Acute Care Model

To my understanding, America’s healthcare system is based upon a chronic level of care and an acute level of care. In some instances, it is possible to transition from these levels of care as well. Depending on what type of medical care that one needs will determine whether it will be acute or chronic. Acute care may encompass treatment of illnesses and disorders in a moderately short amount of time. Patients receiving acute care may seek treatment for short-term illnesses or injuries and possible rehabilitation after an injury. Some examples of acute care may include; sprained ankle, common cold, or even a UTI. Chronic care is a branch of the health system that provides care for ongoing illnesses or disorders. A few examples of chronic
conditions that require chronic care are; HIV/AIDS, COPD, Lupus, and multiple sclerosis (MS). The goal of chronic care is to manage the symptoms of the disease, improve the quality of life, and/or slow down the progression of the said disease. There are many strategies that are incorporated when providing care to a patient with a chronic condition that are vastly different from providing care to a patient with an acute condition.
One model that is followed in our health care system is the Chronic Care Model (CCM). The CCM is classified into six essential components that encourage high quality management for chronic circumstances. These include; Self-management support, delivery system design, decision support, clinical information systems, organization of health care, and community. All of these aspects of chronic care are woven into providing the best possible care to chronically ill
patients. In terms of self-management support, this is when the health-care team partners with the patient in order to improve the patient’s ability to manage their chronic illness on a day to day basis.
The delivery aspect of care to patients with chronic conditions requires determining what roles and tasks are needed to ensure that the patients receive the best quality of care. This includes keeping up to date with patient information and making follow-up part of the standard practice. With decision support, treatment decision is based on “proven guidelines supported by at least one defining study” (Institute for healthcare improvement). Organization of health care is another important strategy in chronic care. With good organization comes quality improvement. For example, at my geriatric rotation in the spring semester, the long-term care facility I was at was working on changing their patient records from paper to electronic. This is a good example of how quality improvement can facilitate good organization. Lastly, the community can provide programs and organizations that support a health system’s care for chronically ill patients. This is how the health of our population is improved; through powerful alliances and partnerships with state programs, local agencies, schools,
etc.
Overall, there is a difference in care between acutely ill patients and chronically ill patients. One is not better than the other; more so it is determined on the type of care for the type of condition. With the focus being on chronic care, there are several different components we can delve into in order to provide the best quality of care as nurses.