THURSDAY, July 24 (HealthDay News) -- When the elderly woman first arrived at Brooke Grove Retirement Village in Sandy Spring, Md., some of the staffers were skeptical when they saw she had brought her cat along.

The woman, in the early stages of dementia, "floated in and out," according to Jackie Carson, the assisted living administrator at Brooke Grove, a center specializing in Alzheimer's care.

Staffers had to help the woman remember to feed the cat, and some were initially resentful, saying their job was to care for people, not animals, she added.

But slowly, the staff came around, when they saw all the benefits that the cat conferred on the residents, Carson, a registered nurse, said.

"The cat grounded her," she explained.

Brooke Grove is now among a growing number of assisted-living facilities that are actively encouraging seniors to bring along their well-behaved pets -- or inviting them to "adopt" resident pets.

The practise of encouraging seniors in such facilities to interact with pets has many benefits.

Just ask Loren Shook, CEO of Silverado Senior Living, the San Juan Capistrano, Calif.-based company that operates 17 assisted-living facilities in four states for residents with dementia.

"Pets are useful in reducing depression, anxiety and re-engaging people in life," Shook said. "We are committed to making it work."

Often, when a resident has seen many friends pass away, he or she considers their dog or cat a good friend and part of the family. "It is so important for a person's general happiness in life not to have to give up on one of their last friends," he said.

Pets offer proven health benefits. They can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, reduce feelings of loneliness, and increase opportunities for socializing, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About 10 percent of Silverado's 1,030 residents arrive with their pets in tow, Shook estimated. Staff members -- Shook included -- often bring their dogs to work, and the facilities also have pets-in-residence.

Shook recalls one dog, a black lab named Asher, who lived at the Newport Mesa community in Costa Mesa, Calif. One resident there wasn't eating or communicating and was losing weight.

"Asher sees this guy walking around with his hands hanging down," Shook said. "He goes over and puts his head under his hand. In 15 minutes' time, that man is down on one knee, petting Asher and talking to him."

"The staff jumped in and redirected the man from the dog to them," Shook said, adding that the man was soon eating regularly, talking and engaging with other residents.

Another woman with dementia had stopped communicating. So staffers put a cat in her lap. "She began talking to the cat in about a week," Shook said. Not long afterward, she was accompanying her daughter to the race track, cheering on her favorite horse.

Dennis Hunter, vice president of Brook Grove Retirement Village, said it's important to keep the environment in a retirement community as normal as possible. "For most people that includes pets," he said.

And when a resident passes away? "We make sure the pet is taken care of," Shook explained. If family members can't take the pet, a staff member may adopt it, or the pet may become a "pet in residence." Or, the facility will find a good home elsewhere, he said.

More information

To learn more about the benefits of pets, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

MONDAY, July 21 (HealthDay News) -- Starting next year, doctors can earn additional money from Medicare if they use electronic prescribing systems, U.S. health officials said Monday.

The bonus program, which will continue for four years, is designed to streamline the prescription process and cut down on errors. In 2009 and 2010, Medicare will give doctors an additional 2 percent bonus on top of their fee for "e-prescribing." In 2011 and 2012, the bonus will drop to 1 percent, and in 2013, the bonus will drop again to 0.5 percent, officials said.

"There are terrific human and financial costs to illegible prescriptions," Mike Leavitt, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said during a Monday afternoon teleconference.

According to the Institute of Medicine, 1.5 million Americans are injured every year by drug errors, Leavitt said. Another study found that each year pharmacists make more than 150 million phone calls to doctors to clarify what was written on the prescription, he added.

"That's a lot of people needlessly hurt and a lot of time spent trying to sort out bad handwriting," Leavitt said.

"E-prescribing will help deliver safer or more efficient care to patients," Leavitt said. He noted that the law that set up the Medicare prescription drug program in 2006 mandated that participating pharmacies be able to accept e-prescriptions.

After five years, bonuses for e-prescribing will be phased out; doctors who haven't adopted e-prescribing will be reimbursed at lower rates, Leavitt said. There will, however, be exceptions for doctors who have legitimate reasons for not complying.

"We expect this will have a profound effect on the adoption and use of e-prescribing," Leavitt said.

Medicare started paying bonuses to doctors last year for using the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative, which collects data on the quality of care delivered by doctors. Medicare recently paid the first bonuses to more than 56,000 doctors, totaling more than $36 million. Payments ranged from $600 for individual doctors to $4,700 for group practices.

The new bonuses for e-prescribing will be on top of those paid as part of the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative and other Medicare reimbursements. Medicare expects to save up to $156 million over the life of the e-prescribing program in fewer adverse drug events.

Despite the advantages of e-prescribing, barriers to implementing such systems remain. One of the largest barriers is the cost.

"It is fairly costly for a small practice to begin to change over to e-prescribing," Dr. James King, a family physician in Tennessee and president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, said during the teleconference. "These incentives will help."

It's estimated that it will cost about $3,000 per doctor to initiate an e-prescribing system. It also takes between $80 and $400 a month to maintain and operate a system, Kerry Weems, acting administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, said during the teleconference.

Other barriers include state laws that prohibit e-prescribing across state lines, King said. And, there are areas in the country where computer systems are slow and inefficient, he said.

More information

For more on electronic medical records, visit the American Medical Association.

SATURDAY, July 19 (HealthDay News) -- Falls are a leading cause of serious injury and death among elderly people in the United States, and most of those falls occur in the home, says the American Geriatric Society (AGS).

"There are many steps people can take to make their home safer for those who are aging. Something as small as using a night light in a dark hallway can prevent an elderly person from falling during the night," Dr. Cheryl Phillips, a member of the AGS, said in a news release. "Falls are so dangerous to this particular population, and there are easy ways to help avoid them," she added.

Phillips offered the following safety suggestions:

• Remove loose carpets and rugs, and put non-skid backing on rugs to avoid tripping.
• Wear shoes with firm, non-skid soles around the house. Wearing slippers or socks without some type of rubber grip on the bottom can increased the risk of falls.
• Place night lights in dimly lit areas, at the top and bottom of stairs, and in bedrooms and bathrooms.
• Remove clutter, boxes and low furniture from the house, and especially from near staircases.
• Install hand rails near any stairs in the home or backyard and check that existing hand rails are sturdy.
• Install grab bars near the toilet and bath tub, and no slip decals or a rubber mat in the tub or shower.
• Place contrasting strips at the edge of each step to clearly define where the step ends.

"I advise caregivers to walk through the home and check each room for potential dangers. Not all homes are the same, so caregivers should ask themselves what safety issues are unique to the particular house," Phillips said.

Each year, about one in three Americans aged 65 and older suffers a fall, and 30 percent of those falls cause injuries that require medical treatment. In 2005, almost 16,000 older adults in the United States died from falls, 1.8 million were treated in emergency departments, and 433,000 were hospitalized.

More information

The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more about older adults and falls.