"Mental Illness Increases Risk For Discharge Against Medical Advice" - Alaina Tedesco
Certain factors, including mental illness, race, low income and being uninsured, were associated with a heightened risk for deciding to leave the hospital against the advice of a health care provider, according to a study. "One of the reasons mentioned in previous studies for leaving the hospital against medical advice is suboptimal communication, which may indeed affect older minority patients more," said Jashvant Poeran, MD, PhD, assistant professor of population health and policy at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "More research is needed to find out why exactly race/ethnicity and poverty are more pronounced as risk factors in older patients, especially since Medicare theoretically offers universal health coverage for patients aged 65 years or older." Rosanna M. Leipzig, MD, PhD, professor of clinical geriatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine said, "This information will be important in order for hospitals and health care providers to address this issue."
- Jashvant Poeran, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Population Health Science and Policy, Medicine, Orthopaedics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Rosanne M. Leipzig, MD, PhD, Professor, Geriatrics, Palliative Medicine, Population Health and Policy, Medicine, Clinical Geriatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Additional Coverage: ABP Live