Characteristics and outcomes of elderly patients receiving transitional care.

Transitional care programs are one method of providing care to elderly high-risk patients. The aims of this study were to determine if patient characteristics (including number of comorbidities, functional status, and length of stay during initial hospitalization) and social factors (including presence of a caregiver in the home and place of discharge disposition) were associated with increased hospital readmission and mortality for patients discharged from specialized transitional care.