The emergency to home project: impact of an emergency department care coordinator on hospital admission and emergency department utilization among seniors

BACKGROUND: Seniors comprise 14% to 21% of all emergency department (ED) visits, yet are disproportionately larger users of ED and inpatient resources. ED care coordinators (EDCCs) target seniors at risk for functional decline and connect them to home care and other community services in hopes of avoiding hospitalization. The goal of this study was to measure the association between the presence of EDCCs and admission rates for seniors aged ≥ 65. Secondary outcomes included length of stay, recidivism at 30 days, and revisit resulting in admission at 30 days. METHODS: This was a matched pairs study using administrative data from eight EDs in six Alberta cities. Four of these hospitals were intervention sites, in which patients were seen by an EDCC, while the other four sites had no EDCC presence. All seniors aged ≥ 65 with a discharge diagnosis of fall or musculoskeletal pathology were included. Cases were matched by CTAS category, age, gender, mode of arrival, and home living environment. McNemar’s test for matched pairs was used to compare admission and recidivism rates at EDCC and non-EDCC hospitals. A paired t-test was used to compare length of stay between groups. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences for baseline admission rate, revisit rate at 30 days, and readmission rate at 30 days between EDCC and non-EDCC patients. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed no reduction in senior patients’ admission rates, recidivism at 30 days, or hospital length of stay when comparing seniors seen by an EDCC with those not seen by an EDCC.