Acute Care for Elders (ACE) Team Model of Care: A Clinical Overview

Kellie L Flood; Katrina Booth; Jasmine Vickers; Emily Simmons; David H James; Shari Biswal; Jill Deaver; Marjorie Lee White; Ella H Bowman

doi:10.3390/geriatrics3030050

Acute Care for Elders (ACE) Team Model of Care: A Clinical Overview

Geriatrics (Basel). 2018 Aug 6;3(3):50. doi: 10.3390/geriatrics3030050.

Authors

Kellie L Flood^{1

2}, Katrina Booth^{3

4

5}, Jasmine Vickers⁶, Emily Simmons⁷, David H James⁸, Shari Biswal⁹, Jill Deaver¹⁰, Marjorie Lee White^{11

12}, Ella H Bowman^{13

14}

Affiliations

¹ Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. kflood@uabmc.edu.
² University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. kflood@uabmc.edu.
³ Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. kjulian@uabmc.edu.
⁴ University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. kjulian@uabmc.edu.
⁵ Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. kjulian@uabmc.edu.
⁶ Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. jkvicker@uab.edu.
⁷ University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. esimmons@uabmc.edu.
⁸ University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. djames@uabmc.edu.
⁹ University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. sbiswal@uabmc.edu.
¹⁰ Lister Hill Library of the Health Sciences, UAB Libraries, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. jilld@uab.edu.
¹¹ University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. mlwhite@uab.edu.
¹² Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. mlwhite@uab.edu.
¹³ Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics, and Palliative Care, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. ehbowman@uabmc.edu.
¹⁴ Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA. ehbowman@uabmc.edu.

Abstract

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) Reports of To Err is Human and Crossing the Quality Chasm have called for more interprofessional and coordinated hospital care. For over 20 years, Acute Care for Elders (ACE) Units and models of care that disseminate ACE principles have demonstrated outcomes in-line with the IOM goals. The objective of this overview is to provide a concise summary of studies that describe outcomes of ACE models of care published in 1995 or later. Twenty-two studies met the inclusion. Of these, 19 studies were from ACE Units and three were evaluations of ACE Services, or teams that cared for patients on more than one hospital unit. Outcomes from these studies included increased adherence to evidence-based geriatric care processes, improved patient functional status at time of hospital discharge, and reductions in length of stay and costs in patients admitted to ACE models compared to usual care. These outcomes represent value-based care. As interprofessional team models are adopted, training in successful team functioning will also be needed.

Keywords: ACE Unit; Acute Care for Elders; interdisciplinary; interprofessional team.

Publication types

Review