that are showing today, because we know that there's a lot of emotional symptoms that can manifest physically. We know there's a lot of. A lot of different things that the right questions can cut to the chase, or somebody who will take an opportunity and look back and investigate in a few things and not just take things for face value. So that's important. And being an ER physician, And a physician that goes into communities gives you a very different perspective. I am sure that ER doctors will look at you when a certain type of resident comes in and says, Hey, can I get some help here? Because you have insights, right?

Dr. Rocky Samuel: 8:06

That's right. That's right. And, in, in senior living, when residents go to the emergency department, it's actually a pretty dangerous proposition. Yes, without a doubt. The emergency department is a place to be at. If you're having a heart attack, you're having a stroke, right? You're having like, uncontrolled major bleeding. These are the things like, there's really nowhere else. And the emergency department's built for that, right? it's the best place to be best care fastest. And it's great when, unfortunately, the assisted living by my house. I didn't even know it was assisted living, but I knew it was assisted living because there was an ambulance outside the door every day. Every day there's an ambulance outside that door, taking residents back to the hospital. And when a patient with dementia is in the emergency department, it's a scary thing. It's a scary place. People don't know they don't know their environment. They can get more confused. And then the providers and the clinicians are seeing a resident. They have they've never met before. The resident can't tell them what's wrong. There's likely very poor communication, 3rd party, basically, telephone with EMS, why this resident was transported. And they're more than likely going to be admitted. and many times for the wrong reasons, right? And maybe not even respecting what they would have wanted. and so it's a sad story because when patients are hospitalized and I'm sure you've seen this, Aaron and other folks in this podcast, when patients are hospitalized and they're there for a week or two, they don't come back the same. Sometimes they just don't come back. and it's a hard pill to swallow. delivering primary care, delivering care into facilities. It really brings that care into the home. that's my passion. Keeping folks out of the hospital, especially seniors. that is, that's, uh, my, my career love, right? Really? what gets me excited? and I'll tell you a story. I have to tell you a story. we had a resident, a patient of mine. she has advanced dementia. lovely lady, she, and her daughter's very involved in her care and her daughter is wonderful. Daughter's always there when I'm meeting with, with the resident, and she's bringing her apples and she loves apples and she's phenomenal. I love her. She's great. she has advanced dementia and one day she woke up and she wouldn't walk. And again, then the ALF staff gave me a call. We got on the video, and she had a big bruise on her thigh, big bruise on her thigh. No one knew about what happened. she couldn't tell us what happened. She said a bruise on her thigh, and she wouldn't walk, right? so I was able to facilitate, and she wasn't tender in her hip area, and she was out, she was able to walk a bit. She was able to walk, but Not, volunteer or whether she was so that day, immediately I called her daughter and I said, Hey, I want to get x rays right away. And I want to get your analysis right away and get that all done today. So we make sure she didn't break anything and make sure she didn't have a urine infection and make sure otherwise, get everything to that facility to take care of her. So she doesn't have to go to the emergency department. Her daughter was incredibly thankful because her daughter actually was with her own daughter in the hospital who has a having asthma attack. And so it was very fortunate. We got all that and we ensured that she didn't have a fracture. We had PT come out the next day to continue to work with her to give her more mobility. And, we got her pain control, and we're able to keep her in the facility. but this is, that's a resident that would have gone, to the ER and who knows if she would have made it back for whatever reason. And bringing that kind of level care into facilities, that's value, right? But that takes multiple things in terms of it takes a staff. That's willing to think differently. Right. when in doubt, send it out is something that I hear a lot. When in doubt, send it out. And so when I connect with staff and I connect as well as directors and executive directors, I say, when in doubt, call Rocky. and. It takes a lot to change that the culture, because it before really, it's, there wasn't that access. but our team is available 24 7 on the weekends at nights in the middle of the night, because we know that residents need that. Otherwise, it's an ER trip. And otherwise we may lose that resident forever. we talked about the staff, we talked about that, that the providers really need to be able to access and provide access. to the residents, not only when they're there, but when they're not there, so that they can take over care and really arrange for it to happen. so that the facility isn't left trying to figure out what to do, which. If without access, they are probably the best option, but with good access and with good engagement. Yes, we can do whatever we can to keep that resident, healthy and well, and aging in place.

