There’s a better way to provide senior care

Kenneth L. Scott Jr. DO, CMD

Meet our CEO

Dr. Scott, DO, CMD is the CEO of SilverSage Management Services. Kenneth L. Scott Jr. DO, CMD earned his doctorate degree in osteopathic medicine from the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences. He also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology from the University of British Columbia.

After completing a residency in Internal Medicine. Dr. Scott, DO, CMD spent the next 16 years working as a hospitalist. During those early years in the development of the hospitalist specialty Dr. Scott, DO, CMD helped to manage and eventually lead hospitalist programs. His experience in this industry led to calls for him to rebuild failing hospitalist programs and multiple stints serving on hospital boards including both for-profit and not-for-profit institutions.

Early on he also developed an interest in nursing home work and served as the Medical Director of nursing homes for seven years. Eventually, his combined experience as a nursing home medical director and leadership in the hospitalist specialty resulted in a call to serve as the Corporate Medical Director and eventually the Chief Medical Officer of Life Care Centers of America. During his time at Life Care he built an ancillary company of Life Care which directly employed over 100 doctors, Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants across 18 states to provide medical care and improve quality of care for Life Care’s nursing homes. This company, Life Care Physician Services, LLC continues to be a leader in the Post-Acute and Long-Term Care world in providing excellent direct patient care while dramatically reducing re-hospitalizations and improving outcomes especially on the Post-Acute side of the nursing home.

While still managing Life Care Physician Services, Dr. Scott, DO, CMD left Life Care Centers of America to follow his dream of forming his own company to provide the same services to other facilities that might wish to achieve the same quality outcomes. He currently serves as the CEO of SilverSage Management Services. His company provides physicians to the Post-Acute and Long-Term Care industry as well as consulting services to Nursing Homes and Assisted Living companies on improvement of quality of care and safe transitions.

Dr. Scott, DO, CMD has served as a member of the Program Planning Committee as well as the Foundation Board for the Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. He also has active memberships in the Society of Hospital Medicine, and the American College of Physician Executives.

Dee McCarthy Vice President / CO Ohana Pacific Healthcare– 

May 5, 2022

During my 40-plus years as a nurse, I’ve always sought to develop partnerships in my clinical
practice. When I was a Director of Nursing at a SNF, I partnered with my Medical Director. It was a
good relationship and was beneficial to the facility, but something was missing. The Medical
Director, like many Medical Directors, had his own separate practice and served as Medical Director
for a couple other facilities. He visited the facility twice a week for a limited amount of time and
wasn’t always available on weekends or after hours. Whoever ended up taking call for him usually
didn’t know the residents. Often residents bounced back to the hospital because the on-call doc
wasn’t comfortable treating unknown residents over the phone. Who could blame them?

When nurse practitioners were added in the facility, it helped, but a lot of the same problems still
plagued us. The NPs often could only treat those residents belonging to their doctor or clinic or
hospital system or insurance company. To muddy the waters even more, the doctors and NPs
weren’t always familiar with the facility’s pharmacy, wound care or nursing supply formularies. They
might or might not be available to attend care plan or IDT meetings regularly. Often these
practitioners were absent for those important conversations with residents and families. A good
many discussions with families regarding a resident’s prognosis ended up being initiated by a floor
nurse. Despite incredible transformations in long term care, twenty-five years later these practices
remain virtually unchanged.

So, when Dr. Scott originally discussed the Silver Sage Physician Model with me, all I could say was
“Finally”. Watching this model in actual practice is a dream come true. With a Silver Sage physician,
the facility now has a doctor available to the residents, families and staff almost daily. On-call is no
longer an issue as your Medical Director and your Silver Sage physician can share call.
Unnecessary returns to acute drop as the residents are well-known to the doctors. In tandem with
the nursing staff, the Silver Sage physician works to keep and treat the residents in-house.
Likewise, pharmacy and nursing supply costs decrease with Silver Sage physicians.

These physicians help define the facility formulary standards and actively adhere to them. Remember those
tough conversations with families? With a Silver Sage physician, these are now carried out by a
caring physician, who truly knows the resident and family on a personal level. The Silver Sage
physician becomes an integral part of the facility’s interdisciplinary team. The physician is thoroughly
involved in ‘resident-centered’ care planning and QAPI.

For me, the best part of this physician partnership is the impact it has on the nursing staff. The Silver
Sage physician works directly with the nursing staff; helping them to enhance their clinical skills and
stay current with practices and procedures. Nowadays we are all pushed to admit residents with
higher acuity. What better partner could nurses have then one who teaches, challenges and works
with them to treat these ‘sicker’ residents and achieve the best in quality outcomes?

With all the clinical challenges we are required to meet in long term care, all of us need a partner. I
recommend you a take a serious look at the Silver Sage Physician model. Partnering with Silver
Sage will definitely enhance your facility’s clinical practice and help achieve those quality outcomes
we all desire.