Improving Quality of Care for Older Patients
Eduard Vasilevskis, MD, is a hospital medicine physician and health services researcher interested in measuring and improving the quality of care for older hospitalized patients, with a focus on delirium and polypharmacy.
Delirium Prediction and Prevention
Dr. Vasilevskis' research team is engaged in the development and validation of prediction models for the daily assessment of acute brain dysfunction as both a predictor and outcome of care, which can be used for assessment and monitoring of care quality for the hospitalized older patient.
His team also collaborates on implementation research to develop and measure the effectiveness of strategies to increase adoption of proven delirium prevention strategies in the acute care setting.
Polypharmacy and Deprescribing in Acute Care Settings
Dr. Vasilevskis' team is committed to addressing the epidemic of polypharmacy in the acute care setting and at hospital discharge, which remain a vulnerable time for geriatric patients, especially those transitioning to skilled nursing facilities.
Dr. Vasilevskis and his colleagues have developed frameworks and interventions to identify and address the risk of polypharmacy and inappropriate medications among older patients, including a recently completed pragmatic randomized trial of deprescribing among older patients being discharged to over twenty post-acute care sites.
There are opportunities for faculty and staff to join our research team. We are currently seeking faculty, undergraduates and graduates interested in clinical and health services research seeking to improve the care of older adults in the acute care setting.
If you are interested in joining the group, please send your CV and a brief description of your research experience and interests to Dr. Vasilevskis.
Active Projects
- Behavioral Economic and Staffing Strategies to Increase Adoption of the ABCDEF Bundle in the ICU (BEST-ICU)
The proposed research focuses on developing and supporting the “real world” assessment of strategies used to foster adoption of several safe and highly efficacious mechanical ventilation liberation and symptom management practices in healthcare systems that provide care to critically ill adults with known health disparities. The goal is to examine simple methods of accelerating the reliable uptake of evidence-based ICU interventions that will ultimately improve the care critically ill adults.
- A Randomized Controlled Trial to Deprescribe Older Patients with Polypharmacy Transferred from the Hospital to Skilled Nursing Facilities
The purpose of this recently completed pragmatic clinical trial was to implement a randomized controlled intervention in the acute care setting with hospitalized older patients. In addition, we focused on patients being discharged to over twenty skilled nursing facilities. The goal of the intervention was to reduce polypharmacy in this patient population and monitor health outcomes.
Funding Support
Dr. Vasilevskis’ research is funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institute on Aging, and the National Institute of Nursing Research.