Erin: 12:49

Yeah, so value based care inside assisted living helps the goal would be to help the residents stay in the community and to assist the community in meeting the needs for that resident that is staying. Maybe they have an acute need. They have an acute, injury like this particular resident and you ordered all these tests. But. You also help support the community and getting those tests and finding, the proper care for them. That kind of thing. It's not just quote unquote, Dr. Day, which we'll dive into, but if we, truly, if we're going to ask a community to not send a resident out, which is going against long term strongholds of thoughts. We have to give too, right? We have to, from a value based perspective, give too. So value based care is more than just a physician. There's a whole team in place.

Dr. Rocky Samuel: 13:58

That's exactly right. That's exactly right. so primary care and what we do at Troop Health, primary care in 2024 and what we do at Troop Health really is an interdisciplinary team approach, which is what it has to be. I, as a physician, yes, I can provide care for residents, but I, it is so much better with the team. so part of my team is a licensed clinical social worker. Who can not only now is there more often is there when I'm not there, right? So that the residents getting more touches more check ins. we're executing on their over medical plan. We're also focusing on their mental health as well. and. Or too often it's disjointed where there's a primary care provider and then a site provider and they don't talk to one another and the mind is separated from the body and no one knows what's actually happening. And, and those, the residents suffer, but to integrate mental health as well, less go social workers. She's able to provide therapy. She's able to really dig into the mental health needs so that it can all be directed in 1 with 1 team. And most importantly, when that, quote unquote, Dr. Day comes, it shouldn't feel like Dr. Day, like you taught me and that I see it shouldn't be, it shouldn't put more onus on the staff. We know that it's just a living staff. Senior living staff. They're stretched thin. There's a whole lot to do. I would much rather than spend more time with residents and more time on the phone figuring out how to get this test done. so memory care in 2024 needs to take that on. when I'm, when we order those tests and we order that urine test and those x rays, our team does it. not the ALF team, not the assistant leading team, not the wellness director, we're going to communicate what we're doing, obviously, right? We're always going to communicate, right? and arrange and schedule. So the wellness director knows exactly what's going on, but I would much rather that wellness director have the time. The time and very few do have to have, do have enough of that time to spend with residents really focusing on their wellness, which is in their title, then focus on being on the phone and arranging things. That's really what our team does at troop health. we do it in a way that's, That staff loves that residents love because we're touching them more with their more. we're really able to sync it to their holistic needs, not just the medical needs, not just the mental health needs, but all of it together because it makes sense.

Erin: 16:24

Yeah, so just for people who want to really, hear about Dr. Day, so Dr. Day's in assisted living can be very challenging. I worked in a 64 apartment memory care community and a 60 apartment assisted living community. There were one, when Dr. Day came. I you were talking about, in Alabama, we had regs where we have to do care plan updates for every change. We have to write, these, every time there's a change, there's an assessment that has to be done. It's 3 pages long. then you have to write the lab slip, then you have to call the portable X ray, then you have to, let all the call the families. It is. those nurses were working probably a 16 hour day. on a doctor day and it is a lot when you have a doctor come in and 10 patients and there's changes on every single one. So you always had to make sure as a leader, you go in there and be like, okay, today's doctor day. Who's eating their Wheaties today? What do we need? what can I do as a non nurse to take some of this stuff off of you? Phone calls, all the things, it can be a day. So what you're offering is. Is valuable, time is valuable. And I think that assisted living, the leaders, the nurse directors, the nurses, the executive directors can influence. whether residents go out or whether they stay in based on fear, number one, number two, how they direct the team to do it, so you could come in as the doctor and say, yes, call me before we send anybody out to see, but that doesn't always happen. It would really need to be a united effort. And the executive director or the wellness director needs to be able to look at Dr. Rocky Samuel and say, I trust you and get the family members to trust you too, because I have seen where family members want them to go out, which is problematic too, because it's just, that's the way they think as well. So have you seen that? Do you believe that? What are your thoughts on them?

