Telemedicine Curbs Emergency Department Use By 24% Among Older Adults With Dementia

High-intensity telemedicine reduced emergency department use by 24% per year among older adults with dementia in senior living communities. On average, older adults receiving high-intensity telemedicine used the emergency department at a rate of 0.0892 visits per person per month, compared to 0.0974 for those receiving traditional telemedicine.

“High-intensity” telemedicine is defined as a traditional telemedicine visit via telephone or video, facilitated by a technician and coupled with audio and video recording to capture greater clinical detail (e.g., lung and heart sounds); medication reconciliation; laboratory or radiographic testing; ordered interventions (e.g., prescribed antibiotics . . .