ABSTRACT
I. ACUTE HOSPITALIZATION: CURRENT STATUS A. Epidemiology Despite the impact of the Prospective Payment System and the introduction of Medicare managed care programs in the past two decades, the proportion of hospitalized patients who are age 65 years and older is increasing. In national surveys of nonfederal acute hospitals, elderly patients account for 37% of all discharges and 47% of inpatient days of care. Indeed, rates of hospitalization are more than twice as great for patients age 85 years and older compared with patients aged 65 to 74 years. Current projections for the next 40 years are that patients age 75 years and older will represent more than half of the hospitalized population, and their costs of care will more than double. This is particularly important because the oldest patients have longer hospitalizations, a higher mortality rate, and a higher rate of nursing home placement (1).
