TY - JOUR
T1 - A Multi-Phase Quality Improvement Initiative for the Treatment of Active Delirium in Older Persons
AU - Friedman, Joseph I.
AU - Li, Lihua
AU - Kirpalani, Sapina
AU - Zhong, Xiaobo
AU - Freeman, Robert
AU - Cheng, Yim Tan
AU - Alfonso, Francis L.
AU - McAlpine, George
AU - Vakil, Aditi
AU - Macon, Bernard
AU - Francaviglia, Paul
AU - Cassara, Margherita
AU - LoPachin, Vicki
AU - Reina, Katherine
AU - Davis, Kenneth
AU - Reich, David
AU - Craven, Catherine K.
AU - Mazumdar, Madhu
AU - Siu, Albert L.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 The American Geriatrics Society
PY - 2021/1
Y1 - 2021/1
N2 - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The Hospital Elder Life Program emerged 20 years ago as the reference model for delirium prevention in hospitalized older patients. However, implementation has been achieved at only 200 hospitals worldwide over the last 20 years. Among the barriers to implementation for some institutions is an unwillingness of hospital administration to assume the costs associated with implementing programs that service all hospitalized older patients at risk for delirium. Facing such a situation, we implemented a unique and self-evolving model of care of older hospitalized patients who had already developed delirium. DESIGN: Hypothesis testing was carried out using a pretest-posttest design on program administrative data. SETTING: Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, a tertiary-care teaching facility. PARTICIPANTS. A total of 9,214 consecutively admitted older patients to non–intensive care (ICU) inpatient units over a 5.5-year period, regardless of the suspected presence of delirium or risk status for developing delirium. INTERVENTION: A delirium intervention program targeting patients in whom delirium has already developed, with a modified delirium team supported by extensive workflow automation with custom tools in our electronic medical records system. MEASUREMENTS: Length of stay (LOS) for delirious and non-delirious patients on units where this program was piloted. Benzodiazepine, opiate, and antipsychotic use on the same units. RESULTS: There was a significant drop in LOS by 1.98 days (95% confidence interval =.24–3.71), a decrease in the average morphine dose equivalents administered from.38 mg to.21 mg per patient hospital day, diazepam dose equivalents from.22 mg to.15 mg per patient hospital day, and quetiapine administered from.17 mg to.14 mg per patient hospital day for delirious patients on the program pilot units. CONCLUSION: Elements of our unique active delirium treatment program may provide some direction to other program developers working on improving the care of older hospitalized delirious patients. However, the supporting evidence presented is limited, and a more rigorous prospective study is needed.
AB - BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The Hospital Elder Life Program emerged 20 years ago as the reference model for delirium prevention in hospitalized older patients. However, implementation has been achieved at only 200 hospitals worldwide over the last 20 years. Among the barriers to implementation for some institutions is an unwillingness of hospital administration to assume the costs associated with implementing programs that service all hospitalized older patients at risk for delirium. Facing such a situation, we implemented a unique and self-evolving model of care of older hospitalized patients who had already developed delirium. DESIGN: Hypothesis testing was carried out using a pretest-posttest design on program administrative data. SETTING: Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, NY, a tertiary-care teaching facility. PARTICIPANTS. A total of 9,214 consecutively admitted older patients to non–intensive care (ICU) inpatient units over a 5.5-year period, regardless of the suspected presence of delirium or risk status for developing delirium. INTERVENTION: A delirium intervention program targeting patients in whom delirium has already developed, with a modified delirium team supported by extensive workflow automation with custom tools in our electronic medical records system. MEASUREMENTS: Length of stay (LOS) for delirious and non-delirious patients on units where this program was piloted. Benzodiazepine, opiate, and antipsychotic use on the same units. RESULTS: There was a significant drop in LOS by 1.98 days (95% confidence interval =.24–3.71), a decrease in the average morphine dose equivalents administered from.38 mg to.21 mg per patient hospital day, diazepam dose equivalents from.22 mg to.15 mg per patient hospital day, and quetiapine administered from.17 mg to.14 mg per patient hospital day for delirious patients on the program pilot units. CONCLUSION: Elements of our unique active delirium treatment program may provide some direction to other program developers working on improving the care of older hospitalized delirious patients. However, the supporting evidence presented is limited, and a more rigorous prospective study is needed.
KW - Confusion Assessment Method
KW - active delirium treatment program
KW - delirium prevention program
KW - electronic medical record
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U2 - 10.1111/jgs.16897
DO - 10.1111/jgs.16897
M3 - Article
C2 - 33150615
AN - SCOPUS:85096646106
SN - 0002-8614
VL - 69
SP - 216
EP - 224
JO - Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
JF - Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
IS - 1
ER -