{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,1]],"date-time":"2026-09-01T20:58:48Z","timestamp":1788296328001,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":19,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,28]],"date-time":"2026-05-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779926400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,28]],"date-time":"2026-07-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785196800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":61,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100004319","name":"Pfizer","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100004319","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["BMC Geriatr"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The patient burden from COVID-19 extends beyond acute hospitalization, especially for older adults. The objective of this study was to describe post-discharge care settings and mortality rates after a COVID-19 hospitalization among adults aged\u2009\u2265\u200965 years in the United States.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This retrospective observational study used the Medicare fee-for-service dataset. We identified Medicare patients hospitalized with COVID-19 from September 2023\u2013February 2024. The date of discharge was the index date. Patients were followed until death, end of enrollment, or six months post-index. Pre- and post- hospitalization care settings, all-cause mortality, and readmission rates were analyzed. Patients were stratified by COVID-19 severity (general ward, intensive care unit [ICU], invasive mechanical ventilation [IMV]) and age (65\u201374, \u2265\u200975 years old).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A total of 67,358 patients were included; most were female (55.6%), white (84.9%), and on average 80.8 years (standard deviation: 8.1). The majority (96.4%) had\u2009\u2265\u20091 high-risk condition as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The median (interquartile range) length of stay was 5.0 (3.0\u20137.0) days. During index hospitalization, 4.4% of patients were admitted to the ICU and 5.1% required IMV. Post-discharge, 50.5% of patients who resided at home pre-hospitalization (self-care or under care) required increased care. Less than half (47.8%) of patients who were home (self-care) pre-hospitalization returned home (self-care) upon discharge.<\/jats:p>\n                    <jats:p>A total of 11,658 (17.4%) patients died within 6-months of hospital discharge. Mortality rates increased for patients requiring higher levels of care: 7.1% of patients discharged home (self-care), 13.0% of patients discharged home (under care), and 31.8% discharged to any healthcare facility died within six months. Mortality was higher in those with more severe COVID-19 and those aged\u2009\u2265\u200975 years. The COVID-19-related readmission rate was 4.5% within six months of discharge, and 3.2% occurred within 30 days.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The proportion of older adults who lost independence and required care (under care at home or at a healthcare facility) more than doubled after COVID-19 hospitalization, making the post-discharge period a particularly vulnerable time for patients, who are at risk for death and hospital readmission.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1186\/s12877-026-07700-7","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,28]],"date-time":"2026-05-28T09:27:27Z","timestamp":1779960447000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Mortality and transitions-of-care after COVID-19 hospitalization among US Medicare patients: a retrospective claims analysis"],"prefix":"10.1186","volume":"26","author":[{"given":"Alon","family":"Yehoshua","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rachel M.","family":"Black","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anan","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michelle A.","family":"Silver","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yu","family":"Han","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Santiago MC","family":"Lopez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Manuela","family":"Di Fusco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Benjamin","family":"Yarnoff","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rajeev M.","family":"Nepal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria M.","family":"Fernandez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohammad Ashraf","family":"Chaudhary","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tara","family":"Ahi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"7700_CR1","unstructured":"Preliminary Estimates of COVID-19 Burden for 2024\u20132025: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 2024. Available from: https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/covid\/php\/surveillance\/burden-estimates.html. Updated 26 Apr 2025."},{"key":"7700_CR2","unstructured":"COVID-NET: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Hospitalization surveillance network: centers for disease control and prevention. 2024 . Available from: https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#covidnet-hospitalization-network. Updated 10 Apr 2025. COVID-NET Interactive Dashboard."},{"key":"7700_CR3","unstructured":"Panagiotakopoulos L. Use of 2025\u20132026 COVID-19 vaccines: work group considerations [Internet]. Atlanta (GA): Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP); 2025. Available from: https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/acip\/downloads\/slides-2025-04-15-16\/05-Panagiotakopoulos-COVID-508.pdf.\u00a0 [cited 2025 July 9]."},{"issue":"6","key":"7700_CR4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"879","DOI":"10.1377\/hlthaff.2020.02521","volume":"40","author":"WW Tarazi","year":"2021","unstructured":"Tarazi WW, Finegold K, Sheingold SH, Wong Samson L, Zuckerman R, Bosworth A. COVID-19-Related Deaths And Excess Deaths Among Medicare Fee-For-Service Beneficiaries. Health Aff. 2021;40(6):879\u201385.","journal-title":"Health Aff"},{"issue":"2","key":"7700_CR5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0262264","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0262264","volume":"17","author":"SD Greenwald","year":"2022","unstructured":"Greenwald SD, Chamoun NG, Manberg PJ, Gray J, Clain D, Maheshwari K, et al. Covid-19 and excess mortality in medicare beneficiaries. 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Long term risk of death and readmission after hospital admission with covid-19 among older adults: retrospective cohort study. BMJ. 2023;382:e076222.","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"issue":"6","key":"7700_CR16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1564","DOI":"10.1038\/s41591-024-02987-8","volume":"30","author":"M Cai","year":"2024","unstructured":"Cai M, Xie Y, Topol EJ, Al-Aly Z. Three-year outcomes of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19. Nat Med. 2024;30(6):1564\u201373.","journal-title":"Nat Med"},{"key":"7700_CR17","unstructured":"How CDC estimates the burden of COVID-19 in the US: centers for disease control and prevention (CDC). 2024 Available from: https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/covid\/php\/surveillance\/about-burden-estimates.html. Updated 28 Oct 2024."},{"key":"7700_CR18","unstructured":"Medicare COVID-, Medicaid Services (CMS). 19 Vaccine Analysis: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). 2024 . 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Author RMB is employed by AESARA Inc. Authors AZ, MAS, and YH are employed by Genesis Research Group. Author BY is employed by Evidera Inc. AESARA, Inc. and Genesis Research Group received funding from Pfizer in connection with the study and the development of this manuscript. All authors declare no other competing interests.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","label":"Competing interests","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Declarations"}}],"article-number":"985"}}