Return visits to an emergency department are more common that previously thought, according to a recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
To examine revisit rates and associated costs, researchers analyzed data across six U.S. states —Arizona, California, Florida, Nebraska, Utah and Hawaii — using the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. All total, they checked more than 53 million ED visits in which the patient was treated and sent home between 2006 and 2010, the latest available data.
Here are five findings from the study.
1. Within three days of an index ED visit, 8.2 percent of the patients had a revisit. Within a month, about 20 percent made a repeat visit.
2. Roughly 32 percent of the patients who experienced a repeat visit within a month of the index visit went to a different hospital or institution the second time.
3. Skin infection diagnoses had the highest revisit rate with 23.1 percent.
4. Revisit rates varied significantly from state to state. For example, Florida had a considerably higher risk-adjusted revisit rate (24.8 percent) than Nebraska (10.6 percent)
5. In Florida, the only state with complete cost data, total revisit costs for the 19.8 percent of patients with a revisit within 30 days were 118 percent of total index ED visit costs for all patients (including those with and without a revisit).
More articles on emergency departments:
How to truly reduce ER visits: Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel's vision
ER physicians report an increase in ER visits
55 hospitals with the lowest door-to-diagnoses ED wait times