One indication that senior-focused emergency care settings are catching on: For the first time, geriatric EDs have appeared on the Plymouth Meeting, PA-based Emergency Care Research Institutes (ECRI) Top 10 Hospital C-Suite Watch List, an annual list of new technologies and health system developments that providers and policy makers should think carefully about, according to ECRI.
A cadre of prominent medical groups, including the ACEP, ENA, AGS, and SAEM, has unveiled a comprehensive set of Geriatric Emergency Department Guidelines to aid hospitals that are either in the process of opening senior-focused EDs or revamping their policies and procedures to better meet the needs of an aging population. The guidelines offer recommendations related to staffing, infrastructure, education, and transition-of-care strategies. In addition, they outline a host of screenings that studies have shown are beneficial for older adults.
While an increasing number of hospital systems are creating senior-friendly EDs, one new study suggests that many of the tenets of geriatric medicine are also applicable to the care of patients with complex health problems, especially with respect to care transitions.
There is no question that information technology (IT) offers many advantages to health care, but it has also introduced complications.