Dr. Rocky Samuel: 18:47

that's, it's very pointed what you're speaking to, it does come down to trust. if I'm ever, if I, if we don't answer the phone right away, if I don't answer the phone right away and get in and help out in this time of need, then I've lost trust. So I, that number that comes from my facilities, it's a bad phone. it's the one that's the loudest ringtone that's never gets silence. It's always going straight to loud. And it's right. So establishing trust with the facility staff because alone, without access to a provider, rapid access to a provider, I should say, yes, it's scary and it's not safe. it's rapid access to the provider is key sinking in and establishing trust with family members is a joy, right? I told you about that family member, and that story, she knows that I, Not only know her mom, but that we are in line in regards to how we're going to care for mom. and it's easy for me to communicate because I've already established that relationship. Establishing relationships with residents and facilities needs to include their decision makers. especially in memory care for sure, because, it's those folks who need to be in the loop and they need to know, we need to know the plan before, before it becomes a plan before we actually have to implement that plan. And so creating trust is the key, and it's not overnight. and many times when I say, when in doubt, call Dr. Rocky, people laugh and think this guy is not going to answer. And then I do, and then they're surprised, and they'll even ask, they're like, can we really call Dr. Rocky? Yes. And so then I'll call them and then we'll have a relationship. It takes time, but having that trust and that access to provider really that higher level access is what residents deserve. Uh, 1 thing we haven't been able to talk about yet, Aaron, is that an assisted living and folks that have been it for a long time. Know this, the fact that the residents in assisted living and senior living, they're sicker and sicker year by year. And the length of stay in assisted living and rencino living keeps on going down and down, I was talking to a nurse recently. older than me, and she reminded me that 30 years ago, that the residents in assisted living now would likely be in the ICU 30 years ago, and we're caring for these residents. we have to bring them high level healthcare, because they need it. it's a core part of their care. and with that level of illness and that level of burden of illness, we need a different solution than just Dr. Day where a doctor or provider storms in, does, writes down a whole bunch of things and storms out without communicating to people. I tell you my favorite part of Dr. Day. Not only that, we're not, we're offloading off, off, off of the wellness directors and the staff. we're not having them arrange anything. We're going to take it on as a team, ourselves, and communicate. But my favorite part is actually what I call them table rounds. where they know I'm coming on this day in that I can sit down with the wellness director or the staff of leadership there and talk about the residents. And because they're the folks that know that are there with them 24 7, and they see them, and they know who's declining and they know who's changing and they know who has a problem and they know whose problems have been solved based on what we've done before. And so we can go through and talk about what the needs and the successes and the wants for every residence so that I can address that with while I'm there with the residents and with the families. it's the best time. I love table rounds and we do them quick, right? We basically, we talk about every resident we're going to see and the acute issues that are going on. So we can address in the moment, and then communicating what we're, what the plan is to make sure that they know what the plan is and that we're taking the burden off them to arrange it.

Erin: 22:34

Yeah, just taking the burden off to arrange it is huge. so why would a senior living, I feel like maybe we've already talked about this, but why would senior living be a hotspot for value based care? I see it, right? But for the communities or the companies that don't see it, And they were looking for the ROI for it, right? Those three fabulous letters. what? Why is Senior Living, the best place? For value based care.

