As the U.S. population ages, hospitals are bracing for increasing numbers of elderly people landing in the emergency room, according to an article on The San Diego Union-Tribune website.
These patients often require more complex care, but emergency departments can be ill-equipped to handle them.
San Diego-area hospitals are among the healthcare facilities overhauling geriatric emergency care on the West Coast.
It’s an experiment because the trend of customizing ER treatment for older patients hasn’t existed long enough for a comprehensive assessment, and the studies conducted so far have yielded mixed results in terms of whether such efforts boost recovery times, lower hospital readmission rates and ultimately save taxpayers money, the article said.
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