Annals of Long Term Care

The American Geriatrics Society’s 2008 Annual Scientific Meeting featured more than 600 geriatrics experts presenting cutting-edge studies and leading sessions concerning geriatrics research, acute and long-term clinical care, and education. If you weren’t among the nearly 2700 who attended the session this spring—and if you were—you can access many of these presentations, and earn CME credit, by visiting AGS’ Virtual Annual Scientific Meeting.

The virtual meeting can be found at www.americangeriatrics.org and clicking in “AGS 2008 virtual meeting” and includes webcasts of more than 60 of the meeting’s most popular sessions. The webcasts feature synchronized slides and audio, and there are handouts for additional sessions that are not available by webcast.
A number of the virtual sessions will be of particular interest to professionals in long-term care. These include:

Release of the IOM Study on the Future Healthcare Workforce for Older Americans Plenary Session
During this panel discussion, AGS President John Murphy, MD, and the chair and several members of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee that authored Retooling for An Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce, review the report's findings and implications. The April 14 report warns that the nation's healthcare workforce—defined as healthcare professionals, direct-care workers, informal caregivers, and others involved in patient care—is too small and unprepared to care for the aging population. It calls for sweeping changes to avert this looming healthcare crisis. Dr. Murphy moderates as IOM committee chair John W. Rowe, MD, provides an overview of the study's findings. IOM committee members David B. Reuben, MD, Marie A. Bernard, MD, and Terry T. Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN, examine the three-pronged approach recommended by the report for addressing shortcomings in the nation's healthcare system. Members of the audience offer comments and ask questions.

The 2008 Henderson State-of-the-Art Lecture
Linda P. Fried, MD, Dean of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and this year’s winner of AGS’ Edward Henderson Award, devotes the Henderson lecture to the subject of frailty. Dr. Fried, a leading expert on frailty and disability whose research has focused, among other things, on the causes of frailty and disability and their prevention, shares findings from her and related research during the lecture.

GRECC Workshop - Using Health IT to Improve Medication Management of Geriatric Patients: Lessons Learned from Selected Implementations of Computerized Decision Support
This session offers a range of perspectives on clinical decision support, primarily as it relates to medication management in inpatient and outpatient settings, in nursing homes, and during transitions among these settings.

AGS Washington Update
This symposium offers an up-to-date overview of AGS’ public policy agenda and efforts on behalf of measures such as the Geriatric Assessment and Chronic Care Coordination Act and appropriate Medicare reimbursement. It includes a discussion period during which participants explore key policy issues with Wolf Block Public Strategies, AGS' policy consulting firm. Speakers include AGS Public Policy Committee Chair Steven R. Counsell, MD, and Wolf Block’s Christopher T. Cushing.

Regional Differences in Management of Medicare Long-Term Care Quality Indicators and Implications for Geriatric Practice
This session provides an overview of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) Quality Improvement Program now in use in nursing homes.

The Impact of Religion on the Health of Older Adults:Doorway Thoughts
This panel discussion examines the impact of religious beliefs and practices on the health of and healthcare for older adults from diverse religious and spiritual backgrounds.