Study Finds 5% of Older Patients Admitted to Hospitals Within Days of ER Discharge

A study published recently in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that 5 percent of older Medicare beneficiaries are admitted as hospital inpatients within a few days after being discharged from a hospital emergency room (ER).

According to an article in Physicians Briefing about the study, 5 percent of the patients studied had to be admitted to the hospital within seven days after discharge from a hospital ER.

The article summarized the study, describing an evaluation of 505,315 Medicare patients ages 65 years and older who had visited California ERs. The researchers were looking for traits that might predict a higher likelihood that an older patient discharged from an ER would need inpatient admission within seven days after the ER visit, according to the article.

Risk factors associated with a higher likelihood that the patient would need inpatient admission included older age, whether the patient had previously been to a skilled nursing facility, and whether the patient left the ER against medical advice.

Patients who had chronic renal disease, end-stage renal disease, or congestive heart failure were also more likely to return for inpatient admission within seven days of an ER visit, the study found.

When 5 percent of older patients, or 1 in 20, require inpatient admission after an ER discharge, the fact should raise a red flag for ER personnel. Treatment of older patients should be undertaken with the care required to provide the necessary treatment – including inpatient admission straight from the ER, if necessary – in order to avoid making a preventable medical error that could cause serious harm.

The attorneys of Morrow Kidman Tinker Macey-Cushman, PLLC, represent patients who have been harmed by preventable medical errors in Seattle and throughout Washington, including older patients who suffered adverse consequences after ER personnel failed to take sufficient care to properly address their medical needs.