ED Legal Letter – July 1, 2005
July 1, 2005
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Elderly patients in the ED: Be wise in their care
With our aging population, emergency medicine practitioners increasingly will face the challenges of care for the elderly in the emergency department. A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that visits to U.S. EDs reached a record high in 2003 and attributes this rise to increased use by adults, especially those ages 65 and older. Elderly patients have higher risks for presenting to the ED.