The steep declines in COVID-19 illness and mortality among the most vaccinated age group in the U.S. — seniors — demonstrate the potential impact of increasing vaccination coverage nationally, CDC researchers contend.
The creators of a new automated hospital transfer form say they have identified the five must-have pieces of information needed to reduce clinical complications when nursing home residents are brought to the emergency department.
More than 90% of seniors’ emergency department visits are due to falls — and rates are increasing, the CDC says. The agency’s new Still Going Strong campaign offers prevention information and advice online. New ads initially will target four states known to have the high incidences of elder injuries.
A study that followed residents through all stages of emergency department transfers and care has found that certain comorbidities and levels of stress can predict subsequent recovery from symptoms.
A program that put full-time advanced practice nurses in 16 Missouri nursing homes shows that Medicare should scrap billing restrictions on direct care services given by these providers, investigators say.
An attempt to reduce unnecessary emergency department visits with telemedicine triage failed when senior living healthcare providers were not on board. The findings contain lessons for for clinicians and administrators, investigators say.
Almost a third of older emergency department patients who were subsequently diagnosed with COVID had delirium at admission, investigators say. And many had no other COVID symptoms, such as cough or fever.
Respiratory distress was also linked to more admissions after ED transfers. In contrast, residents with falls, trauma or fracture, non-gastrointestinal bleeding, and pain were more likely to be discharged back to the nursing home.
Respiratory distress is often the culprit when a patient with COVID-19 returns to the hospital within two weeks of discharge, a study finds. These patients also have relatively high rates of COPD and hypertension.
While residents aged 60 to 69 were found to account for 2% of ED visits, those aged 90 and older accounted for 24% of visits, according to new data.
