ELDERLY MISS OUT ON REMEDIES STUDY POINTS TO COMMON TREATMENT USE.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Antelope Valley's two hospitals did not always provide recommended treatments for common ailments among the elderly, results from a federal survey show.

Patients who were elderly or had a chronic illness like emphysema or heart disease, for example, should have been given a pneumonia vaccine to protect them against future bouts with bacterial pneumonia, federal officials say.

But only 4 percent of 117 applicable patients surveyed in early 2004 at Antelope Valley Hospital were given the vaccine, while 32 percent of 44 patients got it at Lancaster Community Hospital.

``Those numbers have improved. We do track that on a monthly basis through the medical staff committee structure,'' said Bob Trautman, chief executive officer of Lancaster Community Hospital. ``We put a focus on that. It's an educational process. We've shown significant improvements since the beginning.''

Trautman cautioned, however, that certain remedies may not work for some patients. Some may have allergies to certain medicines, he said.

``Oftentimes there is maybe an intervention, such as aspirin, that may not be appropriate in a specific patient situation and that's documented in the charts,'' Trautman said. ``What you see is not always an apples-to- apples comparison.''

Officials from Antelope Valley Hospital did return calls for comment.

The survey, which is posted on the Internet, was done by Medicare and is part of an attempt by the government - along with organizations of hospitals, doctors, nurses and health researchers - to push hospitals to use proven remedies for common ailments.

The ratings cover the period from January through March 2004.

The survey looked at three common but deadly diseases that afflict the elderly - heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia - and rated hospitals on how they did in providing what the federal government says are generally agreed upon as the best treatments.

All bacterial pneumonia patients should get antibiotics within four hours of being admitted, but at Antelope Valley Hospital 49 percent of 377 patients did; at Lancaster Community, 45 percent of 75 patients did, the government said.

Heart attack patients without allergies to aspirin or other reasons should get aspirin when they arrive and be prescribed aspirin at discharge, the government says.

At Antelope Valley Hospital, 93 percent of the 87 patients received aspirin at arrival, and 92 percent of 76 got it when discharged. At Lancaster Community, the figures were 94 percent of 18 patients upon arrival and 84 percent of 19 patients at discharge.

Beta blockers are drugs that should be given to nearly all heart attack patients within 24 hours of arriving at the hospital and prescribed when they leave, the government said.

Antelope Valley Hospital gave beta blockers to 79 percent of its 76 heart attack patients when they arrived and 77 percent of 75 patients when they left.

Lancaster Community gave beta blockers to 68 percent of its 19 heart attack patients who arrived during the study period and 80 percent of the 20 patients who were discharged during that same time.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com