Emergency Department Visits on the Rise

In the U.S., emergency departments (EDs) provide access to care to all persons, regardless of ability to pay. Researchers used data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey to examine trends in U.S. ED visits for subgroups by insurance status from 1997 through 2007.

The total annual number of visits increased from 95 million to 117 million; the 23% increase was nearly twice that anticipated from population growth. The ED visit rate increased 11% from 353 to 391 per 1000 population. Adults with Medicaid accounted for most of the increase. Adults with private insurance, Medicare, or no insurance had no significant changes in ED visit rates. The number of EDs that met the CDC definition for safety-net EDs (>30% of total visits …