"Through ACE Tracker and e-Geriatrician, Aurora is able to reach thousands of seniors and improve their care," Dr. Malone said.
As health care providers struggle to deal with a shortage of geriatricians throughout the country and improve access to care for an aging population, the "e-Geriatrician" and ACE Tracker programs may provide part of the solution. The American Geriatric Society's AGS Foundation for Health in Aging projects that between 2010 and 2030, one in five Americans will be older than 65. Meanwhile, the number of certified geriatricians in the United States has declined from 8,800 to 7,100.
"That's what makes this project so vital," Dr. Malone said. "Finding better, more efficient ways to care for the elderly is more important than ever."
In addition to Aurora, the other sites chosen to participate in the Medicare Innovations Collaborative are: Carolinas Health Care Systems/Carolinas Medical Center-Mercy, Charlotte, N.C.; Crouse Hospital, Syracuse, N.Y.; Geisinger Health Systems, Danville, Pa.; Lehigh Valley Health Network, Allentown, Pa.; and University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio. The project is being funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies.
About Michael Malone, M.D.
Michael Malone, medical director of Aurora Health Care's Senior Services, is an editor of the medical textbook "The Practice of Geriatrics," Fourth Edition. (Duthie E, Katz P, Malone ML, editors. Elsevier Publishing Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 2007.) He also is a professor of medicine for the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and medical director of the Aurora Visiting Nurse Association of Wisconsin.
About Aurora Health Care
Aurora Health Care is a not-for-profit Wisconsin health care provider and a national leader in
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