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Tuesday, March 11, 2008
AGS Announcements
AGS Members: Please Share "Cheating for A Kiss" with Friends and Family; To Complement This Film, AGS Foundation Launches "We All Have Grandparents" Photo Contest
"Cheating for a Kiss" is a funny, touching romantic short film featuring Fred Connors and Rosemary Carney - and shot by their grandson, Mike Potter. The AGS Foundation for Health in Aging has adapted Mr. Potter's "Cheat" -- a Grand Prize winning film at the first annual CellFlix Festival that has been feted in the national media - to draw attention to its Web site. The Foundation hopes that the film will alert those visiting YouTube -- where the film is now playing -- to the FHA Web site's robust healthcare resources and that younger viewers will be drawn to information about careers in geriatrics on the Web site. Please visit "Cheating for a Kiss" and share the link with your friends, family, and colleagues. The more hits on YouTube, the greater visibility for the AGS Foundation for Health in Aging!
The FHA would like to thank Mike Potter for his generosity and David Katzive of the Leonardo Project, Inc. for his video editing advice and assistance.
In the spirit of "Cheating for a Kiss," the FHA is now sponsoring a "We All Have Grandparents Photo Contest" -- open to professionals and amateurs alike -- celebrating the many faces of older adults. The Foundation is looking for photos that capture the character and experiences of older adults, and challenge stereotypes of older adults. The deadline for entries is May 1.
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New Google-Cleveland Clinic Online Medical Records Project is Latest Electronic Health Records (EHR) Venture; AGS' 2008 Annual Scientific Meeting Sessions to Explore EHR
The Google Inc.- Cleveland Clinic pilot program to store patients' personal health records online, announced last month, is the latest effort by technology firms, insurers, the healthcare sector, and the government to promote the use of electronic health records (EHR). It's an effort that could help improve care and lower costs -- but also raises privacy concerns.
EHR will be the focus of two sessions during AGS 2008 Annual Scientific Meeting, which is slated for April 30 to May 4, in Washington D.C.
"GRECC Workshop - Using Health Information Technology to Improve Medication Management of Geriatric Patients," scheduled for May 1, will highlight a range of perspectives on clinical decision support, primarily as it relates to medication management in outpatient and other settings and during transitions among settings.
During the May 2 "Emerging Technologies Help Seniors Enjoy Higher Healthcare Standards" workshop , Microsoft Director Dr. James Mault will discuss emerging technologies designed to help geriatrics and other healthcare providers better manage information central to delivering quality care, improving outcomes, and coordinating care.
Microsoft unveiled HealthVault, its own Web-based EHR system, in October and the American Heart Association, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, and the Mayo Clinic are among the institutions and organizations that have committed to projects using the system. WebMD, Revolution Health and others are also offering personal Web-based health record keeping, The New York Times reports.
Google's pilot with the Cleveland Clinic will include between 1,500 to 10,000 Clinic patients and eventually extend to a broader audience, according to the Associated Press (AP). Participating patients will be able to transfer their records - including such information as medical histories, prescriptions, and allergies -- between the Cleveland Clinic and a password-protected, online Google "health profile" that they can access via any computer with an Internet connection. Among other things, they'll be able to share the data with multiple physicians and other healthcare providers and pharmacies. Many of the patients volunteering for the pilot are older adults who divide their time between Ohio and warmer states such a Florida and Arizona, The Times reports.
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What's Up in Washington
Doctors Seeing Fewer Medicare Patients Due to Threat of July 1 Medicare Physician Fee Cut; Check Your Inboxes Thursday for Link to AGS' New Advocacy Campaign to Block the Cut
Close to 25% of medical group practices responding to a recent national survey said they had either begun to limit the number of Medicare patients they treat, or are not accepting any new Medicare patients, due to uncertainty surrounding Medicare payment rates, according to Congressional Quarterly's "HealthBeat."
