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.
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