Sharp Grossmont Hospital’s journey to an age-friendly geriatric emergency department

Age-friendly health care means more than being mindful of a number on a patient’s chart. Age-friendly Health Systems are built on a framework, developed in part by AHA, that includes four evidence-based elements of high-quality care — What Matters, Medications, Mentation and Mobility. When implemented correctly, they can lead to remarkable results.

Sharp Grossmont Hospital, in La Mesa, Calif., integrated age-friendly health care into their emergency department and saw significant changes in areas like readmission rates and retention of staff.

Sharp Grossmont’s emergency department, which treats over 2,000 patients over 65 every month, began the transition towards age-friendly care by collecting data from the department starting in 2019. Staff then used that data to determine which supplies were needed to care for this population, created dashboards illustrating that data, and partnered with local organizations to get community feedback and provide community support.

From 2019 to 2022, Sharp Grossmont’s geriatric ED decreased its 30-day readmission rate by 1.3%, generating a capacity gain of 112+ hours per day; reported increased satisfaction and retention among nursing staff; reported that staff successfully recognized delirium in patients; and shared best practices through the launch of a geriatric collaborative that works to standardize guidelines of care for older adult patients.

To learn more about the 4M framework and how Sharp Grossmont successfully implemented it, read AHA’s case study and listen to AHA’s Advancing Health podcast.