POLST Facilitation in Complex Care Management: A Feasibility Study.

BACKGROUND:: The Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form is an advance care planning tool designed for seriously ill patients. The discussions needed for high-quality POLST decision-making are time intensive and often do not occur in the outpatient setting. OBJECTIVE:: We conducted a single-arm feasibility study of POLST facilitation by nonphysicians using Respecting Choices Last Steps, a standardized, structured approach to facilitation of POLST conversations. SETTING/PARTICIPANTS:: Community-dwelling adults aged 65 and older enrolled in a complex care management program in a Midwestern urban hospital. MEASUREMENTS:: We assessed the feasibility and acceptability by determining the proportion of eligible patients who enrolled and completed the study, by adherence to the Respecting Choices protocol, and by responses to qualitative and quantitative survey items about the intervention. RESULTS:: We enrolled 18 (58.1%) of 31 eligible patients, with a mean age of 77.8 years (standard deviation: 6.95); 12 were African American. The POLST facilitation was delivered to all 18; 10 (55.6%) completed POLST forms. Direct observation of intervention delivery using a checklist found 85% of the required elements were performed by facilitators. We completed 6- to 8-week follow-up interviews in 16 of 18 patients (88.9%). We found 87.5% of decision makers agreed or strongly agreed that "Talking about the (POLST) form helped me think about what I really want." CONCLUSIONS:: The POLST facilitation can be successfully delivered to frail older adults in a complex care management setting, with high fidelity to protocol. Further research is needed to demonstrate the effects of this approach on decision quality and other patient-reported outcomes.

Reliability of an Online Geriatric Assessment Procedure Using the interRAI Acute Care Assessment System.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether geriatric triage decisions made using a comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) performed online are less reliable than face-to-face (FTF) decisions. DESIGN: Multisite noninferiority prospective cohort study. Two specialist geriatricians assessed individuals sequentially referred for an acute care geriatric consultation. Participants were allocated to one FTF assessment and an additional assessment (FTF or online (OL)), creating two groups-two FTF (FTF-FTF, n = 81) or online and FTF (OL-FTF, n = 85). SETTING: Three acute care public hospitals in two Australian states. PARTICIPANTS: Admitted individuals referred for CGA. INTERVENTION: Nurse-administered CGA, based on the interRAI Acute Care assessment system accessed online and other online clinical data such as pathology results and imaging enabling geriatricians to review participants' information and provide input into their care from a distance. MEASUREMENTS: The primary decision subjected to this analysis was referral for permanent residential care. Geriatricians also recorded recommendations for referrals and variations for medication management and judgment regarding prognosis at discharge and after 3 months. RESULTS: Overall percentage agreement was 88% (n = 71) for the FTF-FTF group and 91% (n = 77) for the OL-FTF group. The difference in agreement between the FTF-FTF and OL-FTF groups was -3%, indicating that there was no difference between the methods of assessment. Judgements made regarding diagnoses of geriatric syndromes, medication management, and prognosis (with regard to hospital outcome and location at 3 months) were found to be equally reliable in each mode of consultation. CONCLUSION: Geriatric assessment performed online using a nurse-administered structured CGA system was no less reliable than conventional assessment in making clinical triage decisions.

Medication management interventions in patients enrolled in GRACE Team Care.

GRACE targets home-based, geriatrics team management, primary care collaboration, and protocols for common conditions. GRACE can improve outcomes and reduce acute-care utilization. We aimed to characterize medication-related GRACE recommendations. Medical record review of Indiana University Health Physicians GRACE patients (June 2012 to September 2013), with six months' follow-up was conducted. Demographics, clinical characteristics, and recommendations were summarized. Mean age (N = 156) was 82 years; 71% were women, 24% black, and 34% living alone, with a mean of 12 medications. Medication management was activated in 99%. Implementation occurred in 96% of 924 recommendations, including reviewing medication lists (N = 153) and purposes (N = 109) with patients, and providing medication lists to providers (N = 119). GRACE recommended and implemented medication-related interventions, facilitating medication reconciliation, education, communication, and coordination of care. Medication management, a key GRACE component, may contribute to reducing hospitalization rates.

Implementing Geriatric Resources for Assessment and Care of Elders Team Care in a Veterans Affairs Medical Center: Lessons Learned and Effects Observed.

