Improving Care for Older Patients

A large share of healthcare costs results from unplanned hospitalizations, many of which happen as a result of chronic diseases among older patients. But acute care doesn’t necessarily need to happen in the hospital. Innovative models are successfully responding to unplanned acute health episodes among older people, and interrupting care trajectories that typically lead to hospitalizations.

This LeverAGE episode covers initiatives like the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ new Acute Hospital Care at Home program, and West Health’s collaboration with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement to develop innovative responses to older adults’ unplanned acute health events. These innovative models not only address costs, but also can improve health outcomes.

Host: Leanne Clark-Shirley, PhD, Vice President, Programs & Thought Leadership, American Society on Aging

Guests:

• Bruce Leff, MD, is professor of Medicine and director of The Center for Transformative Geriatric Research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, bleff@jhmi.edu
• Amy Stuck, PhD, RN, is senior director of Value-Based Acute Care at the West Health Institute in San Diego. Contact, arstuck@westhealth.org

This episode was sponsored by West Health Policy Center

Resources:

• Generations Journal Vol. 43, Supplement 1, “Older Adults and America's Healthcare Cost Crisis” 
• The Hospital at Home Users Group
• Technical Assistance Center 
• West Health - Home and Community-Based Acute Care 
• Improved Cost and Utilization Among Medicare Beneficiaries Dispositioned From the ED to Receive Home Health Care Compared With Inpatient Hospitalization