Geisinger Health System is one among six healthcare organizations in U.S. invited to join Med-IC

Geisinger Health System is one of only six healthcare organizations in the United States invited by the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins University to participate in a new pilot program, Medicare Innovations Collaborative (Med-IC). Med-IC is a national effort to change healthcare policy and improve healthcare for older adults by putting the leading models of geriatric best practices to work in hospital settings.

"We selected Geisinger because of its track record in developing successful programs for older patients and our belief in its commitment to expanding those programs to meet the challenge of the changing healthcare needs of its community," said Albert Siu, M.D., principle investigator of Med-IC. Dr. Siu is the Ellen and Howard C. Katz chairman and professor, Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City.

"It's an honor to be included in this group of hospitals and health systems that are recognized for best practices in geriatric medicine," said Amy Minnich, Geisinger Med-IC project director and director of the LIFE Geisinger program. "Geisinger Health System has several innovative programs that support effective senior care and address health concerns prevalent among older populations including ProvenHealth NavigatorSM and community-based services like LIFE Geisinger and Geisinger HomeCare and Hospice. Each facilitates effective coordination of health services, supports independence of frail seniors and encourages a high quality of life."

Other healthcare organizations chosen to participate in Med-IC include:
·Aurora Sinai Medical Center, Milwaukee, Wisc.
·Carolinas HealthCare System/Mercy Hospital, Charlotte, N.C.
·Crouse Hospital, Syracuse, N.Y.
·University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio
·Lehigh Valley Health Network, Allentown, Pa.

Med-IC will collaborate with this competitively selected group of six hospitals and health systems, each of which will adopt one or more evidence-based geriatric care models. These innovative programs address a range of needs, including keeping older people out of the hospital when they do not need to be admitted, caring effectively for patients in the hospital, and preventing hospital readmissions by helping patients make effective transitions home from the hospital.

"Caring for older adults is a central challenge facing hospitals today. By incorporating these new models into their geriatric programs, hospitals will be able to improve both the care they provide to this growing population and their own financial health as well," Dr. Siu noted.

The Medicare Innovations Collaborative is made possible by a grant from The Atlantic Philanthropies.