Assisting keeping older adults out of the emergency room

The emergency room and hospital while often times the place for life saving can also have significant costs associated with them both in terms of clinical and financial negative outcomes. Large retrospective studies in different countries have demonstrated that 3% to 50% of patients experience one or more adverse effects (AEs) in the hospital and approximately 50% of these AEs may be preventable.1 –10 So what can be done to assist these older adults from seeking care in the emergency rooms – the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services identified three areas of focus to reduce nonurgent use of emergency departments and improving appropriate care in appropriate settings.

Source: Geriatric Nursing - September 27, 2018 Category: Nursing Authors: Richard G. Stefanacci, Albert Riddle Source Type: research