Our Work

The West Health Accelerator at MGB Core Bundles    

At the West Health Accelerator at MGB, Core Bundles are care models designed to improve outcomes for older adults. These bundles bring together evidence-based practices, technology, and team-based workflows into ready-to-implement packages that health systems can adopt and scale.

Each bundle is built for scalability and works synergistically with others to deliver measurable outcomes that advance high-quality care, helping to create a healthcare system that works better for everyone.    

Learn more by clicking each bundle below.

Care Pathway Bundle

Implementing proven care team interventions to set a new standard of care 

  • The Care Pathway Bundle is a comprehensive, patient-centered approach for older adults that embeds the principle of What Matters at every stage. This bundle embeds evidence-based care pathways into standard of care across healthcare systems. It focuses on the unique vulnerabilities that older adults face, such as sleep hygiene, mobilization, and pain management. 

    The Care Pathway bundle creates a structured approach to integrating patient priorities into standard of care.

  • Explain the problem/gap and how this bundle is necessary to address that gap.  

    • Evidence-based care pathways focused on older adult vulnerabilities

    • Structured guidance for care teams to consistently align clinical care with patient priorities

    • Educational resources to support clinicians to deliver personalized care

  • The West Health Accelerator Care Pathway Bundle builds upon the Superior Treatment of Elders Pathway (STEP), which was developed by the Center for Geriatric Surgery (CGS) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH).

     

    STEP is an evidence-based care pathway that established and integrated evidence-based processes throughout all phases of surgical care to improve outcomes for older adults. It identifies vulnerable older surgical patients through perioperative frailty screening and functional assessments.  

    Learning from the success of STEP, the West Health Accelerator is establishing and integrating a patient-centered care pathway for older adults across the MGB system

  • Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) reports that implementing the STEP care pathway has led to:

    • Lower rates of delirium among patients

    • Reduced 30-day readmission rates

    Mapping older patient’s unique needs and priorities to care processes can:

    • Improve clinical outcomes by addressing individual vulnerabilities

    • Enhance personalized care that respects patient values

    • Increase patient satisfaction and engagement throughout their care

        

  • Designed for easy adoption, the Care Pathway Bundle fits seamlessly into existing clinical workflows. Its flexible structure allows health systems to scale implementation across departments and facilities. This bundle can be tailored to meet individualized needs while staying true to evidence-based practices, making it a practical and sustainable solution for driving system-wide improvement. 

Dashboard Bundle

Advancing system-wide tools to enhance care quality and delivery  

  • The Dashboard bundle leverages existing system wide data tools to bring visibility, accountability, and improvement to the care of older adults. This bundle uses enhanced dashboard capabilities, such as filters for entity, unit, service line, provider, diagnosis, age, and demographics.

    This enables clinical teams to monitor care for targeted populations, identify gaps, and take action in real time.

  • Healthcare systems generate a vast amount of data but using that data to drive real-time improvements in care for older adults can be difficult. There is an opportunity to better align data tools with frontline clinical practice, turning insights into action

    • Enhanced dashboards with filters for entity, unit, service line, provider, diagnosis, patient age, and demographics

    • Integration of key quality metrics into daily operations

    • Real-time monitoring tools

    • Feedback loops that deliver actionable insights to clinical teams

    • Systemwide tracking of implementation progress and outcome trends

  • The dashboard bundle builds on the foundational work of the Geriatric Surgery Dashboard, developed by the Center for Geriatric Surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in collaboration with the Analytics, Reporting, and Insights (ARI) team.

    This tool enables teams to track condition rates by age and service line, establishing a reliable method for measuring progress and improving care quality.

    In collaboration with the MGB Office of Chief Medical Officers, the West Health Accelerator team is developing age-specific filters to be integrated into the Vizient Dashboard across all hospital sites.

  • This bundle enables care teams to:

    • Identify trends and gaps in care delivery for older adults

    • Act quickly on real-time quality data

    • Tailor improvement strategies to specific settings and populations

    • Support continuous learning and accountability across the system

  • Built on existing infrastructure, the Dashboard Bundle is designed for system wide use and adaptability. It can be scaled across departments and facilities, making it easier for health systems to standardize quality metrics and support targeted improvement efforts

EPIC Bundle

Ensuring optimal care with standardized guidelines 

  • The EPIC bundle is a system-wide initiative to standardize and elevate care for older adults by integrating age-specific care pathways and geriatric order sets directly into the hospital’s EPIC electronic health record system. This EPIC bundle streamlines and automates manual processes, ensuring clinicians have easy access to evidence-based care plans at the point of care.