Nearly half of the more than 1,000 practices responding to the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) survey reported that the 10.6 % cut in Medicare physician payments scheduled to take effect July 1 has lead them to stop accepting or to limit the number of beneficiaries they accept. Congress voted in December to delay, for six months, a mandated 10.1% Medicare physician pay cut scheduled to take effect January 1 and to substitute a 0.5% increase -- setting the stage for the larger, 10.6%, cut slated to kick in July 1. Medicare's controversial Sustainable Growth Rate formula mandates cuts in Medicare payments to physicians when increases in these outlays exceed growth in Gross Domestic Product.
Check your Inbox this Thursday for a link to a new AGS Health in Aging Advocacy Center campaign urging Congress to block the July 1 cut.
Congress' December vote to delay the pay cut followed sustained advocacy efforts - by the American Geriatrics Society, its members, and others - urging lawmakers to avert the cut. The Society plans further advocacy efforts aimed at blocking the July 1 cut and revamping the method by which Medicare payments to professionals are determined. Full story
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Sen. Boxer Introduces Geriatrics Loan Forgiveness and Training Legislation in Senate and AGS Endorses Bill; Washington Post Reports on Bill, Shortage of Geriatrics Professionals and AGS’ Advocacy Work
To help alleviate the growing shortage of geriatrics healthcare providers, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) introduced legislation last week that would create a loan forgiveness program for professionals who complete training in geriatrics or gerontology and care for older adults for at least two years afterward. Her “Caring for an Aging America Act,” would also expand training and advancement opportunities for long-term care workers. It would earmark $130 million in federal funds for the initiatives over five years.
The American Geriatrics Society, the National Council on Aging, the Alzheimer's Association, and the Alliance for Aging Research were among the organizations endorsing the legislation. AGS has long advocated for loan forgiveness programs for geriatrics healthcare providers.
An article about the loan forgiveness bill in today's Washington Post, in fact, notes that AGS has advocated "aggressively" for measures such as Sen. Boxer's, as well as for the Geriatrics Assessment and Chronic Care Coordination Act (GACCA) that Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) has introduced . The Post story begins with an anecdote illustrating the difference geriatrics care can make in the lives of older patients - and in healthcare spending. It relates what happened to one of Dr. Gregg Warshaw's patients, who developed pneumonia, but was spared a costly and difficult trip to the hospital because Dr. Warshaw determined that her condition wasn't serious enough to warrant hospitalization and stabilized her with antibiotics. The article goes on to report on the current shortage of geriatrics healthcare providers and adds that the supply of these providers is "falling seriously behind needed levels."
In its advocacy efforts on behalf of geriatric loan forgiveness, AGS has long noted that, given lower-than-market rate Medicare reimbursement rates, a career focused on caring for older adults can be particularly financially unattractive for physicians with increasingly large medical school loan debts. A loan forgiveness program will provide the incentives needed to bring more providers into the field of geriatrics.
Under Sen. Boxer's legislation, physicians, physician assistants, advance practice nurses, psychologists, and social workers who complete specialty training in geriatrics or gerontology and agree to provide care for older adults fulltime for a minimum of two years would be eligible for loan forgiveness. The bill would also expand the Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program to include registered nurses who complete specialty training and work with older adults in long-term care.
In addition, the bill would expand career opportunities for nursing and direct care workers by offering specialty training in long-term care through the existing Career Ladders Grants Program. Finally, the measure would create the Health and Long-Term Care Workforce Advisory Panel for an Aging America, which would examine and advise the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Labor and Congress on workforce issues related to elder healthcare.
“When our mothers and fathers and grandparents reach their golden years, they deserve quality care for their health and long-term care needs,” Sen. Boxer said. “But the medical and health community is already struggling to meet the demand for geriatric healthcare and support services, and the need for trained professionals is only growing. This legislation will provide incentives to help encourage qualified practitioners to join the geriatrics and gerontology fields.”
In May, Reps. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT), Ike Skelton (D-MO) and Bobby L. Rush (D-IL), introduced geriatrics loan forgiveness legislation in the House that would provide incentives to doctors and psychiatrists interested in pursuing additional training in geriatrics. Specifically, the measure would extend the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program to geriatric training, forgiving $35,000 of educational debt incurred by medical students for each year of advanced training in geriatric medicine or psychiatry.
