Over the weekend I was at a meeting where Bruce Vladeck, former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator (back when the agency was known as The Health Care Financing Administration), said something that really resonated with me. Commenting on the "disconnect" between the potential of geriatrics as a field and the urgent needs of older adults, he said that efforts to "geriatricize” medical education will be insufficient. "Young physicians will know more geriatrics than ever, but it will be drowned out in all the other 'noise' surrounding their practice. You can’t bridge the disconnect by reinventing doctors. You have to change systems."
I couldn't agree more and our new strategic plan focuses on bridging just this disconnect by bringing geriatric expertise to bear on critical leverage points in health care. So, I am very proud to announce the first cohort of the Practice Change Leaders, our newest effort to drive systems change by building on the capabilities of geriatrics experts and alumni of Foundation programs. The list of scholars and their projects is at the bottom of this post.
The Practice Change Leaders for Aging and Health program grows out of the success of the Practice Change Fellows (PCF) program which has offered advanced leadership and systems change training to 40 geriatric health care professionals since its inception in 2007. In this next generation program, the leadership (Eric A. Coleman, MD, and Nancy Whitelaw, PhD) and mentors from the PCF will work with alumni of the federal Innovation Advisors Program, a special leadership program sponsored by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to help advance delivery system reform to meet the needs of older adults.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=A9oOAb8vAoY
We are happy to be strong partners with the Atlantic Philanthropies and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) in the design of the federal Innovation Advisors Program and this even more advanced training for those focused on geriatric care. In this video Teresa M. Titus-Howard, MSW, MHA, LCSW, PhD, Deputy Group Director, Learning and Diffusion Group at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation discusses the Practice Change Fellows program and the mission they share with CMMI to improve health and control costs. She describes the Innovation Advisors as the "army" of health reform and I am very pleased to have them on our side.
2013 Practice Change Leaders
D. Clay Ackerly, MD, MSc
Management and Policy Fellow
Massachusetts General Hospital
Project Title: Skilled Nursing Facility Network Development for High-Risk Patients
Randi Berkowitz, MD
Medical Director
Commonwealth Care Alliance
Project Title: Skilled Nursing Facility Network Increase Days at Home (SNIDH Intervention)
Stephanie R. Bruce, MD
Practice Director, Medical House Call Program
Washington Hospital Center, Washington, DC
Project Title: Total Elder Care
Jennifer DeCubellis, LPC
Area Director, Human Services and Public Health Department
Hennepin County, MN
Project Title: Hennepin Health
Christian Davis Furman, MD, MSPH
Vice-Chair, Geriatric Medicine
University of Louisville School of Medicine
Project Title: Advance Care Planning: Ensuring Patients’ Wishes are Honored
Corita Grudzen, MD, MSHS
Assistant Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine
Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center
Project Title: Triggered Palliative Care Consultation for Older Adults Transferred to the ED from Long-Term Care
Suzanne E. Landis, MD, MPH
Director, Division of Healthcare Innovation
Mountain Area Health Education Center, Inc., Asheville, NC
Project Title: Enhanced Primary Care in a Retirement Community
Stephen K. Liu, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine and Community and Family Medicine
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Project Title: Re-engineering the Geriatric Inpatient Stay and Transition Home (REGISTRY)
Margaret Namie, RN, BSN, MPH, CPHQ
Divisional Vice President, Quality
Mercy Health, Cincinnati, OH
Project Title: Care Transitions from Hospital to Home
Nancy Roberts, RN, MSN
President and Chief Executive Officer, Care New England & Executive VP of Care Management
Kent County Visiting Nurse Association d/b/a VNA of Care New England
Project Title: A Transitional Care Model (from hospital to home to the community) for Patients with Heart Failure