Dive Brief:
- ED visits now make up more than half of all hospital admissions, a sharp rise from the 1990s, when ED visits produced only one-third of admissions.
- ED admissions increased 17% across the country from 2003 to 2009, contributing to the 6% overall inpatient admissions growth, FH reports.
- One reason ED patients are more likely to be admitted is that less-sick patients are getting elective surgeries at outpatient clinics. "The lower acuity cases are gone now," said Daniel Varga, M. D., chief clinical officer and senior executive vice president of Texas Health Resources. "We can foresee a time when the hospital will become one big ICU."
Dive Insight:
As things stand today, there's little likelihood that EDs will see only the very sickest of patients. In fact, ED admissions continue to increase to some degree due to the fact that patients lack primary care access or health insurance. However, if plans to enroll more patients in patient-centered medical homes and other primary care arrangements succeed, these numbers could change. In fact, it's all but certain that they will. It's just a matter of time.