Highland Hospital Press Room
Geriatric Fracture Care Program at Highland Hospital
Earns a $100,000 Research Grant
Grant will help other hospitals adopt the GFC program, which has improved patient outcomes and reduced cost of care at Highland.
The Geriatric Fracture Center (GFC) at Highland Hospital has earned a prestigious two-year, $100,000 grant from the AO Research Institute based in Davos, Switzerland. With this funding, the Geriatric Fracture Center team will work with other hospitals to pilot its patient care model at their locations and document the results. The project will determine how other organizations can replicate the many successes of Highland’s program.
The GFC model of care focuses on rapid evaluation of elderly patients to reduce their time to surgery; close medical co-management by the orthopaedic surgeon and a geriatrician throughout the patient’s hospitalization; and using a total quality management approach to care that reduces the risk for medication errors and other medical complications.
The GFC approach was founded at Highland Hospital by Dr. Stephen Kates (Orthopaedics) and Dr. Daniel Mendelson (Geriatrics), who created a best practices model of care for older adults with fragility fractures. They have collaborated with Dr. Susan Friedman (Geriatrics), who is leading research efforts to study the outcomes of this model of care. The physicians have achieved dramatic results with the program and have shared their findings with hundreds of other physicians at teaching workshops in Rochester and numerous cities in the United States, Asia and Europe. The GFC also earned special recognition from the Health Care Association of New York State in June. Its application for the 2008 Pinnacle Award for Patient Safety scored in the top 10th percentile among more than 130 entrants.
Drs. Kates, Mendelson and Friedman outlined the many benefits of the program at the 2008 Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Geriatrics Society April 30-May 5 in Washington, D.C. GFC posters that documented positive patient outcomes and cost-effectiveness of GFC approach to care were very well received. The physicians’ participation in symposia also helped raise awareness of the program among physicians from around the nation.
Other hospitals have expressed interest in adopting the GFC model because it has reduced patients’ length of hospitalization, complication rates, and rates of readmission.
With this two-year grant, Kates, Mendelson and Friedman will develop educational materials to help other sites implement the GFC model. They will identify hospitals interested in testing the model and collect data on the hospitals’ patient populations and outcomes of care. And they will follow one hospital – the University of Alabama Hospital in Birmingham, Ala. – as it adopts the GFC model.
“This grant is a critical next step in defining and replicating this model of care,” said Daniel Mendelson, M.D., M.S. “It will allow us to analyze the components of this model of care that are central to its success, and identify any barriers that other hospitals may encounter.”
The effects of elderly fractures are significant: Hip fractures in older adults lead to high levels of morbidity and mortality, with 25% of individuals dying in the year following a fracture, and another 25% of previously independent individuals requiring long-term nursing home care following the fracture.
The rapid aging of the U.S. population makes optimizing geriatric fracture care a matter of urgency, said Stephen Kates, M.D.
“As baby boomers in this country get older, we are looking at a virtual tidal wave of hip fractures in the next few decades – we call it the ‘Silver Tsunami,’” adds Dr. Kates. “Right now, there are approximately 350,000 hip fractures every year in the United States. It’s anticipated that this number will grow to 500,000 by 2040, and it may be considerably higher than that.
“In order to treat all of these patients, hospitals need to take a fresh look at the care they provide and find the most successful model of care, one that makes the best use of resources,” Kates said.
“Our approach has improved patient outcomes and cut the amount of time they need to spend in the hospital,” Mendelson added. “We want to share this success with other organizations, and the research funded by this grant will help us do that. The results of this research may revolutionize the way elderly fractures are treated in the United States and worldwide. ”
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About Highland Hospital
The Hospital first opened its doors in 1889 as one of the first homeopathic hospitals in the United States. In 1921, Highland became the first hospital in the country to use insulin in the treatment of diabetes. Today, Highland is well-known for its comprehensive orthopedics services, women's services, nationally ranked geriatrics program, regional leading gastric bypass surgery center, extensive network of primary care physicians, newly renovated radiology department, medical/radiation oncology, cardiology, neurology, and much more. For more information, visit www.highlandhospital.org.
About the AO Foundation
The AO Foundation is a medically guided nonprofit organization led by surgeons from around the world who specialize in the treatment of trauma and disorders of the musculoskeletal system. AO offers affiliated surgeons and operating room personnel global networking opportunities and knowledge services. AO surgeons, operating room personnel and staff make up an interdisciplinary network of currently more than 5,000 healthcare professionals engaged in research, development, clinical investigation and education. The aim of research done within the AO Foundation is to contribute high-quality results to the general scientific body of knowledge in areas related to trauma and the diseased musculoskeletal system.
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