Effects of an internal medicine floor interdisciplinary team on hospital and clinical outcomes of seniors with acute medical illness

Aim: To examine whether an internal medicine interdisciplinary floor team enhances the hospital and clinical outcomes for seniors with acute medical illness. Methods: Seniors admitted to medical floor teaching services of a USA teaching hospital were recruited and allocated to the interdisciplinary (ITD; n=236) and usual care teams (n=248). Compared with the usual care team, the interdisciplinary team physicians carried out daily "geriatric" assessment and management, and led the interdisciplinary team meeting designed for improving interprofessional collaboration. Results: After controlling for patient and physician characteristics, the mean hospital length of stay in the ITD team (6.1 days; 95% CI 5.2-7.7 days) was 0.7 days shorter than that in the usual care team (6.8 days; 95% CI 5.7-8.3 days; P=0.008). There was no significant difference in delirium and 30-day hospital readmission between care groups. Conclusions: Notwithstanding partly positive associations, the results from the present study suggest that interdisciplinary team-based care is, at best, associated with enhancing the clinical and hospital outcomes for seniors with acute medical illness. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2013; 13: 942-948.