EDs Now Treat 28% of First-Contact Care

A new study found 28 percent of first-contact care in the United States is handled in the ED, compared with 42 percent of such visits handled by primary care physicians, according to a reporting Health Affairs.

The rest of first-contact visits were made to specialists (20 percent) or outpatient departments (7 percent), according to data from 2001-2004.

While fewer than 5 percent of the medical profession is in emergency medicine, emergency physicians handle a quarter of all acute care encounters and more than half of such visits by the uninsured.

Read the Health Affairs report on EDs.

Read more coverage on EDs:

- Many ED Visits Could be Redirected, Saving $4.4B Nationwide

- 4 Ways Emergency Departments Will Change Over The Next Five Years


- AHA Wants Withdrawal of New Rules on Out-of-Network Payments for ED Services


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