HealthDay News reports a program that had specially trained nurses monitor and guide the treatment of patients with pneumonia and other respiratory tract infections more than halved the rate of hospitalization.
The study found that nursing home residents who received similar treatment to that given in hospitals - chest X-rays, antibiotics, oxygen blood level monitoring, close attention to trained nurses - had a 10 percent likelihood of needing to be treated in emergency rooms. Of residents who got the regular treatment, 22 percent needed to be hospitalized.
Dr. Mark Loeb, a professor of pathology and molecular medicine at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, says the program "would benefit the acute-care system. It would reduce congestion in emergency rooms."
However, he adds "There was no difference in the death rate in the two groups."
