Discharge to post-acute care and other predictors of prolonged length of stay during the initial COVID-19 surge: a single site analysis.

BACKGROUND: During the initial surge of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), health-care utilization fluctuated dramatically, straining acute hospital capacity across the USA and potentially contributing to excess mortality. METHODS: This was an observational retrospective study of patients with COVID-19 admitted to a large US urban academic medical center during a 12-week COVID-19 surge in the Spring of 2020. We describe patterns in length of stay (LOS) over time. Our outcome of interest was prolonged LOS (PLOS), which we defined as 7 or more days. We performed univariate analyses of patient characteristics, clinical outcomes and discharge disposition to evaluate the association of each variable with PLOS and developed a final multivariate model via backward elimination, wherein all variables with a P-value above 0.05 were eliminated in a stepwise fashion. RESULTS: The cohort included 1366 patients, of whom 13% died and 29% were readmitted within 30 days. The LOS (mean: 12.6) fell over time (P < 0.0001). Predictors of PLOS included discharge to a post-acute care (PAC) facility (odds ratio [OR]: 11.9, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.6-54.0), uninsured status (OR 3.2, CI 1.1-9.1) and requiring intensive care and intubation (OR 18.4, CI 11.5-29.6). Patients had a higher readmission rate if discharged to PAC facilities (40%) or home with home health agency (HHA) services (38%) as compared to patients discharged home without HHA services (26%) (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 during a US COVID-19 surge had a PLOS and high readmission rate. Lack of insurance, an intensive care unit stay and a decision to discharge to a PAC facility were associated with a PLOS. Efforts to decrease LOS and optimize hospital capacity during COVID-19 surges may benefit from focusing on increasing PAC and HHA capacity and resources.

Delirium.

Delirium is an acute confusional state that is common and costly and is associated with significant functional decline and distress. It is the manifestation of acute encephalopathy and is variably called acute brain failure, acute brain dysfunction, or altered mental status. All patients are at risk for delirium, although those with more vulnerabilities (such as advanced age, exposures to other stressors like infection, and certain medications) are at higher risk. The pathophysiologic cause of delirium is not well understood. It is important to recognize patients at risk for and those with delirium and to immediately identify and treat factors contributing to it. There is no single intervention or medication to treat delirium, making it challenging to manage. Therefore, risk mitigation and prompt treatment rely on a sophisticated strategy to address the contributing factors. Delirium may be prevented or attenuated when multimodal strategies are used, thereby improving patient outcomes.

Should This Patient Receive Prophylactic Medication to Prevent Delirium?: Grand Rounds Discussion From Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

In 2015, the American Geriatrics Society released recommendations for prevention and management of postoperative delirium, based on a systematic literature review and evaluation of nonpharmacologic and pharmacologic approaches by an expert panel. The guidelines recommend an interdisciplinary focus on nonpharmacologic measures (reorientation, medication management, early mobility, nutrition, and gastointestinal motility) for prevention and consideration of this strategy for acute management. They also recommend optimizing nonopioid medication as a means to manage pain and avoiding benzodiazepines other than to treat substance withdrawal. The authors concluded that evidence to recommend antipsychotics for prevention of delirium is insufficient but that these drugs may be considered for short-term treatment in the setting of imminent harm to the patient or caregivers or severe distress due to agitation. Patients should be given the lowest possible dose for the shortest duration when other nonpharmacologic measures have failed. In this Beyond the Guidelines, a psychiatrist and a geriatrician debate whether Mr. W, a 79-year-old man at high risk for postoperative delirium, should receive prophylactic antipsychotics with his next surgery. They review risk factors, appropriate evaluation, and potential benefits and harms of the various medications often used in this setting.

Improving Transitions to Postacute Care for Elderly Patients Using a Novel Video-Conferencing Program: ECHO-Care Transitions.

PURPOSE: Within 30 days of hospital discharge to a skilled nursing facility, older adults are at high risk for death, re-hospitalization, and high-cost health care. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a novel videoconference program called Extension for Community Health Outcomes-Care Transitions (ECHO-CT) that connects an interdisciplinary hospital-based team with clinicians at skilled nursing facilities reduces patient mortality, hospital readmission, skilled nursing facility length of stay, and 30-day health care costs. METHODS: We undertook a prospective cohort study comparing cost and health care utilization outcomes between ECHO-CT facilities and matched comparisons from January 2014-December 2014. RESULTS: Thirty-day readmission rates were significantly lower in the intervention group (odds ratio 0.57; 95% CI, 0.34-0.96; P-value .04), as were the 30-day total health care cost ($2602.19 lower; 95% CI, -$4133.90 to -$1070.48; P-value <.001) and the average length of stay at the skilled nursing facility (-5.52 days; 95% CI, -9.61 to -1.43; P = .001). The 30-day mortality rate was not significantly lower in the intervention group (odds ratio 0.38; 95% CI, 0.11-1.24; P = .11). CONCLUSION: Patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities participating in the ECHO-CT program had shorter lengths of stay, lower 30-day rehospitalization rates, and lower 30-day health care costs compared with those in matched skilled nursing facilities delivering usual care. ECHO-CT may improve patient transitions to postacute care at lower overall cost.

