Unexpected Death After Discharge from Emergency Departments

Every unexpected death after discharge from the emergency department (ED) rightly prompts close review at the case level, but the broad phenomenon is difficult to study. These authors used Medicare claims data from 2007–2012 to determine the frequency of early death and patient and hospital characteristics associated with it. Patients were excluded if they were ≥90 years old, had recently stayed in a nursing facility, or had a known life-limiting diagnosis.

Among a nationally representative sample of more than 10 million ED visits (20% of all Medicare beneficiaries), there were more than 12,000 deaths in the first week after ED discharge. This equates to approximately 1 early death for every 800 discharged patients, or 10,000 such deaths per…