About the West Health Accelerator
Our Mission
To transform care for older adults
Recognizing the Brigham’s Superior Treatment of Elders Pathway (STEP) Program’s power to transform geriatric care for seniors, the West Health Institute is partnering with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a leader in geriatric care, to establish the West Health Accelerator at Mass General Brigham, a new multi-year, multimillion-dollar initiative that will raise the standard of care for older adults in a hospital setting or system.
What is the current landscape of aging in America?
By 2030, 1 in 5 Americans will be 65 or older.
We are in the midst of one of the biggest demographic shifts in U.S. history. By 2030, 1 in 5 Americans will be 65 or older, leading to an exploding demand for healthcare tailored to the unique, complex needs of seniors.
Older adults account for 40% of inpatient procedures.
Older adults are at higher risk for injury, illness and readmission during recovery. Nationwide, patients over 65 account for approximately 40% of inpatient procedures.
Hospitals are inadequately equipped to care for older adults.
Healthcare systems across the country are not scaled or structured to care for this growing patient population. There is an urgent need for easily implementable tools and approaches designed to provide better, safer and affordable care for seniors.
Goals of the West Health Accelerator
Leverage
To leverage Brigham’s and West Health’s expertise, talent, technologies and resources to raise the standard of care for older adults.
Educate
To educate front-line clinicians on best practices, protocols, and metrics that address the healthcare needs of older adults at one of the largest regional health systems in the country.
Transform
To transform the way hospitals and other healthcare settings currently care for older adults and develop a national model of geriatric care that could be adopted throughout the nation.
Our Work
The West Health Accelerator at Mass General Brigham will launch a new care pathway for older adults hospitalized at nine of eleven hospitals in the Mass General Brigham Health System, creating a roadmap for delivering better care to older adults at hospitals nationwide. To facilitate the implementation of this new care pathway, the West Health Accelerator will develop the following programs and tools.
Building a network of geriatric champions among our healthcare providers
West Health Champions Program
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Clinicians without formal training in geriatrics are often at the forefront of caring for the increasing number of hospitalized older adults, and geriatricians are in short supply. However, most clinicians have limited training in geriatrics.
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The Geriatric Champion Program (GCP) was established at Brigham and Women's Hospital as a one-year program to develop physician associate (PA) champions in surgery. Led by Lynne O’Mara, MBA, PA-C, this program consisted of six months of geriatric education aligned with the geriatric 5Ms (Mentation, Mobility, Medications, What Matters, Multi-complexity) and six months of Quality Improvement (QI) training with completion of a data-driven geriatric QI project.
The Geriatrics for Surgical Clinicians course was developed to provide training for surgeons, nurses, Advanced Practice Providers (APPS), surgical trainees, and other interdisciplinary team members about geriatric syndromes and age-friendly care. This course was recently held in March 2024.
The Geriatrics Care Improvement Committee at BWH is comprised of nurse champions who promote geriatric education, leadership, and quality improvement on their units.
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The West Health Accelerator at Mass General Brigham will develop an interdisciplinary West Health Champions program to train interdisciplinary teams in geriatrics and quality improvement, based on lessons learned from the Geriatric Champions Program and the Geriatrics for Surgical Clinicians course. The West Health Champions program will then be piloted at the nine participating MGB hospitals.
Developing system-wide tools to enhance care quality and delivery
West Health Accelerator Dashboard Bundle
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Creating geriatric-specific dashboards allows clinical teams to hold themselves immediately accountable for providing the highest quality geriatric care and achieving the best possible outcomes for older patients such as preventing delirium, avoiding harmful medications, and delivering care that is aligned with each patient’s goals and priorities.
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The Center for Geriatric Surgery (CGS) created the Geriatric Surgery Dashboard in partnership with the BWH Analytics, Reporting, and Insights (ARI) team.
Prior to these efforts, it was not possible to determine the rates of these conditions by age or service. It is a critical tool for tracking the progress of center initiatives and improving quality of care.
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The West Health Accelerator at Mass General Brigham will develop geriatric-specific dashboards for each MGB hospital in the WHA.
Ensuring optimal care with standardized guidelines
West Health Accelerator Epic Bundle
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Creating an order set will optimize care pathways, decision support, and reporting for older adult care.
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To ensure optimal care for older adult surgical patients, the Center for Geriatric Surgery (CGS) partnered with Mass General Brigham (MGB) eCare to build the Superior Treatment of Elders Pathway (STEP) order set.
This order set encompasses pain management, mobility, sleep, and nutrition for older adults and is now available across the MGB enterprise. CGS continues to collaborate with MGB eCare to optimize and build care pathways, decision support, and reporting to support the care of older adults.
The clinical program manager, Lynne O’Mara, MBA, PA-C, and Dr. Rachelle Bernacki have trained over 300 surgical residents, fellows, and PAs to date in utilization of STEP and continue to monitor compliance to pathway elements. Amy Bulger, RN, MPH, GERO-BC, CPHQ has trained over 400 nurses and interdisciplinary professionals in how to implement the pathway.
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MGB eCare will facilitate adoption of the STEP order set utilization across the MGB system and eventually, across the country.
Participating hospitals across Mass General Brigham
Brigham and Women’s Hospital will spearhead the integration of the West Health Accelerator, serving as the inaugural MGB site. This will be followed in phased implementation at eight other hospitals in the MGB system.
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
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Brigham and Women's Hospital is one of the top hospitals in America with more than 790 beds, and a premier teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.
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Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital
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Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital is a 171-bed, non-profit, community teaching hospital located in southwest Boston.
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Cooley Dickinson Hospital
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Cooley Dickinson Hospital is a 140-bed, nonprofit community hospital, providing exceptional care in Northampton and across the Western Massachusetts region.
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Mass General Hospital
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As the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, Mass General Hospital is a 1,011-bed facility, offering sophisticated diagnostic and therapeutic care in virtually every specialty of medicine and surgery.
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Martha’s Vineyard Hospital
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Martha's Vineyard Hospital is a critical access, not-for-profit, 25-bed community hospital on the island of Martha's Vineyard.
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Nantucket Cottage Hospital
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Nantucket Cottage Hospital is a not-for-profit regional medical center with 19 staffed beds, located in Nantucket, Massachusetts.
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Newton-Wellesley Hospital
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Newton-Wellesley Hospital is a 273-bed, community teaching medical center located in Newton, Massachusetts on Washington Street. It is affiliated with Tufts University School of Medicine and Harvard Medical School.
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Salem Hospital
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Salem Hospital, formerly known as North Shore Medical Center, is a 454-bed, Level III trauma center located in Salem, Massachusetts.
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Wentworth-Douglass Hospital
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Wentworth-Douglass Hospital is the Seacoast's leading not-for-profit medical center and 178-bed acute care hospital located in Dover, New Hampshire.
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