An overarching approach for acute care delivery: extension of the acute care model to the entire inpatient admission.

The acute care model has been proposed as a framework for quality improvement in emergency care to improve care delivery and patient flow. There is currently an absence of an overarching model inclusive of other relevant care settings, such as the inpatient ward or the intensive care unit (ICU), involved in the care of an acute illness episode. This gap limits our ability to optimize patient outcomes, improve flow, and reduce waste through all stages of acute illness. We propose that a unified approach to improve quality of care for acute illness may be achieved by extending the acute care model to the inpatient care setting.