Articles: hospital-emergency-service.
-
Potentially avoidable emergency department use by patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities.
One-third of patients discharged from hospitals to skilled nursing facilities (SNF) are sent back to the Emergency Department (ED) within 30 days. Little is known about those patients who are discharged from the ED directly back to SNF. ⋯ The most common reasons for these ED visits were mechanical falls (17.3%), postoperative problems (16.8%), and cardiac or pulmonary complaints (11.4%). Future interventions to decrease avoidable ED visits from SNFs should aim to provide access for SNF patients to receive timely outpatient lab and imaging services and postoperative follow-ups.
-
The outcomes of acute medical admissions have been shown to be influenced by a variety of factors including system, patient, societal, and physician-specific differences. ⋯ No difference in mortality and minor differences in LOS were observed. The prior pattern of improved outcomes year on year for emergency medical admissions appears ended.