In a randomized clinical trial, Geriatric Resources for Assessment and Care of Elders (GRACE), a model of care that works in collaboration with primary care providers (PCPs) and patient-centered medical homes to provide home-based geriatric care management focusing on geriatric syndromes and psychosocial problems commonly found in older adults, improved care quality and reduced acute care use for high-risk, low-income older adults. To assess the effect of GRACE at a Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center (VAMC), veterans aged 65 and older from Marion County, Indiana, with PCPs from four of five VAMC clinics who were not on hospice or dialysis were enrolled in GRACE after discharge home from an acute hospitalization. After an initial home-based transition visit to GRACE enrollees, the GRACE team returned to conduct a geriatric assessment. Guided by 12 protocols and input from an interdisciplinary panel and the PCP, the GRACE team developed and implemented a veteran-centric care plan. Hospitalized veterans from the fifth clinic, who otherwise met enrollment criteria, served as a usual-care comparison group. Demographic, comorbidity, and usage data were drawn from VA databases. The GRACE and comparison groups were similar in age, sex, and burden of comorbidity, although predicted risk of 1-year mortality in GRACE veterans was higher. Even so, GRACE enrollment was associated with 7.1% fewer emergency department visits, 14.8% fewer 30-day readmissions, 37.9% fewer hospital admissions, and 28.5% fewer total bed days of care, saving the VAMC an estimated $200,000 per year after program costs during the study for the 179 veterans enrolled in GRACE. Having engaged, enthusiastic VA leadership and GRACE staff; aligning closely with the medical home; and accommodating patient acuity were among the important lessons learned during implementation.

Risk factors for early hospital readmission in low-income elderly adults.

OBJECTIVES: To identify risk factors for early hospital readmission in low-income community-dwelling older adults. DESIGN: Prospective cohort study. SETTING: University-affiliated urban safety-net healthcare system in Indianapolis, Indiana. PARTICIPANTS: Community-dwelling adults aged 65 and older with annual income less than 200% of the federal poverty level and enrolled in the Geriatric Resources for Assessment and Care of Elders (GRACE) randomized controlled trial (N = 951). MEASUREMENTS: Participant health and functional status at baseline and 6, 12, 18, and 24 months. Early readmission was defined as a repeat hospitalization occurring within 30 days of a prior hospital discharge. Candidate risk factors included sociodemographic characteristics, health and functional status, prior care, lifestyle, and satisfaction with care. RESULTS: Of 457 index admissions in 328 participants, 85 (19%) were followed by an early readmission. The independent risk factors for early readmission identified according to regression analysis were living alone (odds ratio (OR) = 1.71, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.02-2.87), fair or poor satisfaction with primary care physician (OR = 2.12, 95% CI = 1.01-4.46), not having Medicaid (OR = 1.80, 95% CI = 1.05-3.11), receiving a new assistive device in the past 6 months (OR = 2.26, 95% CI = 1.26-4.05), and staying in a nursing home in the past 6 months (OR = 5.08, 95% CI = 1.56-16.53). Age, race, sex, education, and chronic diseases were not associated with early readmission. CONCLUSION: A broad range of nonmedical risk factors played a greater role than previously recognized in early hospital readmission of low-income seniors.

Impact of dementia on payments for long-term and acute care in an elderly cohort.

BACKGROUND: Older people with dementia have increased risk of nursing home (NH) use and higher Medicaid payments. Dementia's impact on acute care use and Medicare payments is less well understood. OBJECTIVES: Identify trajectories of incident dementia and NH use, and compare Medicare and Medicaid payments for persons having different trajectories. RESEARCH DESIGN: Retrospective cohort of older patients who were screened for dementia in 2000-2004 and were tracked for 5 years. Trajectories were identified with latent class growth analysis. SUBJECTS: A total of 3673 low-income persons aged 65 or older without dementia at baseline. MEASURES: Incident dementia diagnosis, comorbid conditions, dual eligibility, acute and long-term care use and payments based on Medicare and Medicaid claims, medical record systems, and administrative data. RESULTS: Three trajectories were identified based on dementia incidence and short-term and long-term NH use: (1) high incidence of dementia with heavy NH use (5% of the cohort) averaging $56,111/year ($36,361 Medicare, $19,749 Medicaid); (2) high incidence of dementia with little or no NH use (16% of the cohort) averaging $16,206/year ($14,644 Medicare, $1562 Medicaid); and (3) low incidence of dementia and little or no NH use (79% of the cohort) averaging $8475/year ($7558 Medicare, $917 Medicaid). CONCLUSIONS: Dementia and its interaction with NH utilization are major drivers of publicly financed acute and long-term care payments. Medical providers in Accountable Care Organizations and other health care reform efforts must effectively manage dementia care across the care continuum if they are to be financially viable.

