Should extended care following hospitalization be encouraged?

The use of extended care facilities following acute care hospitalization has been suggested as a way to reduce the use of the more expensive acute care facilities. Data from 1979 and 1980 on hospitalizations of the North Carolina Medicare aged population were analyzed to study the impact of the use of extended care facilities on the length of the preceding acute care hospitalizations. Contrary to what might be expected, it was found that the use of extended care facilities was related to longer, rather than shorter, stays in acute care facilities.