University of Utah Health has been recognized by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) with its new, highest-tier age-friendly designation: Level 3 Excellence in System-wide Spread.
U of U Health is one of only 14 health systems nationwide to receive this top-tier honor. The recognition celebrates organizations that have successfully embedded evidence-based, age-friendly care across multiple departments, clinics, and specialties, ensuring older adults receive consistent, high-quality care no matter where they are seen throughout the health system.
What This Means for Older Adults and Their Families
As our population ages, navigating health care can become increasingly complex and fragmented for older adults and their caregivers. This national designation highlights that U of U Health has moved beyond localized efforts, standardizing a reliable, respectful, and coordinated framework known as the 4Ms across the entire network.
By focusing on the 4Ms, U of U Health care teams look beyond individual symptoms to care for the whole person:
- What Matters: We align all care decisions with the patient's health outcome goals, values, and preferences (e.g., maintaining independence or prioritizing comfort).
- Medication: We carefully manage medications, choosing age-friendly options that will not interfere with a patient’s goals, mobility, or cognitive health.
- Mind: We actively prevent, identify, and manage conditions like dementia, depression, and delirium across settings of care.
- Mobility: We help older adults move safely so they can maintain function and continue doing what they love.
A System-Wide Commitment
This achievement is the result of an intensive, 18-month collaborative effort that took place from 2024–2025. U of U Health worked alongside the IHI and other pioneering medical institutions to design and implement strategies that successfully spread age-friendly practices across emergency departments, primary care offices, inpatient units, and specialized clinics.
“Older adults often have multiple chronic conditions requiring an interdisciplinary team approach, and their care should never feel disjointed,” said Timothy Farrell, MD, AGSF, CPAFH, Geriatrics Division Associate Chief for Age-Friendly Care at U of U Health. “By implementing the 4Ms into our daily routines across the system, we make sure that whether a patient is visiting our emergency room, recovering in the hospital, or seeing their primary care provider, their personal goals, medications, cognition, and mobility are viewed as a cohesive whole. This designation is a tribute to our staff's dedication to making health care deeply personal, safe, and supportive for older adults and their families.”
According to the IHI, as of June 2026, only 14 health systems have met the rigorous standards required to be recognized for Excellence in System-wide Spread.
“By integrating the 4Ms into our daily clinical workflows, we have built a reliable framework that actively protects the physical and cognitive health of older adults while ensuring that care remains aligned with what matters most to each patient,” said Kencee Graves, MD, Chief Medical Quality Officer for U of U Health. “This approach helps patients, families, and caregivers feel confident that they are receiving safe, evidence-based, and highly coordinated care at every point of contact within our health system.”
About the Institute for Healthcare Improvement
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) is a leading, globally recognized, not-for-profit health care improvement organization. For over 30 years, IHI has used evidence-based methods and improvement science to partner with millions of people in health care to make care better, safer, and more equitable.
Media Contact:
Suzanne Winchester
Director of Public Affairs, University of Utah Health
Email: Suzanne.Winchester@hsc.utah.edu