Transitions in care for older adults with and without dementia.

OBJECTIVES: To describe transitions in care of persons with dementia with attention to nursing facility transitions. DESIGN: Prospective cohort. SETTING: Public health system. PARTICIPANTS: Four thousand one hundred ninety-seven community-dwelling older adults. MEASUREMENTS: Participants' electronic medical records were merged with Medicare claims, Medicaid claims, the Minimum Data Set (MDS), and the Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) from 2001 to 2008 with a mean follow-up of 5.2 years from the time of enrollment. RESULTS: Older adults with prevalent (n = 524) or incident (n = 999) dementia had greater Medicare (44.7% vs 44.8% vs 11.4%, P < .001) and Medicaid (21.0% vs 16.8% vs 1.4%, P < .001) nursing facility use, greater hospital (76.2% vs 86.0% vs 51.2%, P < .001) and home health (55.7% vs 65.2% vs 27.3%, P < .001) use, more transitions in care per person-year of follow-up (2.6 vs 2.7 vs 1.4, P < .001), and more mean total transitions (11.2 vs 9.2 vs 3.8, P < .001) than those who were never diagnosed (n = 2,674). For the 1,523 participants with dementia, 74.5% of transitions to nursing facilities were transfers from hospitals. For transitions from nursing facilities, the conditional probability was 41.0% for a return home without home health care, 10.7% for home health care, and 39.8% for a hospital transfer. Of participants with dementia with a rehospitalization within 30 days, 45% had been discharged to nursing facilities from the index hospitalization. At time of death, 46% of participants with dementia were at home, 35% were in the hospital, and 19% were in a nursing facility. CONCLUSION: Individuals with dementia live and frequently die in community settings. Nursing facilities are part of a dynamic network of care characterized by frequent transitions.

A clinical index to stratify hospitalized older adults according to risk for new-onset disability.

BACKGROUND: Many older adults who are independent prior to hospitalization develop a new disability by hospital discharge. Early risk stratification for new-onset disability may improve care. Thus, this study's objective was to develop and validate a clinical index to determine, at admission, risk for new-onset disability among older, hospitalized adults at discharge. DESIGN: Data analyses derived from two prospective studies. SETTING: Two teaching hospitals in Ohio. PARTICIPANTS: Eight hundred eighty-five patients aged 70 years and older were discharged from a general medical service at a tertiary care hospital (mean age 78, 59% female) and 753 patients discharged from a separate community teaching hospital (mean age 79, 63% female). All participants reported being independent in five activities of daily living (ADLs: bathing, dressing, transferring, toileting, and eating) 2 weeks before admission. MEASUREMENTS: New-onset disability, defined as a new need for personal assistance in one or more ADLs at discharge in participants who were independent 2 weeks before hospital admission. RESULTS: Seven independent risk factors known on admission were identified and weighted using logistic regression: age (80-89, 1 point; ≥90, 2 points); dependence in three or more instrumental ADLs at baseline (2 points); impaired mobility at baseline (unable to run, 1 point; unable to climb stairs, 2 points); dependence in ADLs at admission (2-3 ADLs, 1 point; 4-5 ADLs, 3 points); acute stroke or metastatic cancer (2 points); severe cognitive impairment (1 point); and albumin less than 3.0 g/dL (2 points). New-onset disability occurred in 6%, 13%, 18%, 34%, 35%, 45%, 50%, and 87% of participants with 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 or more points, respectively, in the derivation cohort (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC)=0.784), and in 8%, 10%, 27%, 38%, 44%, 45%, 58%, and 83%, respectively, in the validation cohort (AUC=0.784). The risk score also predicted (P<.001) disability severity, nursing home placement, and long-term survival. CONCLUSION: This clinical index determines risk for new-onset disability in hospitalized older adults and may inform clinical care.

Web-based training in geriatrics for medical residents: a randomized controlled trial using standardized patients to assess outcomes.

