Table 1. Rationale for Hospital Administrators to Address Hearing Loss in Older Inpatients.

Risk	Potential Undesirable Outcome
Misdiagnosis17 19	Longer length of stay, higher cost
Increased falls19 20	Complication/extension of stay, higher cost
Lack of communication accessibility21	Americans with Disability Act violation
Risk to physician-patient communication23 24 25 26	Lower postdischarge adherence, readmission