Geriatric management improves care satisfaction
Geriatric evaluation and management (GEM) improves satisfaction with care among elderly patients and their primary care doctors, according to a study by University of Minnesota researchers.1
GEM includes a comprehensive geriatric assessment, followed by an average of seven primary care office visits, and continuous case management by a team consisting of a geriatrician, a nurse, a social worker, and a gerontological nurse practitioner. The researchers randomized Medicare beneficiaries in one Minnesota county who were at high risk of repeated hospitalizations to a usual care group and a GEM group.
Twice as many GEM patients expressed a high degree of satisfaction with their care compared with usual care patients (41% vs. 20%). Patients said they believed the GEM program helped them feel better and improved their understanding of their health, decreased their worries, helped them exercise more, and made taking medications easier.
Physicians also reported that the program had provided appropriate care and was helpful to them in the care of their patients.
Reference
1. Morishita L, Boult L. Satisfaction with outpatient geriatric evaluation and management (GEM). Gerontologist 1998; 38:303-308.
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