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California emergency departments: a critical source of care
California emergency departments: a critical source of care
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- California health care almanac (California HealthCare Foundation)
- Author(s):
- Hsia, Renee Y., author
- Contributor(s):
- California HealthCare Foundation, issuing body.
- Publication:
- Oakland, CA : California Health Care Foundation, December 2021
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Emergency Service, Hospital -- statistics & numerical data
Emergency Service, Hospital -- trends
Emergency Medical Services -- statistics & numerical data
California
United States - Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- California's emergency departments (EDs) provide a critical source of health care to people with acute medical conditions or those who have experienced trauma or injury, and are expected to treat all patients regardless of their ability to pay. They also provide an important entry point for inpatient hospital care. In 2019, 329 acute care hospitals in California operated a licensed ED. Between 2009 and 2019, the number of EDs remained relatively stable, while the number of individual treatment stations increased 23% from 6,777 to 8,362. In 2019 California's EDs handled 14.9 million visits, 27% more than in 2009. KEY FINDINGS INCLUDE: (1) The number of ED treatment stations increased in all regions throughout the state between 2009 and 2019, even those regions that experienced a decrease in emergency departments. In 2019, emergency department visits per 1,000 residents ranged from a low of 316 in Orange County to a high of 501 in the Northern and Sierra region. (2) Medi-Cal was the expected payer for 42% of all ED visits in 2019, compared to 26% for private payers and 23% for Medicare. (3) While the majority of ED visits (87%) did not result in a hospital admission, one in six of those not admitted were for conditions severe enough to be life-threatening. (4) California ED patients who were sent home spent nearly three hours, on average, in the ED. For those with psychiatric/mental conditions, the median stay was more than four hours.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (28 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918333281106676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918333281106676