AGS extends its appreciation and thanks to Drs. Warshaw, Judith Black, and Todd Semla for responding to our request that they give interviews with The Post for its article about the shortage of geriatricians and the efforts underway to ameliorate that. Interested in being a media spokesperson? Sign up at http://www.americangeriatrics.org/about/spokesperson_survey.shtml.
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Things We Like
Jeffrey M. Levine, MD Draws Attention to the Need for More Geriatric Healthcare Providers with Photography Exhibit
Jeffrey M. Levine, MD, AGS fellow and teaching attendant with St. Vincent's Medical Center in New York, NY, has taken pictures over his twenty-five year career as a geriatrician and now presents his photography in an exhibit entitled, "Aging Through a Physician's Lens". Dr. Levine's photography captures the vulnerability, dignity, and inner strength of older adults, while focusing on the need for increased numbers of geriatric physicians to care for this unique and growing population.
The show is scheduled for debut at the National Arts Club in New York City on May 12, and will then travel to medical schools around the country. Don't miss the opening reception on Wednesday, May 21, from 5 to 8 PM. For more information or inquiries about booking this exhibit please call Dr. Levine at 212-253-5601 or email info@shcny.com.
Levine has also utilized his artistic talents to publish portraits of older adults on over fifty covers of medical and geriatric journals including The Gerontologist, Annals of Internal Medicine, Archives of Internal Medicine, and Journal of the American Medical Directors Association.
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Upcoming Deadlines
The Practice Change Fellows Program: Enhancing Leadership in Geriatric Care 2008 Call For Applications (due by April 2, 2008)
The Practice Change Fellows program is now accepting applications for the 2008 award cycle. The program is designed to develop healthcare leaders who can effectively promote high quality care for older adults. Eligible applicants must hold a leadership role in a health organization or institution and have service line or programmatic responsibility for care to older adults. They must be sufficiently senior in their organization to have decision-making authority and be able to effect change. Nurses, physicians, and social workers are eligible to apply. Applications and more details are available at www.practicechangefellows.org. The application deadline for the 2008 award cycle is April 2.
As many as 10 Practice Change Fellows are selected through a national competition for each award cycle. Fellows receive $90,000 over the two-year program and work with accomplished national mentors to design, implement, and evaluate a new project. This project will ideally focus on an innovative aging-related program or geriatric service line. Fellows will participate in tri-annual meetings where they will receive input on their projects from national program mentors and Advisory Board members, join in case-based discussions on how to effect change, and attend interactive presentations led by national experts. Completion of formal leadership training (local or national) is another core component of the program. By the end of the two years, Fellows will be able to articulate a vision of what they hope to accomplish in the upcoming five years and the steps necessary to achieve this.
The Practice Change Fellows program is funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies and the John A. Hartford Foundation, and administered by the Division of Health Care Policy and Research at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center in partnership with the National Council on Aging.
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Apply Now to Attend 5th Annual AGS/NIA/Hartford Bedside-to-Bench Conference: "Idiopathic Fatigue of Aging"
Applications to attend "Idiopathic Fatigue of Aging" - the fifth Bedside-to-Bench research conference sponsored by the American Geriatrics Society, the National Institute on Aging (NIH), and the John A Hartford Foundation -- are now being accepted.
Four earlier Bedside-To-Bench conferences were held from 2004 through 2007. In 2006, NIA renewed funding for a second series of three conferences. The first of this series, "Thinking, Moving and Feeling," was held in September 2007 in Bethesda, MD.
Idiopathic Fatigue of Aging is slated for September 3-5, 2008 at the Marriott Bethesda North Hotel & Conference Center in Bethesda, MD. To promote interaction and small group work, participation in the conference is limited. Up to 25 applicants will be invited to participate at their own cost. In addition, postdoctoral trainees and junior faculty are eligible to apply for 10 available travel grants, which will cover conference registration, hotel accommodations, and up to $550 in travel costs.
Applications, application guidelines and additional program information have been posted on the AGS Web site. Applications are due by August 1, 2007.
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