Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/475636
AN A G I N G P O P U L A - TION TRANSLATES to more patients age 65 and older entering ERs nationwide. In 2009 and 2010, a total of nearly 20 million patients 65 and older presented at ERs through- out the United States, according to the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey. That is equivalent to the population of Florida. Meanwhile, the number of Americans who will celebrate a 65th birthday in the next 20 years rose by 33 percent from 2000 to 2011, notes a report by the Administration on Aging, which indicates the infl ux of senior patients making ER visits is likely to continue. DECREASED READMISSION RATES AND INCREASED PATIENT SATISFACTION ARE CRUCIAL FACTORS BEHIND THE RISE OF GERIATRIC EMERGENCY ROOMS IN HOSPITALS AROUND THE COUNTRY, SAY OFFICIALS AT FACILITIES THAT PROVIDE THE SPECIALIZED ERS. In response to this shift, more than 200 U.S. hospitals either have or are developing geriatric ERs, according to Pennsylvania-based research group ECRI Institute. "What we were looking to do was to respond proactively to this signifi cant need we were seeing and the change of the patient population's age," explains Ann Hess, MD, an emergency department physician of Saint Joseph Mercy Health System, which operates seven geriatric ERs in southeast Michigan. "It's a nat u ra l subsp ecia lt y for emergency medicine," says Howard Dickey-W hite, MD, who is boa rd- certified in emergency medicine, an American College of Emergency Room Physicians Fellow and Chief of Emergency Medicine Operations for University Hospitals in Ohio. "Seniors often don't have an acute emergency; they have all of these comorbid problems, so we actually get to spend some time with them." Taking more time with patients is part of a multidisciplinary approach that hos- pitals implementing geriatric ERs employ to complete comprehensive assessments that encompass both physical and social aspects of care. In many geriatric ERs, pharmacists are available for medication consultation or a review of the Beers Criteria list, a set of guidelines by the American Geriatric Society identifying medications that may be inappropriate for older adu lt s. Add it iona l ly, socia l By Carrie Frye Better Outcomes Key to Emergence of Geriatric ERs 1 2 | Greater Boston MD NEWS ■ M D N E W S . CO M