Assisted living communities close to hospitals more likely to use EDs for residents’ primary care

McKnight’s Senior Living September 14, 2023
Kimberly Bonvissuto

Assisted living communities located close to hospitals are more likely to rely on emergency departments to provide non-emergency primary care rather than invest in onsite or on-call medical staff, according to a study in JAMDA, the journal of AMDA–The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine.

Researchers led by Brian E. McGarry, PT, PhD, from the University of Rochester, used the distance between assisted living communities and nearby hospitals to examine resident rates of ED use. They found that the closer the community was to a hospital, the more likely it turned to the local ED for diagnostic and medical care services when a resident’s medical provider was unavailable.

Those ED transfers were seen as disruptive and potentially harmful, increasing...

Today's Sponsors

Today's Sponsor