Does Insurance Status Affect Emergency Department Disposition?

Lack of insurance was independently associated with discharge or transfer to another hospital among ED patients at hospitals capable of providing adequate care.

Emergency departments (EDs) are required to evaluate and stabilize any patients presenting to their facility, but financial incentives may contribute to whether patients are then admitted, discharged, or transferred to another hospital.

To test for an association between insurance status (Medicaid, Medicare, private, or none) and ED admission decisions, researchers analyzed a national all-payer claims data set of adult ED visits. Analyses were adjusted for Charleston comorbidity index, age, gender, and income. To eliminate effects of differences in hospital capabilities, the analysis was limited to patients with asthma, pneumonia, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at 160 hospitals (of 953 in the database) capable of caring for critica…

Reviewing Author

Benton R. Hunter, MD

Disclosures

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesSociety for Academic Emergency Medicine (Chair, Evidence Based Healthcare Interest Group)

Benton R. Hunter, MD

Disclosures

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesSociety for Academic Emergency Medicine (Chair, Evidence Based Healthcare Interest Group)

Does Insurance Status Affect Emergency Department Disposition?

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Reviewing Author