Vital links. Hospital's geriatric program integrates the spectrum of care

In July 1988 St. Mary Medical Center (SMMC), Long Beach, CA, established Older Adult Services (OAS) to help the elderly of the community. At the time, SMMC was already providing a number of services for the elderly, but OAS enables it to provide a continuum of care. In addition, the medical staff committee developing the geriatric program recommended establishing a geriatric assessment team headed by a fellowship-trained geriatrician, having that geriatrician serve as medical director of the inpatient skilled nursing facility (SNF), having the geriatric team develop treatment protocols in various aspects of care, and extending OAS within the community. The categories of service within the continuum are extended care, acute care, ambulatory care, home care, outreach, wellness, and housing. SMMC does not directly provide all services; rather, through integrating mechanisms, it uses community-based services or services provided by other institutions to meet some patient needs. A key element to integrating the continuum is the involvement of OAS in the SNF. The SNF medical director can bring the expertise of the geriatric assessment team to a wide sphere of the medical community. This sphere of influence quickly spreads to the hospital's entire medical community. Through direct participation in utilization review and quality assurance in the SNF, the OAS director can influence the quality of care.