Demographic changes caused by the global aging of the population are leading to increased medical and care costs. Several models of care that avoid admission to general acute care hospitals, increased medical costs, and poor outcomes after hospitalization are being explored. Ribbink et al. reported on the subacute care unit (SCU) in Spain and the acute geriatric care hospital (AGCH) in the Netherlands as intermediate care units that provided an alternative to admission to a general hospital. In the present letter, we introduce the characteristics and outcomes of community-based integrated care units (CICUs) in Japan, which function as intermediate care units.

Source:

Journal of the American Medical Directors Association