Background: Coordination of inpatient and outpatient care is an important challenge in improving population health but evidence examining the effectiveness of existing care coordination programs is mixed. The Comprehensive Care Physician (CCP) Program at the University of Chicago provides patients at increased risk of hospitalization the opportunity to receive inpatient and outpatient care from the [...]

Background: Complex non-pharmacologic interventions containing multiple, or bundled, components can successfully prevent and treat hospital-acquired delirium in older adults. However consistent implementation, and the measurement of compliance, of these bundled interventions can be challenging to sustain in hospital settings especially in presence of COVID-19. Developing workflows with a smaller sub-set of components that are feasible [...]

Background: Coordination of inpatient and outpatient care is an important challenge in improving population health but evidence examining the effectiveness of existing care coordination programs is mixed. The Comprehensive Care Physician (CCP) Program at the University of Chicago provides patients at increased risk of hospitalization the opportunity to receive inpatient and outpatient care from the [...]

Background: Complex non-pharmacologic interventions containing multiple, or bundled, components can successfully prevent and treat hospital-acquired delirium in older adults. However consistent implementation, and the measurement of compliance, of these bundled interventions can be challenging to sustain in hospital settings especially in presence of COVID-19. Developing workflows with a smaller sub-set of components that are feasible [...]

Background: Frailty is a clinical syndrome characterized by vulnerability to stressors resulting from a loss of physiological reserve across multiple systems. Frailty is a common condition in older adults and is associated with disability, morbidity, increased healthcare utilization, and mortality. Frailty assessments derive from two major frameworks: the frailty phenotype and the deficit accumulation model. [...]

Background: As the United States population ages the health care system is experiencing overall change and growth in the patient population as evidenced by the rising demand of psychiatric care in the emergency department. By the year 2029 “baby boomers” or older adults, those born between mid-1946 through mid-1964, will be 65 and older resulting [...]

Background: Clinical practice guidelines state that mobility is supposed to play an important role in determining use and duration of pharmacologic VTE prophylaxis. This study examines whether measured mobility levels relate to pharmacologic VTE prophylaxis use among hospitalized older adults. Methods: Prospective observational data from a sample of community-dwelling older adults aged ≥ 60 years, [...]

Background: Central nervous system medication (CNS med) use among older adults is associated with high morbidity and mortality. This study described patterns of CNS medication use, and identified people most likely to have CNS medications initiated or deprescribed around hospitalization. Methods: Retrospective cohort study using electronic health record data from 3-hospitals. Patients aged 65 years [...]

Background: Pneumonia (PNA) is the fourth most common diagnosis for hospital admissions in the United States. Although the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) defines PNA as requiring specific clinical features (cough, fever, sputum production and pleuritic chest pain) along with radiographic imaging confirmation, older adults can present with non-specific symptoms. Furthermore, in a landmark [...]

Background: Hospital-acquired disability (HAD) is common, and a key contributor to this process is low hospital physical activity. This study examines whether objective measures of hospital physical activity from wearable accelerometers can be used to predict HAD. Methods: Prospective observational study of community-dwelling older adults aged ≥ 60 years, admitted to an academic hospital’s general [...]