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http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050527/hl_nm/er_increase_dc
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Crowding in US emergency departments is being fueled by rising numbers of patients even as some departments shut their doors, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Catharine W. Burt and Linda F. McCraig, at the CDC's Division of Health Care Statistics, report the annual number of emergency department (ED) visits increased from 90.3 million to 113.9 million visits between 1993 and 2003.
However, the number of hospital EDs in the US decreased by about 14 percent during the same period.
Fifteen percent of visits were classified as emergencies (requiring treatment in less than 15 minutes) and 35 percent were urgent (treatment required within one hour). Thirteen percent were non-urgent.
Even though infants had the highest rate of ED visits, the greatest increase in rates was among adults. For those age 65 and older, ED visit rates increased by 26 percent over the last decade.
"As America's elderly population continues to grow, we expect to see even more elderly patients in the coming years," Dr. Robert Suter, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians, noted in a press release.
"And if Congress does not act to avert the cuts in Medicare this year, elderly patients will find it increasingly difficult to be treated by their physicians, and even more elderly patients will be coming to the emergency department for medical care," the statement added.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Crowding in US emergency departments is being fueled by rising numbers of patients even as some departments shut their doors, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. Catharine W. Burt and Linda F. McCraig, at the CDC's Division of Health Care Statistics, report the annual number of emergency department (ED) visits increased from 90.3 million to 113.9 million visits between 1993 and 2003.
However, the number of hospital EDs in the US decreased by about 14 percent during the same period.
Fifteen percent of visits were classified as emergencies (requiring treatment in less than 15 minutes) and 35 percent were urgent (treatment required within one hour). Thirteen percent were non-urgent.
Even though infants had the highest rate of ED visits, the greatest increase in rates was among adults. For those age 65 and older, ED visit rates increased by 26 percent over the last decade.
"As America's elderly population continues to grow, we expect to see even more elderly patients in the coming years," Dr. Robert Suter, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians, noted in a press release.
"And if Congress does not act to avert the cuts in Medicare this year, elderly patients will find it increasingly difficult to be treated by their physicians, and even more elderly patients will be coming to the emergency department for medical care," the statement added.
