Home

  • Home
    • » e-Newsletters

Patients visit EDs more often, wait longer

Quality Improvement Monitor, August 8, 2008

The number of visits to physician offices and hospital outpatient and emergency departments (ED) rose by 26% between 1996 and 2006, according to new statistics released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC) this week.

The CDC data also revealed that the average waiting time in the ED is nearly 56 minutes, up from 38 minutes a decade ago. Other findings include:

  • The ED served as the route of admission to hospital inpatient services for roughly 50% of non-obstetric hospital patients in 2006, up from 36% in 1996.
  • Patients with Medicaid use the ED more frequently than patients with private insurance – 82 per 100 persons for Medicaid versus 21 per 100 for private insurance.
  • Most ED visits occurred after business hours (defined as 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays), when 63% of adults and 73% of children younger than age 15 arrived.

    For more information, click here.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    • Most Popular