Dr. Rocky Samuel: 23:09

That's great. And that's a fantastic question. When we look at value, when we look at Senior living, we already talked about the burden of illness. Folks are sicker year after year. With that level of illness are increased costs overall. And the fact that in assisted living, there's high costs. And so if we can deliver a strategy where, or a collaboration or a troop, as it were, basically a team effort to say, how do we deliver care better for this resident? Then that is value. Those costs will go down and the outcomes will improve. And then you just made a huge difference in value, which ultimately creates ROI in value based contracts. More and more we'll see, and TRUIP is doing as well, is participation with providers and assisted living together in providing, delivering value based care and being rewarded for good care. I know that if one in doubt, send it out and is prevailing and. I can't influence and we don't have a, the trust to keep residents there and to provide great care there, then the costs will skyrocket and the outcomes will not get better. And that's low value. But if I can, I, I can say to ourselves, let's do this better first for the good of the residents, right? Second, to also empower the staff and the facility to do things better and to take things off their plate. And then third, to say, okay. We're doing such great care that the payers are going to pay us extra and should reward us for doing the wonderful work that we're doing together. not Dr. Rocky, right? Not even troop health, but the collaboration between the facility and troop health, really as That's really a circle around this resident to get them the best outcomes at a cost that's reasonable.

Erin: 25:05

That's a beautiful thing. I think for a long time, a troop, right? A team have, we have really just put everything on the nurse and the doctor. but even in a hospital, what makes a hospital great? Right a place, because they have all the multidisciplinary and areas, right? They get the specialist. You have the respiratory therapist. You have the social worker. You have all these things that can help and assisted livings don't necessarily have that. But when you have a partner who does all of a sudden, you've got a higher value proposition from a community standpoint, because we have these opportunities for our residents. And from a, an associate retention aspect, you have a team that helps take the load off, some of the tasks that we get burdened with when it comes to documenting and finding the services, which for me makes Dr. Day, you don't have to eat your Wheaties that day. You can just eat a normal. Just a normal breakfast,

Dr. Rocky Samuel: 26:20

right? It's nice. it's so fun to, to raise eyebrows to say really, Dr. Rocky, you guys are going to handle this. yes, we will handle it. We're going to communicate, and the sense of relief to actually have more time to spend with residents. that's great. I would much rather the leadership in the facility and wellness director spend time with patients with the residents, then have to do administrative tasks that, that really. A trooper, a team, a medical team should be taking,

Erin: 26:53

I, I have heard complaints in the past from residents about medical directors that they didn't necessarily listen or have good bedside manner. He doesn't have good bedside manner, that kind of thing. So it's important. that goes back to building the trust that goes back to how we influence decisions. And how. Really something as simple as bedside manner can change everything for a resident, to me, yes, everything that you've said, but a doctor coming in and telling a resident, how valuable they are and listening makes my job a whole lot easier because now she's not, or he, or she's not mad all day long,

Dr. Rocky Samuel: 27:35

It's

Erin: 27:36

really important.

Dr. Rocky Samuel: 27:37

And I tell you, working in different facilities, Aaron, I think we've all almost gotten used to, not good. and the fact that there's doctors days, and the fact that there's providers are coming in and they're like, they're not communicating and they're coming in there. They're providing medical care, but they're not. Executing on it, they're. Putting a whole lot of load on staff. and they're not really collaborating with the staff that's caring for this resident. That's going to have a huge impact on value. that's, that should never be the norm. And if folks are listening and that's the norm, know that's not good. that's bad. and that needs to change, and, that's my passion is to make this better, not only for the residents, but also for the staff.

Erin: 28:21

Yeah, I have interviewed other physicians specialists dermatologists that are trying to go into communities. I really see in the future. where. We are going to have a lot of physicians returning to house visits house calls right inside these senior living communities and it's important to have a medical director, a team that is willing to accept, if the dermatologist is here, and if the audiologist is here, and if the dentist is here, all these things that are creating inside senior living. Then we come together and we talk about it if we're there today, like it's a collective holistic atmosphere because that's coming. It's, it's literally coming, interviewing the dermatologist. I'm like, man, that is great that y'all can do stuff in the community.