Although Web-based instruction offers an advantageous approach to medical education, few studies have addressed the use of Web-based education to teach clinical content at the postgraduate level. Even fewer studies have addressed clinical outcomes after the Web-based instruction, yet postgraduate training requirements now focus on outcomes of training. A randomized trial was conducted to compare knowledge of postgraduate year (PGY) 1 residents after Web-based with that after paper-based instruction and to compare residents' clinical application of their instruction using unannounced standardized patients (SPs) and unannounced activated standardized patients (ASPs). PGY 1 residents were assigned to a month-long ambulatory rotation during which they were randomized as a block to Web- or paper-based instruction covering the same four geriatric syndromes (dementia, depression, falls, and urinary incontinence). Outcome measures were mean change scores for before and after testing and scores from SP and ASP clinical encounter forms (checklist, chart abstraction, and electronic order entry). Residents who completed the Web-based instruction showed significantly greater improvement on the knowledge tests than those who received paper-based instruction. There were no significant differences in the scores from the SP and ASP clinical encounters except that the chart abstraction score was better for Web-based group than the paper-based group for dementia. Web-based instruction is an educational tool that medical residents readily accept and can be used to improve knowledge of core geriatrics content as measured using immediate posttesting. More-intensive educational interventions are needed to improve clinical performance by trainees in the care of older patients.

The urgency of preparing primary care physicians to care for older people with chronic illnesses.

Population trends are driving an undeniable imperative: The United States must begin training its primary care physicians to provide higher-quality, more cost-effective care to older people with chronic conditions. Doing so will require aggressive initiatives to educate primary care physicians to apply principles of geriatrics--for example, optimizing functional autonomy and quality of life--within emerging models of chronic care. Policy options to drive such reforms include the following: providing financial support for medical schools and residency programs that adopt appropriate educational innovations; tailoring Medicare's educational subsidy to reform graduate medical education; and invoking state requirements that physicians obtain geriatric continuing education credits to maintain their licensure or to practice as Medicaid providers or medical directors of nursing homes. This paper also argues that the expertise of geriatricians could be broadened to include educational and leadership skills. These geriatrician-leaders could then become teachers in the educational programs of many disciplines. This would require changes inside and outside academic medicine.

Development and implementation of a proactive geriatrics consultation model in collaboration with hospitalists.

Acutely ill hospitalized older adults often experience a decline in function that may be preventable using a proactive, interdisciplinary, patient-centered approach. Hospitalists are treating an increasing number of these patients. A collaborative geriatrics consultation model to prevent functional decline and improve care for older patients with geriatrics syndromes was developed and implemented in partnership with a large hospitalist group in a community teaching hospital. A team of a geriatrician and a geriatrics nurse practitioner led the new consultation service. The team assisted with identifying cases, provided consultation early in the hospital stay, focused its evaluation on functional and psychosocial issues, and assisted in clinical management to optimize implementation of recommendations. In the first 4 years, the consultation service conducted 1,538 consultations in patients with a mean age of 81 (range 56-103). The most frequent geriatrics diagnoses were gait instability, delirium, and depression; recommendations usually included consulting physical therapy, increasing activity, and changing medications. The number of referrals and referring physicians grew steadily each year. Twenty-eight of 34 (82%) of the referring hospitalists completed a Web-based satisfaction questionnaire. All responding hospitalists agreed that proactive geriatrics consultation helped them provide better care; 96% rated the service as excellent. Analysis of hospital administrative data revealed a lower length of stay index and lower hospital costs in patients receiving a geriatrics consultation. The Proactive Geriatrics Consultation Service represents a promising model of collaboration between hospitalists and geriatricians for improving care of hospitalized older adults.

Cost analysis of the Geriatric Resources for Assessment and Care of Elders care management intervention.

OBJECTIVES: To provide, from the healthcare delivery system perspective, a cost analysis of the Geriatric Resources for Assessment and Care of Elders (GRACE) intervention, which is effective in improving quality of care and outcomes. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial with physicians as the unit of randomization. SETTING: Community-based primary care health centers. PARTICIPANTS: Nine hundred fifty-one low-income seniors aged 65 and older; 474 participated in the intervention and 477 in usual care. INTERVENTION: Home-based care management for 2 years by a nurse practitioner and social worker who collaborated with the primary care physician and a geriatrics interdisciplinary team and were guided by 12 care protocols for common geriatric conditions. MEASUREMENTS: Chronic and preventive care costs, acute care costs, and total costs in the full sample (n5951) and predefined high-risk (n5226) and low-risk (n5725) groups. RESULTS: Mean 2-year total costs for intervention patients were not significantly different from those for usual care patients in the full sample ($14,348 vs $11,834; P=.20) and high-risk group ($17,713 vs $18,776; P=.38). In the high-risk group, increases in chronic and preventive care costs were offset by reductions in acute care costs, and the intervention was cost saving during the postintervention, or third, year ($5,088 vs $6,575; P<.001). Mean 2- year total costs were higher in the low-risk group ($13,307 vs $9,654; P=.01). CONCLUSION: In patients at high risk of hospitalization, the GRACE intervention is cost neutral from the healthcare delivery system perspective. A cost-effectiveness analysis is needed to guide decisions about implementation in low-risk patients.

