Early hospice enrollment may prevent emergency department visits at the end of life, according to a study in Health Affairs.
Researchers studied 4,518 adults aged 65 or older who died while enrolled in the Health and Retirement Study from 1992-2006. Fifty-one percent of these adults visited the ED in the last month of life and 75 percent in the last six months of life. Seventy-seven percent of the patients who visited the ED in the last month of life were admitted to the hospital, and 68 percent of these patients died there.
Nine percent of the 4,518 adults who died in the Health and Retirement Study enrolled in hospice at least one month before death. Only approximately 11 percent of these patients visited the ED in the last month of life.
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Researchers studied 4,518 adults aged 65 or older who died while enrolled in the Health and Retirement Study from 1992-2006. Fifty-one percent of these adults visited the ED in the last month of life and 75 percent in the last six months of life. Seventy-seven percent of the patients who visited the ED in the last month of life were admitted to the hospital, and 68 percent of these patients died there.
Nine percent of the 4,518 adults who died in the Health and Retirement Study enrolled in hospice at least one month before death. Only approximately 11 percent of these patients visited the ED in the last month of life.
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