FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Azusa, CA – California’s nursing homes often grapple with high costs and inconsistent care quality. A 2024 study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society demonstrates how the Age-Friendly Health System (Mate et al., 2018), using the 4Ms framework—What Matters, Medication, Mentation, and Mobility—cut costs and improved care at a Veterans Affairs skilled nursing facility in Boston. Aligned with the Triple Aim of cost, quality, and satisfaction, this model could transform California’s nursing homes (King et al., 2024).
The study used interprofessional teamwork to prioritize residents’ goals, medication safety, mental health, and mobility. Results mirror a 2020 Institute for Healthcare Improvement report on reduced hospital transfers and a 2022 Health Affairs study on fewer medication errors in long-term care.
Age Friendly Healthcare Results Align with the Triple Aim:
Big savings could fund training or equipment, helping administrators meet regulations and stand out. Families gain stable, personalized care for loved ones, while healthcare workers benefit from reduced workload and better outcomes.
- Cost: Found a 47.9% drop in emergency visits (5.34% to 2.78%) and 29.9% reduction in 30-day re-hospitalizations (25.55% to 17.9%). This could save a 112-bed SNF approximately $236,000 annually, based on national cost estimates (Burke et al., 2020).
- Quality: Falls decreased 34% (8.15 to 5.41 per 1000 bed days), disruptive behaviors dropped 62% (5.11 to 1.96 per 1000 bed days), and community discharges rose 18.6% (53.56% to 63.57%).
- Satisfaction: Satisfaction scores increased from 77.2 to 81.3 (1-100 scale), with likelihood to recommend rising from 75.9 to 86.3.
About APU GWEP: Azusa Pacific University’s (APU) Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program is similarly advancing geriatric age-friendly and dementia friendly healthcare through education, partnerships, and collaboration in nursing homes and assisted livings in Southern California.
Azusa Pacific University’s Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP), funded by the US Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), partners with CareConnect MD (an Age-Friendly health system certified provider) to train clinicians in the 4Ms. APU GWEP is launching a new 12-week interprofessional age training program in local nursing homes and assisted living facilities that will equip teams for nursing to deliver age-friendly healthcare.
Contact: Azusa Pacific University Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program
References:
King SE, Ruopp MD, Mac CT, et al. Early clinical and quality impacts of the Age-Friendly Health System in a Veterans Affairs skilled nursing facility. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2024;72(12):3865-3874. doi:10.1111/jgs.19083
Burke RE, Xu Y, Ritter AZ, et al. Association between teaching status of skilled nursing facilities and hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and costs for patients with heart failure. Health Aff. 2020;39(8):1351-1359. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2019.01687
Mate KS, Berman A, Laderman M, et al. Creating age-friendly health systems—a vision for better care of older adults. Healthcare. 2018;6(1):4-6. doi:10.1016/j.hjdsi.2017.05.005
