GERIATRIC PROFILE INDEX - A SYSTEM FOR IDENTIFYING, MANAGING, AND PLANNING FOR GERIATRIC PATIENTS IN STATE HOSPITALS

The Geriatric Profile Index (GPI) is a procedure for identifying at any given time the number and characteristics of the inpatient geriatric population of a state hospital, as an aid in fiscal and program planning that will maintain quality standards of care. The results of nearly three years' experience in Wyoming State Hospital can be summarized as follows: 1) The quick identification of the number and functional characteristics of the geriatric patients in the hospital prevents these patients from becoming lost among the general hospital population. 2) The GPI is a valuable aid in planning for the geriatric patient and his return to the community. Moreover, it provides a fairly consistent baseline with which to allocate and redeploy the hospital staff for the purpose of strengthening existing hospital programs and establishing new ones such as direct-care services, physical therapy, geriatric social services, social remotivation, and community placement. Since its introduction, 30 per cent of our geriatric inpatient population have been returned to the community. 3) The GPI brings professional roles into sharper focus and delineates professional responsibility more clearly. It enhances communication between staff members at all levels because it lessens the use of professional jargon by providing a clear and concise nontechnical summary of the patient's situation, thereby minimizing the communication impediments often found in large organizations. It has antedated, and thus placed the hospital in early compliance with the Utilization and Review requirements of Medicare, Title XVIII. Its predictive quality has facilitated the development of new programs addressed to the needs of the elderly patient (Title XIX). It has also tended to refine staff thinking, in that it makes practitioners defend their diagnostic positions and clarify their concepts of practice. © 1969 The American Geriatrics Society.