BOSTON: A new look at hospital discharge data of extremely elderly patients — those 85 or older — underscores how many visits might be avoidable.
A study has looked at 10 years of discharge data ending in 2010. By the end of the decade, seniors most often were diagnosed with:
– Congestive heart failure (43%)
– Pneumonia (34%)
– Urinary tract infections (30%)
– Septicemia (28%)
– Stroke (28%)
– Hip fractures (21%)
“A lot of these conditions are preventable if caught early,” said the study author…