When geriatric patients in New York and around the country return to their nursing homes after a hospitalization, they enter a danger zone for medical errors. When the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services studied data from 2014 about these patient transfers, researchers discovered that close to 25 percent of the people with complicated medical conditions experienced harm within a few days after returning to their nursing facilities. Inadequate follow-up care or monitoring and medication mistakes accounted for the majority of these incidents.
When geriatric patients in New York and around the country return to their nursing homes after a hospitalization, they enter a danger zone for medical errors. When the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services studied data from 2014 about these patient transfers, researchers discovered that close to 25 percent of the people with complicated medical conditions experienced harm within a few days after returning to their nursing facilities. Inadequate follow-up care or monitoring and medication mistakes accounted for the majority of these incidents.
Researchers participating in a study meant to improve nursing home care identified similar issues. Specially trained nurse practitioners examined nursing home patients after approximately 600 hospital transfers to 19 different residential care facilities. The nurse practitioner attended the patients within 48 hours of their return. During visits that lasted an average of 102 minutes, the healthcare worker reviewed the hospital discharge summary, medications and follow-up care instructions. The nurse also engaged in planning with the nursing home staff and family.
Over half of the visits resulted in the nurse practitioner addressing medical issues. When researchers tracked the sources of problems, they found that 29 percent of them arose from the discharging hospital. One-third of medical problems resulted from the nursing home. Physicians at the nursing homes made mistakes in 32 percent of cases.
The family members or friends of a nursing home patient should be especially vigilant during transfers between care facilities. If they believe that their loved one experienced negligent medical treatment at any stage of the process and was harmed as a result, they may want to meet with a medical malpractice attorney to discuss their options.
