Most Patients In Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals Die Within Five Years, Study Suggests

reports a new US study suggests that “most elderly patients admitted to long-term acute care hospitals die within 5 years, and spend two-thirds of their remaining life as an inpatient.” Data show that “of 14,072 Medicare patients who were transferred from regular acute-care hospitals to LTACHs found that the average patient spent 66% percent of their remaining life in a hospital or inpatient setting.” Moreover, “37% of these patients died in a facility without ever returning home, often without receiving any hospice care in their final days.” The findings were published online in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-elderly/most-long-term-acute-care-hospital-patients-die-within-five-years-idUSKCN1VG2FB