When Children Are Directly Admitted to the Hospital

Direct admissions — those occurring without preceding care in a hospital's emergency department (ED) — are not well studied. Using a 2009 U.S. database of 1.5 million hospitalizations in children (excluding neonates, pregnant adolescents, and children admitted electively), researchers found that 25% resulted from direct admissions and described their characteristics.

In an analysis of the 10 most common diagnostic related groups (DRGs), making up half of admissions, direct admissions were significantly more common in children who were white and privately insured, in children with lower disease severity, and in rural hospitals and hospitals without teaching programs. Direct admission rates from these 10 DRGs ranged from 9% for appendectomy to…