Paoli Hospital Recognized As Age-Friendly Health System

PAOLI, PA — Paoli Hospital, part of Main Line Health, has been recognized as an Age-Friendly Health System – Committed to Care Excellence, by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI).

This achievement is part of the IHI’s Age-Friendly Health Systems initiative, a national movement to improve the health care of older adults.

"Paoli Hospital and Main Line Health are on the forefront of providing the highest-quality human care, and this recognition helps to advance the work we’ve been doing across the System to address the complex needs of our adult patients over the age of 70," said Brian Duke, System Director, Senior Services, Main Line Health. "The Age-Friendly Health Systems movement is an important part of our overarching vision to provide every older adult with the best care possible."

The Age-Friendly Health Systems movement, launched in 2017 by The John A. Hartford Foundation and IHI, in partnership with the American Hospital Association and the Catholic Health Association of the United States, is dedicated to making 20 percent of hospitals and health systems in the United States age-friendly by 2020.

Paoli Hospital joins more than 100 health systems across the nation that are part of the initiative.

As part of the initiative, Paoli Hospital implemented a set of evidence-based interventions designed to improve care for older patients, known as the "4Ms:"

• What Matters: Know and align care with each patient’s specific health outcome goals and care preferences, including end-of-life care and across settings of care.
• Medication: If medication is necessary, use Age-Friendly medication that does not interfere with What Matters to the patient, Mobility, or Mentation across settings of care.
• Mentation: Prevent, identify, treat, and manage dementia, depression, and delirium across settings of care.
• Mobility: Ensure that patients move safely every day in order to maintain function and do What Matters.

"This recognition is due to the efforts of our entire team, who diligently applied the 4Ms to all qualifying patients over 70 during this study," said Diane Sutton, Director of Nursing at Paoli Hospital. "We are looking forward to introducing this initiative to a broader population of older adults at Paoli and at all Main Line Health hospitals to improve care for our senior patients."