SeniorHealth Center designated as patient-centered medical home

Team approach highlights comprehensive care for aging adults

UCI Health is proud to announce that the SeniorHealth Center has become one of the country’s first Patient-Centered Medical Homes focusing on geriatric care.

Certified by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, the Patient-Centered Medical Home designation reflects the Affordable Care Act’s emphasis on improving patients’ health through a team-based approach that coordinates primary and specialty care to provide for all of a patient’s needs, produce better health outcomes and drive down the cost of care by focusing on patient-centered care. This includes coordinating higher levels of care for chronic conditions, providing preventive care, and empowering patients in managing their own health, as well as increasing access and implementing new ways of delivering care. 

The center’s disease management focus is on diabetes, heart failure and dementia. Patients and families will experience optimal care and coordination from a whole team resulting in a customized approach to their care.

“We are very excited about this achievement because it enhances our mission of caring for older adults in a very personal manner through interdisciplinary teamwork,” said Dr. Lisa Gibbs, medical director of the UCI Health SeniorHealth Center and chief of the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology in the UC Irvine School of Medicine. “Our program is committed to compassionate and comprehensive care that revolves around the needs of our patients and families.”

NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. Its recognition programs are built on evidenced-based, nationally recognized clinical standards of care.

The UCI Health geriatrics team includes physicians, pharmacologists, psychologists, social workers, nurses and others and places a major emphasis on enhancing quality of life for patients and their families by providing primary care and understanding the changing health needs of aging adults.

Patients come to the SeniorHealth Center to see geriatric medicine specialists for many conditions specific to older adults, including healthy aging- as well as specific concerns such as memory loss, falls, frailty, urinary incontinence and functional decline. Older adults can see physicians for one-time consultations or for primary care.

UCI Health has long taken a team approach to integrating primary and specialty care. The program in geriatrics is well known nationally for its groundbreaking clinical, education and research programs. The center is ranked 39th among the nation's top hospitals for senior care by U.S. News & World Report.

Innovative programs include:

• Health Assessment Program for Seniors — a comprehensive physical, cognitive and psychological evaluation to help older adults with complex concerns enhance their quality of life.
• Memory Assessment Clinic — a service at the SeniorHealth Center in which neurologists, geriatricians and neuropsychologists evaluate and address memory impairment.
• Falls Clinic —  provides interventions to prevent the multiple causes of imbalance and falls that are a danger to senior health.
• Telemedicine —  links patients in nursing homes and sub-acute facilities to their physicians in the SeniorHealth Center for improved and timely access to care.
• iPad program — links recently hospitalized patients at home to healthcare providers in the SeniorHealth Center.

UCI Health comprises the clinical, medical education and research enterprises of the University of California, Irvine. Patients can access UCI Health at physician offices throughout Orange County and at its main campus, UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange, Calif., a 412-bed acute care hospital that provides tertiary and quaternary care, ambulatory and specialty medical clinics, behavioral health and rehabilitation. U.S. News & World Report has listed it among America’s Best Hospitals for 14 consecutive years. UC Irvine Medical Center features Orange County’s only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, high-risk perinatal/neonatal program, Level I trauma center and Level II pediatric trauma center, and is the primary teaching hospital for UC Irvine School of Medicine. UCI Health serves a region of more than 3 million people in Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.