DISQUS

Leslie Robinson · 3 years ago

It just better be there when us Boomers need it! Seniors usually do have more health issues, so they would naturally have more emergency service needs. But, there could be "cultural" reasons, too.

A lot of seniors these days do not necessarily live close to their family or have lost a partner and hence, are often by themselves. Any pain or sickness seems to magnify itself under these conditions. And if transportation is an issue, it may seem "easier" for the senior to call an ambulance than a taxi or neighbor.

Of course, most emergency room visits are an emergency. But, if you were an 80-year old widowed senior citizen with a tummy ache, where would you rather be? Home alone or at the hospital with nurses and orderlies to take care of you?

 

Cara DeGette · 3 years ago

all things being equal The study points out a fascinating behavioral pattern. When insurance status, race/ethnicity and family income are weighed, variations in the use of Emergency Departments may be explained by the community's preference and accepted habit of seeking out non-emergent care at the hospital instead of a health clinic or doctor's office.

Anecdotally, I have heard stories of physicians encouraging their Medicare and Medicaid patients to go to the Emergency Department because of the lack of adequate reimbursement for office visits and/or difficulty of getting a timely appointment. Sad and terribly inappropriate, but unfortunately true.

Likewise, for typically older patients with multiple chronic conditions a fairly routine ailment or injury may require multi-disciplinary medical attention through a trauma team to attend to the varied concerns, potentially conflicting treatments, and pharma coordination. These patients often wind up in the Emergency Department since the decades-long trend of strict medical specialization no longer provides "convenient one-stop shopping" for one's health care which now can only be sought at the hospital in most rural areas.