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Lynch DH, Mournighan K, Dale M, Spangler HB, Gotelli J, Davis R, Felton K, Lingley-Brown K, Busby-Whitehead J, Batsis JA, Hanson LC. Establishing and sustaining an acute care for elders unit: An incremental journey to success. J Am Geriatr Soc 2023; 71:3031-3039. [PMID: 37610294 DOI: 10.1111/jgs.18561] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2023] [Revised: 07/10/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 08/24/2023]
Abstract
Acute Care for Elders (ACE) units reduce hospital-associated delirium, functional decline, and lengths of stay. However, establishing and sustaining such units have proven difficult. There are only 43 ACE units among the >3500 hospitals in the United States. This study describes an iterative quality improvement process, which allowed us to establish and sustain an ACE unit care model in a modern academic hospital. This continuous process was centered on implementing the key principles of the ACE unit model of care: patient-centered care assessments, medical care review, specialized prepared environment, early mobilization, physical therapy, and early planning for discharge to home. Quality of care and patient outcomes data for older adults admitted to our ACE unit includes mortality index (observed/expected) consistently <1 (FY22 = 0.86), 30-day readmission rate of <10% (FY22 9.31%), and length of stay index of ~1 (FY22 1.07). We describe how work on our ACE unit has led to hospital-wide initiatives, including dementia-friendly hospital certification. Our hope is that others can use this process to enhance the dissemination of the ACE unit model of care.
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Affiliation(s)
- David H Lynch
- Division of Geriatric Medicine and Center for Aging and Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Kimberly Mournighan
- Division of Geriatric Medicine and Center for Aging and Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Maureen Dale
- Division of Geriatric Medicine and Center for Aging and Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Hillary B Spangler
- Division of Geriatric Medicine and Center for Aging and Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - John Gotelli
- Division of Geriatric Medicine and Center for Aging and Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Ronald Davis
- University of North Carolina Hospital at Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Kittra Felton
- University of North Carolina Hospital at Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Kara Lingley-Brown
- University of North Carolina Hospital at Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Jan Busby-Whitehead
- Division of Geriatric Medicine and Center for Aging and Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - John A Batsis
- Division of Geriatric Medicine and Center for Aging and Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- Department of Nutrition, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
| | - Laura C Hanson
- Division of Geriatric Medicine and Center for Aging and Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
- Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA
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