On-Demand Learning

Transforming to Age-Friendly Health Care — Participant Information

Program originally recorded June 20, 2023. (Recordings are not eligible for CEs.)

Older adults who experience acute health events – often exacerbations of chronic disease or co-morbidities – are regularly managed through services provided in multiple settings – hospital emergency departments, inpatient care, and post-acute care settings – and require several risky care transitions. These episodes are among the top drivers of health care costs and poor outcomes for aging populations. Hospitals and health systems have responded by implementing cross-continuum strategies to increase understanding of the unique needs of older adults and establish “age-friendly care.”    

Join us to hear from West Health, a leader in the development of health care delivery models that improve care and access while reducing costs for our fast-growing, diverse population of seniors. Presenters will share proven research, effective organizational and community collaborations, and strategies for financial sustainability for implementing age-friendly care throughout the health care system.

This webinar will: 

  • Define the key components of age-friendly care in hospitals and health systems.   
  • Discuss innovative home-based care models and services.  
  • Review strategies to financially support and sustain new models of care. 

Chris Crowley, PhD
Program Manager, Successful Aging
West Health

Dr. Christopher Crowley is a systems engineer and quantitative analyst with a career dedicated to public health, safety, and wellbeing. At the West Health Institute, Dr. Crowley has had the privilege of developing collaborative learning networks, working side by side with those providers that eschew traditional volume-based payment incentives in favor of opportunities to embrace financial risk.  Working within a cross-disciplinary setting, Dr. Crowley brings Improvement Science and Systems Engineering perspectives and methodologies to better connect payment models (e.g. Accountable Care Organizations) to Care Delivery Models such as Telehealth, Hospital at Home and Geriatric Emergency Departments. 

Amy Stuck, PhD, RN
Senior Director, Value-based Acute Care
West Health

Amy Stuck is Senior Director, Value-based Acute Care and an applied health services researcher at the West Health Institute, a non-profit medical research organization focused on senior-specific care delivery innovations to lower the cost of health care and enable successful aging in place. Amy’s current fields of study include senior-focused emergency care, home and community-based alternatives to hospitalization, value-based care in Medicare and accountable care organizations. Amy has over 30 years’ experience in Acute and Critical Care nursing, quality improvement, hospital leadership and nursing education. 

Renee Tyska, RN, BSN
Director, Clinical GED Team
West Health

Renee Tyska, Director of Clinical GED, is an experienced nurse leader with a background in clinical operations, client success, and enterprise sales. Renee began her career as an RN in critical care settings and later as a visiting nurse, which provided her with a holistic perspective in the way patients receive and experience care. Ms. Tyska’s expertise is in transitions of care, population health, as a diabetic coach, and supporting chronic disease initiatives. At West Health, Ms. Tyska advocates for and supports older adults, a population she has served throughout her career as an RN.

Jon Zifferblatt, MD, MPH, MBA
Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President
West Health

In his role as Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President, Dr. Jon Zifferblatt advances West Health’s mission to lower healthcare costs to enable seniors to successfully age in place with access to high-quality, affordable health and support services that preserve and protect their dignity, quality of life and independence. Under his leadership, the organization is focused on driving integration across successful aging clinical research portfolios, models of excellence and cost of healthcare strategic initiatives.

Pat Blaisdell, FACHA (moderator)
Vice President, Policy
California Hospital Association

Pat Blaisdell provides membership support and advocacy for hospital-based post-acute care and case management services, including policy analysis and interpretation, communication with regulatory bodies and third-party payers, and planning and implementation of educational programs. Pat has more than 25 years of experience in hospital and health care management in acute and post-acute settings and has expertise in clinical operations and reimbursement across the post-acute continuum of care. 

For additional assistance and other inquiries, email CHA’s Education Department at education@calhospital.org.