Impact of a Videoconference Educational Intervention on Physical Restraint and Antipsychotic Use in Nursing Homes: Results From the ECHO-AGE Pilot Study.

OBJECTIVES: US nursing homes care for increasing numbers of residents with dementia and associated behavioral problems. They often lack access to specialized clinical expertise relevant to managing these problems. Project ECHO-AGE provides this expertise through videoconference sessions between frontline nursing home staff and clinical experts at an academic medical center. We hypothesized that ECHO-AGE would result in less use of physical and chemical restraints and other quality improvements in participating facilities. DESIGN: A 2:1 matched-cohort study comparing quality of care outcomes between ECHO-AGE facilities and matched controls for the period July 2012 to December 2013. SETTING: Eleven nursing homes in Massachusetts and Maine. PARTICIPANTS: Nursing home staff and a hospital-based team of geriatrician, geropsychiatrist, and neurologist discussed anonymized residents with dementia. INTERVENTION: Biweekly online video case discussions and brief didactic sessions focused on the management of dementia and behavior disorders. MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome variables were percentage of residents receiving antipsychotic medications and the percentage of residents who were physically restrained. Secondary outcomes included 9 other quality of care metrics from MDS 3.0. RESULTS: Residents in ECHO-AGE facilities were 75% less likely to be physically restrained compared with residents in control facilities over the 18-month intervention period (OR = 0.25, P = .05). Residents in ECHO-AGE facilities were 17% less likely to be prescribed antipsychotic medication compared with residents in control facilities (OR = 0.83, P = .07). Other outcomes were not significantly different. CONCLUSION: Preliminary evidence suggests that participation in Project ECHO-AGE reduces rates of physical restraint use and may reduce rates of antipsychotic use among long-term nursing home residents.

A patient-centered research agenda for the care of the acutely ill older patient.

Hospitalists and others acute-care providers are limited by gaps in evidence addressing the needs of the acutely ill older adult population. The Society of Hospital Medicine sponsored the Acute Care of Older Patients Priority Setting Partnership to develop a research agenda focused on bridging this gap. Informed by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute framework for identification and prioritization of research areas, we adapted a methodology developed by the James Lind Alliance to engage diverse stakeholders in the research agenda setting process. The work of the Partnership proceeded through 4 steps: convening, consulting, collating, and prioritizing. First, the steering committee convened a partnership of 18 stakeholder organizations in May 2013. Next, stakeholder organizations surveyed members to identify important unanswered questions in the acute care of older persons, receiving 1299 responses from 580 individuals. Finally, an extensive and structured process of collation and prioritization resulted in a final list of 10 research questions in the following areas: advanced-care planning, care transitions, delirium, dementia, depression, medications, models of care, physical function, surgery, and training. With the changing demographics of the hospitalized population, a workforce with limited geriatrics training, and gaps in evidence to inform clinical decision making for acutely ill older patients, the identified research questions deserve the highest priority in directing future research efforts to improve care for the older hospitalized patient and enrich training.

ECHO-AGE: an innovative model of geriatric care for long-term care residents with dementia and behavioral issues.

OBJECTIVES: To design, implement, and assess the pilot phase of an innovative, remote case-based video-consultation program called ECHO-AGE that links experts in the management of behavior disorders in patients with dementia to nursing home care providers. DESIGN: Pilot study involving surveying of participating long-term care sites regarding utility of recommendations and resident outcomes. SETTING: Eleven long-term care sites in Massachusetts and Maine. PARTICIPANTS: An interprofessional specialty team at a tertiary care center and staff from 11 long-term care sites. INTERVENTION: Long-term care sites presented challenging cases regarding residents with dementia and/or delirium related behavioral issues to specialists via video-conferencing. METHODS: Baseline resident characteristics and follow-up data regarding compliance with ECHO-AGE recommendations, resident improvement, hospitalization, and mortality were collected from the long-term care sites. RESULTS: Forty-seven residents, with a mean age of 82 years, were presented during the ECHO-AGE pilot period. Eighty-three percent of residents had a history of dementia and 44% were taking antipsychotic medications. The most common reasons for presentation were agitation, intrusiveness, and paranoia. Behavioral plans were recommended in 72.3% of patients. Suggestions for medication adjustments were also frequent. ECHO-AGE recommendations were completely or partially followed in 88.6% of residents. When recommendations were followed, sites were much more likely to report clinical improvement (74% vs 20%, P < .03). Hospitalization was also less common among residents for whom recommendations were followed. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that a case-based video-consultation program can be successful in improving the care of elders with dementia and/or delirium related behavioral issues by linking specialists with long-term care providers.

