More hospitals customize ERs for older patients

Sun Apr 15 12:12:56 PDT 2012

Description: Description: Description: Description: Description: CAL/AAEM:
California Chapter of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine

April 10, 2012

More hospitals customize ERs for older patients 

Fierce Healthcare
<http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/more-hospitals-tailor-ers-older-patie
nts/2012-04-10?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal> 

By Alicia Caramenico

With an aging U.S. population, hospitals are building emergency rooms
designed exclusively for patients 65 and older, reported The New York Times.
Joining that trend, Mount Sinai Hospital recently opened New York City's
first geriatric ER, the hospital announced Friday.

So far, Mount Sinai has seen unscheduled return visits to the emergency room
drop from 20 percent of cases to 1 percent. And while eight elderly patients
a month fell in the regular ER, none have fallen in the geriatric ER, noted
the article.

To cater to baby boomers and their parents, Mount Sinai's geriatric ER
features skid-proof floors, extra handrails, special mattresses to reduce
bedsores and curtains designed to keep out noise, according to the
announcement.

People over 65 make up 15 percent to 20 percent of ER visits, noted the NYT,
prompting more hospitals to tailor their emergency care to older patients.
In fact, Michigan-based Trinity Health System already runs 12 geriatric ERs
nationwide and plans to open six or seven more by June.

Such a trend could eliminate quality care gaps between older and younger
patients, as a March Annals of Emergency Medicine study found that about a
quarter of elderly patients that come through the ER are assessed as less
sick than they actually are. Moreover, patients age 65 and older who
underwent emergency general surgery had substantially greater risk for
adverse events and modestly higher mortality rates compared to younger
patients, according to a study published last June in the Journal of the
American Colleges of Surgeons.

But not all providers are convinced geriatric-specific ERs will improve
outcomes, but factors that boost quality for elderly patients, like thicker
mattresses actually reducing bedsores, should be provided to all emergency
patients, Alfred Sacchetti, chief of emergency services at New Jersey's Our
Lady of Lourdes Medical Center, told the NYT.

Bryan Sloane
Deputy Editor, CAL/AAEM News Service

Brian Potts MD, MBA
Managing Editor, CAL/AAEM News Service

Contact us at: calaaem.news.service1 at gmail.com

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