Addressing Adult Medicine Inpatients at the Community Level

This study evaluated the impact of adult medicine patients on hospital utilization in Syracuse, New York, a small metropolitan area including three urban hospitals. The study data indicated that the principal source of adult medicine patients, in hospital emergency departments, increased by 19 percent between 2010 and 2014. Another analysis showed that adult medicine discharges comprised the largest inpatient population and were closely correlated with changes in total discharges. The data also suggested that adult medicine patients were associated with excess inpatient stays when compared with national averages between 2010 and 2014 and that these excess days were difficult to eliminate. The study data also suggested that adult medicine patients were a major source of medical and surgical readmissions. The study identified the importance of adult medicine patients and suggested the need for further evaluation of this population.