Interdisciplinary collaboration and computer-assisted home healthcare referral in the emergency department: a retrospective cohort study.
Aging Clin Exp Res
; 34(8): 1939-1946, 2022 Aug.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1943579
ABSTRACT
AIM:
Home healthcare (HHC) provides continuous care for disabled patients. However, HHC referral after the emergency department (ED) discharge remains unclear. Thus, this study aimed its clarification.METHODS:
A computer-assisted HHC referral by interdisciplinary collaboration among emergency physicians, case managers, nurse practitioners, geriatricians, and HHC nurses was built in a tertiary medical center in Taiwan. Patients who had HHC referrals after ED discharge between February 1, 2020 and September 31, 2020, were recruited into the study. A non-ED HHC cohort who had HHC referrals after hospitalization from the ED was also identified. Comparison for clinical characteristics and uses of medical resources was performed between ED HHC and non-ED HHC cohorts.RESULTS:
The model was successfully implemented. In total, 34 patients with ED HHC and 40 patients with non-ED HHC were recruited into the study. The female proportion was 61.8% and 67.5%, and the mean age was 81.5 and 83.7 years in ED HHC and non-ED HHC cohorts, respectively. No significant difference was found in sex, age, underlying comorbidities, and ED diagnoses between the two cohorts. The ED HHC cohort had a lower median total medical expenditure within 3 months (34,030.0 vs. 56,624.0 New Taiwan Dollars, p = 0.021) compared with the non-ED HHC cohort. Compared to the non-ED HHC cohort, the ED HHC cohort had a lower ≤ 1 month ED visit, ≤ 6 months ED visit, and ≤ 3 months hospitalization; however, differences were not significant.CONCLUSION:
An innovative ED HHC model was successfully implemented. Further studies with more patients are warranted to investigate the impact.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Emergency Service, Hospital
/
Hospitalization
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Aging Clin Exp Res
Journal subject:
Geriatrics
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S40520-022-02109-9
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS