Upgrading Geriatric Emergency Care

Four national medical societies and nine health system have established a new national “Geriatric Emergency Department Collaborative” (GEDC) to help improve emergency care for older adults. This research collaborative is supported by a $3 million grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation www.johnahartford.org and the Gary and Mary West Health Institute http://westhealth.org

The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), American Geriatrics Society (AGS), Emergency Nurses Association (ENA), and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) are going to work with a team of experts in geriatric emergency care to support health systems in the U.S. Their primary goal is to identify, study, and share best practices in emergency care for seniors.

The four societies previously developed expert guidelines on geriatric emergency care in 2014. These guidelines plus new educational activities will help partners put these guidelines in place at Aurora Health Care System, Emory University/Grady Memorial Hospital, Magee Women’s Hospital, Mount Sinai, UC, San Diego Health, Northwestern, St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center, University of Chicago, and the University of North Carolina.