title: The OASIS program: redesigning hospital care for older adults.
abstract: A major factor in poor outcomes for hospitalized older adults is the health care delivery system. If acute care is not designed to address their altered response to illness and treatments, functional needs, and psychosocial issues, they are at significant risk for hospital-acquired complications and loss of functionality. Each health system should develop its own acute geriatric care program based on its resources and a plan for geriatric competency for all its health care workers. The OASIS pilot was created by taking elements from programs around the country that have succeeded in reengineering care for older adults. This pilot addressed the acute care of older patients scattered across 2 medical units in a 500+ bed community hospital. Outcomes demonstrated that coordinated, geriatric specific care had a positive, measurable impact on the quality of care, costs, and provided geriatric support to physicians and hospital staff.
authors.affiliation: Gerontological Nursing in the Sixty Plus Older Adult Services, Piedmont Hospital, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
authors.forename: Dee
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tucker
authors.forename: Gail
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bechtel
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Quartana
authors.forename: Naadede
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Badger
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Werner
authors.forename: Ilisher
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.forename: Larry
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Connelly
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005845:Georgia; D005851:Geriatric Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006746:Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over; D017721:Hospital Costs; D006754:Hospital Restructuring / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006764:Hospitals, Community / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D009720:Nurse Clinicians / Q000458:organization & administration*; D024802:Nurse's Role; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015397:Program Evaluation; D036301:Qualitative Research; D011787:Quality of Health Care