The identification number of emergency department visits in the U.S. increased by 36% to 119 million in 2006 from 90 one thousand thousand in 1996, according to a CDC report on hospital use released on Wednesday, the AP/Miami Herald reports (Stobbe, AP/Miami Herald, 8/6). At the same time, the number of EDs nationwide declined from about 4,000 to about 3,800, conducive to an increase in ED discourse wait multiplication (Bavley, Kansas City Star, 8/6). The findings ar based on data from the 2006 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (CDC release, 8/6).
According to the report, average ED hold back time increased to almost 56 transactions in 2006, compared with 38 transactions in 1997 (Fahy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 8/7). However, the average ED wait time could be misleading because urban EDs with waits longer than an 60 minutes boost the average, according to Catharine Burt of the National Center for Health Statistics at CDC (Hellmich, USA Today, 8/7). The report's lead source, Stephen Pitts of CDC, said that half of ED users had hold off times of 31 transactions or less (AP/Miami Herald, 8/6).
ED Overcrowding
Several factors conduce to overcrowding in the nation's EDs, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Pitts aforementioned that it is getting more hard for U.S. residents to schedule master care appointments, which contributes to the rise in ED use. He aforementioned this tendency applies to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in particular (Colliver, San Francisco Chronicle, 8/7). The report constitute that 82 of every 100 Medicaid beneficiaries used ED care in 2006, compared to 21 of every century people with private insurance (Reichard, CQ HealthBeat, 8/6).
Pitts said a limited number of inmate beds likewise is contributive to ED overcrowding as patients await in the ED to be admitted (AP/Miami Herald, 8/6). As hospitals receive reduced bed capacity, the "major solution over the past 10 years has been to allow these patients to sit in the hallways in the ER," Pitts said. More than half of hospital admissions in 2006 were through EDs, a 38% increase since 1996, the report found.
According to the report, although the number of uninsured U.S. residents increased by more than five meg since 1996 to about 47 gazillion, the growing uninsured population did non account for higher ED use. The report likewise found that the overall growth in population did not story for the trend (San Francisco Chronicle, 8/7). According to the report, nearly 40% of ED patients had private insurance; around 25% received health coverage through state programs; well-nigh 17% were Medicare beneficiaries; and well-nigh 17% were uninsured (AP/Miami Herald, 8/6).
Other ED Findings
The report also ground that:
About 13% of ED visits light-emitting diode to a hospital admission;
Infants had the highest use of EDs of whatsoever age group;
People older than 75 were the second-highest users of ED care (San Francisco Chronicle, 8/7); and
ED or hospital outpatient department visits accounted for 38% of care victimized by blacks, compared with 17% for whites (CQ HealthBeat, 8/6).
Overall Hospital Use
The report too examined early types of ambulatory maintenance visits in hospital outpatient departments and physicians offices. Overall ambulatory care increased by 26% to 1.1 one thousand million visits in 2006 compared with a decade earlier, despite just an 11% growth in population, according to USA Today (USA Today, 8/7).
The report is useable online (.pdf).
NBC's "Nightly News" on Wednesday reported on how EDs have suit a source of primary care for an increasing number of U.S. residents. The segment includes comments from Ricardo Martinez of the American College of Emergency Physicians and Mark Spektor of Maimonides Medical Center (Bazell, "Nightly News," NBC, 8/6).
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