Symphony Rolls Out New Mental Health Service, Plans to Expand Across Portfolio

Symphony Care Network, a Midwest operator with more than 30 properties throughout Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan, is expanding its mental health services to better address a patient population that is more complex and sicker post-COVID.

The Chicago-based company formed a new geriatric mental health service — Serenata Geropsychiatric Care program — that helps identify symptoms of dementia and other neurological issues.

“Caring for someone with symptoms of dementia or other undiagnosed mental health conditions is incredibly challenging,” David Hartman, CEO of Symphony Care Network, said in the press release. “Serenata is designed to provide patients with individualized care to help them function at their highest capabilities as well as to provide their loved ones with peace of mind that they are receiving wholesome care that recognizes wellness isn’t just about the physical but about the whole person’s being.”

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Serenata uses a multidisciplinary team to detect a patient’s mental health condition over the course of their care, such as behavioral symptoms like aggression and anxiety, which can both be a sign of progressive deterioration of brain cells in cases of dementia or Alzheimer’s.

That detection is critical for some geriatric patients as medication, environmental influences and some medical conditions can cause symptoms to exacerbate if left undiagnosed. Detecting depression in patients is a key function of Serenata, a condition that can often be overlooked and untreated in geriatric patients with other medical illnesses.

As Symphony’s new director of behavioral health, clinical social worker Dru Lazzara, who has over 20 years of experience counseling older adults and their families, will lead a multidisciplinary team of specialized Geri-psychiatrists, therapists, nurses and other social workers. The team will work with patients and their families to identify and treat existing and emerging mental health concerns.

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Lazzara will also focus on developing Symphony’s behavioral health programming across the network.

Finding ways to treat a sicker and more complex patient population is something that a lot of SNFs operators are looking at right now in order to get back hospital referrals lost during COVID.

As occupancy rates declined due to the suspension of elective procedures, referrals to the SNF setting have become “very, very sick or clinically complex,” Keith Boyce, president and CEO of the AdventHealth Care Centers, told SNN.

Executive Mental Health, which provides care to acute and post-acute facilities in California and Nevada, noted an increase in individuals with severe mental illness and more behavioral health or mental health complexities coming into skilled nursing settings.

Illinois-based Ignite Medical Resorts has had an increase in its behavioral health services, which includes social work follow-up with patients and additional support services after discharge.

With Serenata, Symphony Care Network provides patients with access to on-site psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners who provide neuropsychological cognitive assessment and screenings.

The staff is specially trained in crisis prevention and de-escalation strategies and provides hands-on medication management.

Better management of patient’s medication can not only lead to a higher quality of care but is one way SNF operators can shift the burden away from nurses, who are already leaving the sector for higher-paying and less demanding jobs.

Dr. Jerry Wilborn, CEO of Geriatric Administrative Provider Services (GAPS) Health, a Dallas-based physician-led organization that provides medical directorships to SNFs, admitted that there can be a disconnect in terms of how patient medication administration is treated in the space.

“From a clinical perspective, there’s no one who is in their sixth, seventh or ninth decade of life that should be on 15 to 20 meds. No one, it makes no sense,” he said. “We see that routinely and that’s something we really focus on. You can save a nurse two hours or more a day … by optimizing medications.”

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