Emergency Care

The decision to refer an older adult to the emergency department for evaluation should be carefully considered by the primary care provider. Although well equipped to evaluate, treat, and disposition patients with time sensitive disease and injury, emergency departments and emergency medicine providers are suboptimally prepared to care for many subacute and chronic conditions. This chapter provides a framework for ambulatory care providers to reflect upon when referring older adults for emergency care, as well as some disease specific diagnostic and treatment modalities to be explored in the ambulatory setting, before referral to the emergency department.