    With built-in decision support and reporting capabilities, this bundle helps deliver a consistent, high-quality standard of care.

  • As care needs grow more complex for older adults, clinicians need tools that make it easier to deliver consistent, high-quality, age-appropriate care. While hospitals are rich in clinical expertise and data, many workflows still rely on manual processes that can lead to care variation and inefficiencies. There’s an opportunity to harness the power of technology to standardize best practices and support frontline teams at scale.

    • Age-specific care pathways and geriatric order sets embedded directly in EPIC

    • Integration of evidence-based best practices into EPIC to automate processes and reduce variation

    • Clinical decision support tools to guide best practices

  • The West Health Accelerator EPIC bundle builds upon the Superior Treatment of Elders Pathway (STEP) order set, which was developed by the Center for Geriatric Surgery (CGS) in partnership with Mass General Brigham (MGB) eCare to ensure optimal care for older adult surgical patients. to ensure optimal care for older adult surgical patients.

    The STEP order set includes pain management, mobility, sleep, and nutrition for older adults. This foundational order set ensures that critical needs for older adults are addressed consistently within EPIC. ensures that critical needs for older adults are addressed consistently within EPIC.

    The West Health Accelerator at MGB is designing a new EPIC build that will filter out potentially inappropriate medications, automate discharge summaries tailored to older adults, and integrate age-specific order sets and care plans.

    • Integration of age-specific care pathways in EPIC improves:

    • Consistency of care for older adults

    • Reduction in clinical variation and inefficiencies

    • Adherence to evidence-based guidelines

  • Because this builds on EPIC, which is already in use across the healthcare system, the EPIC bundle is designed for seamless adoption and long-term sustainability. Its structure allows for continued expansion, updates, and integration across departments, supporting the spread of high-quality care at scale.

West Champions Program Bundle

Building a network of geriatric champions among our healthcare providers 

  • The West Health Champion Program Bundle is an interdisciplinary education and leadership initiative designed to equip clinicians with the knowledge and tools to improve care for older adults. Champions receive training in caring for the older adult, quality improvement, and change management, preparing them to lead grassroots improvements within their units.

    By building expertise across professions and fostering a network of change agents, this bundle strengthens the capacity for driving lasting, system wide transformation of healthcare for older adults.

  • As the population ages, the need for specialized, high-quality care for older adults continues to grow. While healthcare professionals are deeply committed to excellent care, many lack formal training in geriatrics or the tools to lead change within their own settings. There is an opportunity to empower frontline staff with the skills and confidence to champion improvements in older adult care from the ground up.

    • A one-year interdisciplinary training program

    • Curriculum covering geriatric care, quality improvement, and change management

    • Hands-on quality improvement project work

    • Peer networking and mentorship

    • Ongoing support to translate learning into action

  • The development and implementation of the Champions Program Bundle reflects and expands upon the foundational work initiated by Brigham and Women’s Hospital through their Geriatric Champions Program, Geriatrics for Surgical Clinicians course, and Geriatrics Care Improvement Committee.

    • The Geriatric Champion Program (GCP) was a one-year program to develop physician associate (PA) champions in surgery. This program consisted of six months of geriatric education based on the 5Ms: Mentation, Mobility, Medications, What Matters, and Multi-complexity, followed by six months of quality improvement training, culminating in 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.

    • The Geriatrics Care Improvement Committee is comprised of nurse champions who promote geriatric education, leadership, and quality improvement on their units.

    Building on key lessons from Brigham and Women’s Hospital's efforts to enhance geriatric care, the West Health Accelerator is launching the inaugural 2025-2026 cohort of the West Health Champions program at MGB.

  • The Champions Program Bundle creates care improvements for older adults by:

    • Creating a distributed network of clinicians skilled in quality improvement and geriatrics

    • Elevating the visibility and value of age-friendly care practices

    • Strengthening interprofessional collaboration and leadership

     

  • The Champions Program Bundle is designed for replication and growth across departments, hospitals, and roles. With a flexible, interdisciplinary model, it fosters a sustainable movement of engaged leaders who continuously improve the care experiences of older adults. This ensures that transformation is lasting.