Can We Keep the Elderly out of the Hospital?
Nobody wants to see chronically-ill elderly patients making repeated trips to the emergency room. These visits are obviously bad for the patients themselves, who often suffer stress, disorientation, and high risks of infection. They are no good for Medicare, which has to pay the bill: The estimated cost of these readmissions is $17 billion annually. And, despite the common perception, they may not be good for hospitals, which are [...]