Dr. Rocky Samuel: 29:20

it's another, it's patient centered. The patient. And the resident should be at the center and bringing a resident. With dementia or mobility issues, outside of the facility and arranging transportation and getting all that arranged, even if even that is a dangerous proposition for that resident, the fact that it's scary to be outside and there's a risk of worsening falls because they're out there and there's less support. and so patient centered care in the home, that's driving care into the home and out of the hospital. That is. That is what I'd love to do.

Erin: 29:57

Yeah. And residents will want to do that too.

Dr. Rocky Samuel: 30:02

Exactly.

Erin: 30:03

when you bring healthcare into the community, when you have a social worker, which to me is fabulous. There's so many. Value points to that, into a community and not everybody has that option. That's a huge point of difference that any sales director could use. and just understanding the holistic. I think we're going, I see the change of understanding the holistic side of health care, where our own thoughts and our own stories that we tell ourselves affect everything. my mother is a nurse practitioner. I hope she's not listening to this. But boy, if she has something, we always go to the worst case scenario. You know what I mean? I self diagnosed myself. I went to the doctor because I have my mother in me and I'm like, I got a thyroid problem. I'm really tired. Just give me some Synthroid. My grandmother had it. My mother has it. I'm sure I have it. that wasn't it. It wasn't it, So, we need somebody who can cut through the stuff and get to what's really bothering you. let's let the resident talk about it. And then let's find the facts through it. And you're not going to know that if you only give them 2 minutes.

Dr. Rocky Samuel: 31:25

that's right. One of the foundations of. Of medicine, and, this is old school, this is hundreds of years, but the most, the best diagnostic tests a physician has or provider has is just a good history, which is just talking to the patient, talking to the patient. that is by far the best diagnostic tool. And the second is a good example. Touching, touching the patient. Understanding, and listening to their heart and their lungs and doing a great exam. Those two things are still the best. Even in 2024. All these fancy gadgets and tests and all these different things. it's the history and exam that still is the best tool to intervene with patients. and it's important to have that time, right? and not just time with the provider. And it's important, I should say, at Troop Health, we, it's not me at the center. It's, it really is the licensed clinical social worker who's the center. and we work with primary care providers that are in the community, seeing residents. Because they're in the community, they're in community, and they're, they're working with the seniors. And they understand that senior needs more than a primary care doctor. They don't need a licensed clinical social worker. They need a whole team, a whole troop to Help implement that care into the home that primary care provider is trying to implement. So we also partner with primary care providers everywhere that are trying, they're delivering care inside of assisted living to really create that complete solution that, that focuses on chronic diseases that gives more touches to the resident and that focuses on mental health as well.

Erin: 32:58

Yeah. And you do that through cause I heard you say, like on the screen, you do that through, virtual visits too, right?

Dr. Rocky Samuel: 33:06

We do some virtual visits in terms of when things are when things arise in the moment, when we see that, that bruise or that acute change, we do some virtually, but we do, We do see the value in creating trust and being in person and being human to human and being able to be right there next to the residents and, to really be able to touch them in an emotional way. that's really important that human connection. and so that's why our team, our high school social workers, when they, when I shadow them and I see them, working with residents, I think to myself, wow, they're doing things and they, they have abilities that I never got to learn, with their skills and their training set. But it's a beautiful thing that residents appreciate. My, my lesson social worker that one of them I work, very closely with here. I'm here in Tampa. she walks into facility and I walk in with her and she's a rockstar. She's oh, she's just got everybody's oh, Hey, Sarah, no, Sarah, let's talk Sarah. And it's oh, that's great. She's I'm like, I'm just the side guy. Yeah. It's. And so it's great to see, when residents really sink, really value that emotional connection and the great work that an interdisciplinary team can do, not just

Erin: 34:19

it's the emotional connection will amplify any skill you have, and that's really important. and I'm glad that. A physician can see that. That's just so nice. Look, he's a well rounded holistic physician. That's so nice.

