Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Telephone Follow-Up for Older Adults Discharged to Home from the Emergency Department: A Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial.
Telephone calls after discharge from the emergency department (ED) are increasingly used to reduce 30-day rates of return or readmission, but their effectiveness is not established. The objective was to determine whether a scripted telephone intervention by registered nurses from a hospital-based call center would decrease 30-day rates of return to the ED or hospital or of death. ⋯ A scripted telephone call from a trained nurse to an older adult after discharge from the ED did not reduce ED or hospital return rates or death within 30 days. Clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT01893931z.