Diagnostic yield of head computed tomography for the hospitalized medical patient with delirium.

BACKGROUND: Delirium is common in hospitalized patients and warrants early diagnosis and treatment. Often the evaluation of delirium includes head computed tomography imaging. However, in hospitalized medical patients, the yield of head computed tomography is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To determine the diagnostic yield of head computed tomography when evaluating a hospitalized medical patient with delirium in the absence of a recent fall, head trauma, or new neurologic deficit. DESIGN AND SETTING: Retrospective medical record review at a large academic medical center in Boston, Massachusetts. PARTICIPANTS: We reviewed all medical records for head computed tomography scans performed from January 2010 through November 2012 in patients on the general medicine or medical subspecialties units. MAIN OUTCOMES: A "positive" head computed tomography was defined as an intracranial process that could explain delirium. An "equivocal" head computed tomography was defined as the presence of a finding of unclear significance in relation to delirium. RESULTS: There were 398 patients hospitalized for >24 hours who underwent head computed tomography for delirium. Two hundred twenty head computed tomography studies met eligibility criteria, with 6 (2.7%) positive and 4 (1.8%) equivocal results. All positive and equivocal findings resulted in change in management. CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic yield of head computed tomography in determining the cause of delirium in hospitalized patients is low. Due to the low rate of positive findings, head imaging is unnecessary in the majority of cases of delirium. However, there may be a subset of high-risk individuals in which head imaging is indicated.

A standardized, bundled approach to providing geriatric-focused acute care.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether a bundled intervention can increase detection of delirium and facilitate safer use of high-risk medications. DESIGN: Pre-post interventional trial. SETTING: Large academic medical center. PARTICIPANTS: Individuals aged 70 and older (n = 19,949) admitted between May 1, 2008, September 30, 2011. Individuals aged 80 and older admitted after April 26, 2010, received the intervention, those aged 80 and older admitted before were primary controls, and those aged 70 to 79 were concurrent controls. INTERVENTION: The intervention uses a checklist promoting delirium prevention, recognition and management, and modifies the computerized provider order entry system to provide care focused on elderly adults. MEASUREMENTS: Frequency of orders for activating the rapid response team for altered mental status, frequency of orders for haloperidol in excess of 0.5 mg or intravenous (IV) morphine in excess of 2 mg, and discharge disposition. RESULTS: Participants receiving the intervention had a mean age of 86.1 ± 4.6; 58.2% were female. The number of orders to activate the rapid response team for altered mental status increased in participants receiving the bundle and in controls (odds ratio (OR) for the difference of differences = 1.23 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.68-2.24, P = .49)). Participants receiving the bundle were less likely to receive more than 0.5 mg of IV, intramuscular, or oral haloperidol (OR = 0.60, 95% CI = 0.39-0.91, P = .02) and more than 2 mg of IV morphine (OR = 0.52, 95% CI = 0.42-0.63, P < .001). Participants who received the bundle were more likely to be discharged home than to extended care facilities (OR = 1.18, 95% CI = 1.04-1.35, P = .01). CONCLUSION: An intervention focused on delirium prevention and recognition by bedside staff combined with computerized decision support facilitates safer prescribing of high-risk medications and possibly results in less need for extended care.

Road map to a patient-centered research agenda at the intersection of hospital medicine and geriatric medicine.

As the United States ages, the patient population in acute care hospitals is increasingly older and more medically complex. Despite evidence of a high burden of disease, high costs, and often poor outcomes of care, there is limited understanding of the presentation, diagnostic strategies, and management of acute illness in older adults. In this paper, we present a strategy for the development of a research agenda at the intersection of hospital and geriatric medicine. This approach is informed by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) framework for identification and prioritization of research areas, emphasizing input from patients and caregivers. The framework's four components are: 1) Topic generation, 2) Gap Analysis in Systematic Review, 3) Value of information (VOI) analysis, and 4) Peer Review. An inclusive process for topic generation requiring the systematic engagement of multiple stakeholders, especially patients, is emphasized. In subsequent steps, researchers and stakeholders prioritize research topics in order to identify areas that optimize patient-centeredness, population impact, impact on clinical decision making, ease of implementation, and durability. Finally, next steps for dissemination of the research agenda and evaluation of the impact of the patient-centered research prioritization process are described.

Use of a Geriatric Quality Initiative to Educate Internal Medicine Residents about Delirium and Its Risk Factors.