Dr. Rocky Samuel: 34:39

I've learned from my life school social workers. They've taught me that.

Erin: 34:43

Yes, absolutely. I once had a cardiologist in my memory care and. He really was somebody that just ooze respect. Like you would just respect him. Like he's a tall man in stature and, the emotional connection to his patients and his craft was really important and, he wouldn't take a shower and I had to say to him, these are some medical students and they're here and you are helping them with their grades. So they need to do a body audit. Okay. And so they need you to get in the shower and help them learn all the things that medical students need to know, you know what I mean? And he got in the shower, and. And then we had a resident with a medical emergency and he put on his lab coat and he got his stethoscope out because his children bought the lab coat and, he stood by, waiting for, and that emotional connection transcends. dementia, and it's really important. You could tell that as a physician, he had that and it's still oozed out of his pores, even when he wasn't aware of it. And so when a physician has that emotional connection. It is now a brain and more power, right? You've got the brain and the emotional power, which is true power inside of healthcare, which is really important. So, you work in Florida.

Dr. Rocky Samuel: 36:17

Do I do it where, where we're, we're in Florida, but quickly growing into other States, with our expanded team, we I'm based in Tampa where we're all on both coasts of Florida, and, yeah, we're looking to partner with facilities that, that want to do better, that want better, that want something different than, than just a provider. We're looking to partner with providers, even if the provider is excellent, we can make them exceptional by providing extra services for the resident, really guided by their care plans. every resident needs more than just a provider and there's great providers out there. There's some phenomenal providers out there that I've met, but every resident in assisted living and student living, should have more and that's really what value is giving them more of the right services to keep them well.

Erin: 37:10

Yeah, so if they wanted to know more, if any listener wanted to know more about troop health and you, how do they find you?

Dr. Rocky Samuel: 37:19

Yes, so we would love to, to, talk with any facility leadership or provider out there or any, anyone that would be interested in troop are, our website is troop health. com T R U P E health. com and I'll put my contact information also in, in the, make sure my contact information is in the show notes. we'd love to connect. We'd love to collaborate. We'd love to even just talk about, what better looks like a for the healthcare and the overall wellness, integrating mental health, for your residents. it's, it would love to, to speak with anyone, and any of your audience here.

Erin: 37:55

Yes, mental health is a whole nother topic of conversation and an area that we need a lot of help in inside senior living, just a lot of, cause there's not a lot of support out there for that. And, that alone was a huge asset to my community when I could find a home health, company that had, mental health nurse, If you need that, obviously give Dr. Rocky Samuel a call at Troop Health because that's really important. So thank you. Go ahead. Thank you so much.

Dr. Rocky Samuel: 38:31

And hopefully we can talk more about mental health, but yes, you're right. it's, the data suggests that about 70 to 80 percent of residents in senior living have a major psychiatric diagnosis. That's causing suffering and there's probably in, in my opinion, there's no greater suffering, suffering than suffering from mental illness. and it's long, long been, not dealt with the right way, that the assisted living staff do a wonderful job, but really it's, it needs a different strategy. And so we'd love to talk about that in the future.

Erin: 39:04

I think we'll have another episode. I love talking about mental health. absolutely. so thank you for being here today. I appreciate it. Your insights, your vision, and the work that you're actually doing. It's really inspiring. And I hope that you get to go to all the states and if you're in Florida and are in other states and interested in getting troop health into your community, give him a call because he's the real deal. He went to Harvard and he's the real deal. Thank you for being here.

Dr. Rocky Samuel: 39:39

Thank you. And it's been an honor. It's been, it's so fun. And it's been an honor being here. I look forward to, not only listening to this podcast, but, all more of your podcasts. it's been great to, to be, a fan and a listener, and a subscriber for you. Thank you.

Erin: 39:54

Thank you. And always to my listeners aspire for more for you.