Reducing Fall-Related Revisits for Elderly Diabetes Patients in Emergency Departments: A Transition Flow Model

This letter introduces a transition flow model to study fall-related emergency department (ED) revisits for elderly patients with diabetes. Five diabetes classes are used to classify patients at discharge, within 7-day revisits, and between 8 and 30-day revisits. Analytical formulas to evaluate patient revisiting risks are derived. To reduce revisits, sensitivity analysis is introduced to identify the most critical, i.e., dominant, factors whose changes can lead to the largest reduction in revisits. In addition, a case study at University of Wisconsin (UW) Hospital ED is described to illustrate the applicability of the model.