title: Identifying Potentially Preventable Emergency Department Visits by Nursing Home Residents in the United States.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To identify and describe potentially preventable emergency department (ED) visits by nursing home (NH) residents in the United States. These visits are important because they are common, frequently lead to hospitalization, and can be associated with significant cost to the patient and the health care system.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective analysis of the 2005-2010 National Hospital Ambulatory Care Survey (NHAMCS), comparing ED visits by nursing home residents that did not lead to hospital admission (potentially preventable) with those that led to admission (less likely preventable).
  
  
  METHODS
  Nationally representative sample of US EDs; federal hospitals and hospitals with fewer than 6 beds were excluded.
  
  
  METHODS
  Older (age ≥65 years) NH residents with an ED visit during this time period.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patient demographics, ED visit information including testing performed, interventions (both procedures and medications) provided, and diagnoses treated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Older NH residents accounted for 3857 of 208,956 ED visits during the time period of interest (1.8%). When weighted to be nationally representative, these represent 13.97 million ED visits, equivalent to 1.8 ED visits annually per NH resident in the United States. More than half of visits (53.5%) did not lead to hospital admission; of those discharged from the ED, 62.8% had normal vital signs on presentation and 18.9% did not have any diagnostic testing before ED discharge. Injuries were 1.78 times more likely to be discharged than admitted (44.8% versus 25.3%, respectively, P < .001), whereas infections were 2.06 times as likely to be admitted as discharged (22.9% versus 11.1%, respectively). Computed tomography (CT) scans were performed in 25.4% and 30.1% of older NH residents who were discharged from the ED and admitted to the hospital, respectively, and more than 70% of these were CTs of the head. NH residents received centrally acting, sedating medications before ED discharge in 9.4% of visits.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This nationally representative sample of older NH residents suggests ED visits for injury, those that are associated with normal triage vital signs, and those that are not associated with any diagnostic testing are potentially preventable. Those discharged from the ED often undergo important testing and receive medications that may alter their physical examination on return to the nursing facility, highlighting the need for seamless communication of the ED course to NHs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Denver, CO; Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO. Electronic address: Robert.Burke5@va.gov.
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio School of Medicine, San Antonio, TX.
authors.forename: Sean P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Rooks
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Care Policy and Research, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO.
authors.forename: Cari
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Levy
authors.affiliation: Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.affiliation: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO.
authors.forename: Adit A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Ginde
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004630:Emergencies / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D016330:Frail Elderly / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006707:Homes for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009735:Nursing Homes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010360:Patient Transfer / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States
keywords: Preventable emergency visit; emergency department utilization; nursing home resident