Why Traditional Primary Care Fails Frail Elders and the Future Need for Specialized Models | Part One

Traditional primary care wasn't designed for today's frail elders—and that gap may be one of healthcare's greatest challenges.

As America's population ages, healthcare leaders face an urgent question: Is the traditional primary care model enough to care for frail older adults with complex medical, functional, and social needs?  In Part One of this thought-provoking conversation, Chris Comeaux welcomes Dr. Bethany Snider, Chief Medical Officer of Everent Health, to explore why the future of serious illness care requires a fundamentally different approach.

Together, they unpack the emerging concept of the frail elder practice—a longitudinal, interdisciplinary model that extends beyond office visits to meet patients where they are, both physically and emotionally.

Dr. Snider explains why volume-driven primary care often falls short for frail elders, whose care demands far more than brief appointments.  She outlines how home-based care, caregiver support, interdisciplinary teams, and palliative care principles can improve quality of life while helping healthcare organizations prepare for a rapidly changing payment landscape.  The conversation also explores why hospice leaders must begin thinking "upstream" if they hope to remain relevant in value-based healthcare and continue fulfilling their mission for future generations.

Key Takeaways

• Traditional primary care is no longer sufficient for frail elders whose needs extend beyond short office visits into the home, family, and community.
• Frail elder practices represent an emerging care model focused on comprehensive, relationship-based, interdisciplinary care that spans the final years of life—not just the final months.
• Hospice organizations must move upstream to remain relevant as accountable care organizations and value-based payment models reshape patient access and referral patterns.
• Palliative care should be embedded from day one, providing goal-centered conversations, symptom management, advance care planning, and ongoing support throughout the patient's journey.
• Mission-driven healthcare organizations have a unique opportunity to attract clinicians seeking meaningful, relationship-focused care while improving outcomes for patients and families.

If you're leading a hospice, health system, nonprofit, physician practice, or healthcare organization, this conversation offers an important look at where healthcare is headed—and how innovative care models can better serve our most vulnerable patients.

Don't miss Part Two, coming this Friday, which explores how organizations can successfully build, scale, and sustain frail elder practice models in the years ahead.

Show Transcript

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