Structures, effectiveness and costs of geriatric inpatient treatment - Results of two geriatric units

Data about structure and treatment results from two German geriatric clinics were analysed. These clinics differ in character. One is mainly working as an acute-geriatric unit in Dortmund, the other mainly as a geriatric rehabilitation unit in Hanover. Despite the differences in the structural data, treatment results were quite comparable, e.g. the improvements measured by the ADL-index or the general nursery score. Discharge home was nearly 90% in both clinics. These results were attained more rapidly and at lower costs by the elderly with acute diseases treated in the unit in Dortmund, while they took longer for those patients who had been referred to the hospital in Hanover because of the more chronic course of their diseases. However, these differences were not sufficiently well represented in the assessment-scores used in both units.