On August 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a new Age-Friendly Hospital Measure that will take effect January 1, 2025. The measure, developed in collaboration with the American College of Surgeons (ACS), the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), aims to improve older adult patient care and outcomes. Read the CMS fact sheet here.
“It is our mission to evolve emergency department care for older adult patients, and we believe this measure will create positive change for these patients in our healthcare system,” said GEDC Program Director Aaron Malsch. “GEDC is poised to provide guidance to member organizations on how best to meet these newly established guidelines for improving care for patients 65 and older.”
The Age Friendly Hospital Measure targets five domains to prioritize older adults’ healthcare needs: eliciting patient healthcare goals, responsible medication management, frailty screening and intervention, addressing social vulnerability and establishing age-friendly care leadership within hospitals. The measure reflects a growing demand for specialized healthcare for older adults as changing demographics have created challenges for the U.S. healthcare system.
“The Age Friendly Hospital Measure is particularly significant to champions of geriatric emergency care for two reasons,” said GEDC Co-Principal Investigator Kevin Biese, MD. “First, it institutionalizes many practices and standards these advocates have long promoted including decreased emergency department boarding for vulnerable older adults. Second, it mandates the appointment of a leader to oversee compliance with the initiative, providing an opportunity for geriatric emergency care champions to take on this leadership role within their hospitals.”
Hospitals participating in the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program (IQR) must report their compliance with this measure, which will be publicly available on the CMS Care Compare website to inform patients and caregivers about hospitals providing age-friendly care.
To learn more about the Age Friendly Hospital Measure, visit the John A. Hartford Foundation and ACEP. If you’re interested in working with GEDC to transform emergency department care of older adults and catalyze action at local and national levels, join GEDC today.
Read this CMS fact sheet for more information about the rule (see p. 1424).