(LONG BEACH, CA – February 23, 2011) — Representatives from some of California’s largest physician groups recently shared their most pressing concerns regarding geriatric care at the annual meeting of SCAN Health Plan’s geriatric advisory board in Long Beach.
The geriatric advisory board was formed by SCAN in 2004 to help guide the senior-focused health plan in its approach to member-centered programs and services, to bring innovative ideas from the field, and to provide SCAN leadership with broad perspective into pressing geriatric health policy issues. The board is a unique assembly of nationally known geriatric experts; and this year’s meeting with medical group representatives provided the opportunity to discuss a host of topics related to quality care, including: care coordination, palliative care and advance-care planning, care transitions, and patient management and quality.
"We are very fortunate to have such a highly respected group of individuals agree to share their expertise for the benefit of our members and, more generally, our nation's rapidly growing senior population,” said Timothy Schwab, M.D., M.H.A., chief medical/informatics officer at SCAN Health Plan. “The give and take between the board and our medical group partners was an invaluable sharing of ideas and proposals that they can use in their practices and we can use in formulating our thinking going forward.”
Invited medical groups were asked to bring an action plan for a project they have been considering. Board members then offered recommendations for further development and implementation of the action plans as well as examples of other tested approaches.
The members of the SCAN geriatric advisory board are:
- Kenneth Brummel-Smith, M.D., Charlotte Edwards Maguire, professor of geriatrics and the founding chair of the Department of Geriatrics at the Florida State University College of Medicine.
- Eric Coleman, M.D., M.P.H., professor of medicine and interim head of the Division of Health Care Policy and Research at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center.
- Robert L. Kane, M.D., professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and School of Medicine and director of the University’s Center of Aging.
- Leonard J. Kirschner, M.D., M.P.H., president of AARP Arizona and member of the American Hospital Association regional policy board and of the board of directors of Wickenburg Community Hospital.
- Cheryl L. Phillips, M.D., A.G.S.F., C.M.D. , chief medical officer of On Lok Lifeways, the parent to the PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) model that serves nursing home-eligible seniors in the San Francisco area.
"Each board member brings a unique perspective and expertise in the area of aging," said Dr. Schwab. "This will ensure that the programs and services offered to our members are the best they can be and are designed based upon current input from acknowledged leaders in the field."
For more than 30 years, SCAN Health Plan has been focusing on the unique needs of seniors and is now the country’s fourth largest not-for-profit Medicare Advantage plan. The company currently has nearly 130,000 members in California and Arizona. Further information may be obtained at scanhealthplan.com.