An article posted yesterday on McKnights.com says that a large percent of visits to emergency rooms by nursing home residents are preventable, according to a recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Based on data collected for the 2004 National Nursing Home Survey, the CDC estimates that about 40% of ER visits by nursing home residents are preventable.
Researchers found that some conditions, like urinary tract infections, could be dealt with in the nursing home. They found the number one reason for ER visits by nursing home patients was because of falls. According to the report, these types of visits could be avoided by efforts to prevent falls in nursing homes.