Patterns of emergency care use in residential care settings: opportunities to improve quality of transitional care in the elderly.

Emergent care is a prominent feature in the complex matrix of care transitions for vulnerable elders. This article evaluates local patterns of emergent care transport using ambulance transport data for the year 2003, analyzed by residential setting (independent senior apartments, licensed residential care and nursing homes). Significant differences were found between categories and between facilities within categories (p < .001). The more than three-fold difference in ambulance transport rate between nursing homes reinforces the need to recognize these transitions as quality indicators. Differences between senior apartments and licensed residential care settings provide initial insight suggesting opportunities for quality improvement in these community settings.