BACKGROUND: Delirium is a common and debilitating complication of inpatient care for many older adults, yet internal medicine residents often do not recognize delirium or its risk factors. Integrating geriatric education (eg, delirium recognition) with inpatient quality improvement (QI) is not well tested. METHODS: We developed an educational pilot program within an ongoing hospital-wide geriatric QI initiative (Global Risk Assessment and Careplan for the Elderly-Acute Care [GRACE-AC]). GRACE-AC modifies the inpatient computerized provider order entry system to meet the needs of vulnerable older adults and uses a bedside care checklist to identify patients with possible delirium and promote delirium prevention by checking on the need for "tethers" (intravenous fluids, Foley catheters, and telemetry). Residents were assessed before and after each inpatient rotation by using anonymous electronic surveys. RESULTS: A total of 167 eligible residents (91%) completed prerotation surveys, and 102 (56%) residents completed postrotation surveys. All but the first rotating resident group received a standardized 2-minute educational in-service orientation. In a comparison of postrotation responses before and after implementation of the in-service, the proportion of residents who reported improvement in their ability to recall which patients had tethers increased from 17% to 52% for intravenous fluids (P  =  .004), 28% to 75% for Foley catheters (P < .001), and 21% to 50% for telemetry (P  =  .02). Comparing pre- and postrotation surveys, the proportion of correct responses to questions on haloperidol dosing and the characteristics of delirium increased from 26% to 76% and 31% to 63%, respectively (both P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Our pilot program demonstrated that inpatient geriatric QI initiatives can be successfully merged with a brief educational curriculum.

Preventing potentially inappropriate medication use in hospitalized older patients with a computerized provider order entry warning system.

BACKGROUND: Potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) use in hospitalized older patients is common. Our objective was to determine whether a computerized provider order entry (CPOE) drug warning system can decrease orders for PIMs in hospitalized older patients. METHODS: We used a prospective before-and-after design among patients 65 years or older admitted to a large, urban academic medical center in Boston, Massachusetts, from June 1, 2004, through November 29, 2004 (for patients admitted before the warning system was added), and from March 17, 2005, through August 30, 2008 (patients admitted after the warning system was added). We instituted a medication-specific warning system within CPOE that alerted ordering providers at the point of care when ordering a PIM and that advised alternative medication or dose reduction. The main outcome measure was the rate of orders for PIMs before and after the warning system was deployed. RESULTS: The mean (SE) rate of ordering medications that were not recommended dropped from 11.56 (0.36) to 9.94 (0.12) orders per day after the implementation of a CPOE warning system (difference, 1.62 [0.33]; P<.001), with no evidence that the effect waned over time. There were no appreciable changes in the rate of ordering medications for which only dose reduction was recommended or that were not targeted after CPOE implementation. These effects persisted in autoregressive models that accounted for secular trends and season (P<.001). CONCLUSION: Specific alerts embedded into a CPOE system, used in patients 65 years or older, can decrease the number of orders of PIMs quickly and specifically.

Nursing home patients in the intensive care unit: Risk factors for mortality.

OBJECTIVE: To determine intensive care unit (ICU) admission characteristics predictive of mortality among older nursing home residents. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: A 725-bed teaching nursing home and two teaching-hospital ICUs. PATIENTS: One hundred twenty-three nursing home residents > or =75 yrs admitted to the ICU between July 1, 1999, and September 30, 2003. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Characteristics of nursing home residents admitted to the ICU were identified by medical record review at the nursing home and the hospital. Additionally, the minimum data set was used to calculate preadmission functional status using the Activities of Daily Living-Long Form (ADL-L) and cognitive status with the Cognitive Performance Scale (CPS). Our primary outcomes were hospital mortality and mortality within 90 days of ICU admission. The nursing home residents admitted to the ICU were old (87.7 +/- 5.4 yrs) with impaired cognition (CPS 2.8 +/- 1.7, range 0-6, where 6 = most impaired) and moderately dependent function (ADL-L 14.5 +/- 9.4, range 0-28, where 28 = total dependence). Of the 123 patients, 33 (27%) died in the hospital, whereas 90 (73%) survived to hospital discharge. Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) III score was independently associated with significantly increased odds of hospital mortality (adjusted odds ratio 1.04; 95% confidence interval 1.02, 1.07). Among the 90 patients who survived to return to the nursing home, 34 (37.8%) died within 90 days. Cox regression demonstrated that higher APACHE III score (adjusted risk ratio 1.02; 95% confidence interval 1.01, 1.04) and increasing functional dependency before ICU admission (adjusted risk ratio 1.6; 95% confidence interval 1.05, 2.57, per ADL-L quartile) were independently associated with increased mortality rate within 90 days. CONCLUSIONS: Among vulnerable elderly nursing home residents, higher APACHE III score is independently associated with increased hospital mortality rate and mortality within 90 days. Among hospital survivors, impaired functional status is independently associated with increased mortality rate within 90 days.