Improving medical student attitudes toward older patients through a "council of elders" and reflective writing experience.

In an effort to reduce "agism" which is prevalent among medical trainees, a new geriatrics educational experience for medical students aimed at improving attitudes toward older patients was developed. Each 90-minute Older Adult Session included four components: initial reflective writing exercise; introduction to the session; 75-minute dialogue with the "Council of Elders," a group of active, "well" older adults; and final reflective writing exercise. The new session was provided to 237 first- and second-year medical students during the 2006/07 academic year at Indiana University School of Medicine. Session evaluation included comparing scores on the 14-item Geriatrics Attitude Scale administered before and after the session, identifying attitude changes in the reflective writing exercises, and a student satisfaction survey. Student responses on the Geriatrics Attitude Scale after the session were significantly improved in seven of 14 items, demonstrating better attitudes toward being with and listening to older people and caring for older patients. Analysis of the reflective writings revealed changing of negative to positive or reinforced positive attitudes in 27% of medical students, with attitudes not discernable in the remaining 73% (except one student, in whom positive attitudes changed to negative). Learner satisfaction with the Older Adult Session was high, with 98% agreeing that the session had a positive effect on insight into the care of older adults. A Council of Elders coupled with a reflective writing exercise is a promising new approach to improving attitudes of medical students toward their geriatric patients.

Recovery of activities of daily living in older adults after hospitalization for acute medical illness.

OBJECTIVES: To compare functional outcomes in the year after discharge for older adults discharged from the hospital after an acute medical illness with a new or additional disability in their basic self-care activities of daily living (ADL) (compared with preadmission baseline 2 weeks before admission) with those of older adults discharged with baseline ADL function and identify predictors of failure to recover to baseline function 1 year after discharge. DESIGN: Observational. SETTING: Tertiary care hospital, community teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Older (aged >or=70) patients nonelectively admitted to general medical services (1993-1998). MEASUREMENTS: Number of ADL disabilities at preadmission baseline and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after discharge. Outcomes were death, sustained decline in ADL function, and recovery to baseline ADL function at each time point. RESULTS: By 12 months after discharge, of those discharged with new or additional ADL disability, 41.3% died, 28.6% were alive but had not recovered to baseline function, and 30.1% were at baseline function. Of those discharged at baseline function, 17.8% died, 15.2% were alive but with worse than baseline function, and 67% were at their baseline function (P<.001). Of those discharged with new or additional ADL disability, the presence or absence of recovery by 1 month was associated with long-term outcomes. Age, cardiovascular disease, dementia, cancer, low albumin, and greater number of dependencies in instrumental ADLs independently predicted failure to recover. CONCLUSION: For older adults discharged with new or additional disability in ADL after hospitalization for medical illness, prognosis for functional recovery is poor. Rehabilitation interventions of longer duration and timing than current reimbursement allows, caregiver support, and palliative care should be evaluated.

Defining the domain of geriatric medicine in an urban public health system affiliated with an academic medical center.

The American Geriatrics Society has recommended a reexamination of the roles and deployment of providers with expertise in geriatric medicine. Healthcare systems use a variety of strategies to maximize their geriatric expertise. In general, these health systems tend to focus geriatric medicine resources on a group of older adults that are locally defined as the most in need. This article describes a model of care within an academic urban public health system and describes how local characteristics interact to define the domain of geriatric medicine. This domain is defined using 4 years of data from an electronic medical record combined with data collected from clinical trials. From January 2002 to December 2005, 31,443 adults aged 65 and older were seen at any clinical site within this healthcare system. The mean age was 75 (range 65-105); 61% were women; 35% African American, and 2% Hispanic. The payer mix was 80% Medicare and 17% Medicaid. The local geriatric medicine program includes sites of care in inpatient, ambulatory, nursing home, and home-based settings. By design, this geriatric medicine clinical practice complements the care provided to older adults by the primary care practice. Primary care physicians tend to cede care to geriatric medicine for older adults with advanced disability or geriatric syndromes. This is most apparent for older adults in nursing facilities or those requiring home-based care. There is a dynamic interplay between design features, reputation, and capacity that modulates volume, location, and type of patients seen by geriatrics.