Pearls from the UCLA Intensive Course in Geriatrics and Pharmacy 2019
by Dan Osterweil, MD, FACP, CMD

Drs. Wasserman and Osterweil were on the faculty of this renowned course that brings more than 300 physicians, nurse practitioners and pharmacists to Los Angeles. This annual event brings the best of Geriatrics to four intensive days. 

In the photo, Dr. Wasserman, CALTCM President, is sharing his experience in the business of geriatric medicine, while also showing the image of his father, who is the national Albert Einstein impersonator. Dr. Osterweil, co-director of the UCLA course and CALTCM CEO, led a workshop in advance care planning featuring Drs. Bruce Ferrell, Neil Wenger and Rebecca Yamarik, all experts in Palliative Care and Hospice. This interactive workshop highlighted the importance of having the discussions about goals and preferences of elders. All speakers agreed that clinicians should make recommendations consistent with the patient’s prognosis and personal goals. The consensus was that asking patients whether they should be resuscitated is almost always inappropriate. The patient is an expert on their own goals and preferences, and the clinician is an expert in medicine who should not shy away from making recommendations based on that. A session on opportunities for practice improvement and another on care transitions were led by Dr. Osterweil on other days of the course.

Dr. Barbara Bates Jensen delivered her brilliant talk on pressure Injury, shining the spotlight on new technologies to identify risk in individuals with dark skin before serious injury occurs. She showed data that the incidence of pressure ulcers has declined in acute hospitals, whereas the incidence and prevalence in NH have been stable. There may be a correlation between denial of payment for hospital-acquired wounds (“never events”) and the reduction in these pressure ulcers, while this type of tangible penalty does not exist for nursing facilities. Plenary sessions were videotaped and will be available through CME info very soon.