Emergency Department Visit Rates by Selected Characteristics: United States, 2020

Details

• Personal Author:
  Cairns, Christopher ; Ashman, Jill J. ; King, J.M.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Center for Health Statistics (U.S.)
• Description:
  In 2020, an estimated 131 million emergency department (ED) visits occurred in the United States, with 19.0% of adults reporting a visit and 4.7% of children reporting two or more visits in the past 12 months (1-3). In that time, over 20 million cases of COVID-19 caused a disruption in access to and use of care (4). This report presents characteristics of ED visits, including those with mentions of COVID-19, by age group, sex, race and ethnicity, and primary expected source of payment, using data from the 2020 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). ; Key findings ; Data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey ; • The overall emergency department (ED) visit rate was 40 visits per 100 people in 2020. ; • The ED visit rate was highest for infants under age 1 year (68 visits per 100 infants), followed by adults aged 75 and over (63 per 100 people). ; • The ED visit rate for non-Hispanic Black or African- American people (70 visits per 100 people) was highest compared with other racial and ethnic groups. ; • The ED visit rate for patients with private insurance was lowest, while the rate for patients with Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program, or other state-based programs was highest compared with all other primary expected sources of payment. ; • Of all ED visits in 2020, 6.7% had a mention of COVID-19. ; Suggested citation: Cairns C, Ashman JJ, King JM. Emergency department visit rates by selected characteristics: United States, 2020. NCHS Data Brief, no 452. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2022. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.15620/ cdc:121837. ; CS335047
• Source:
  National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey
• Series:
  NCHS Data Briefs
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Report ; Statistics
• Place as Subject:
  United States
• CIO:
  National Center for Health Statistics
• Topic:
  Health Statistics
• Issue:
  452
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/121837/cdc_121837_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 429.70 KB]
• Collection(s):
  National Center for Health Statistics
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:66d1d30f17b7ef3c06358768c697f2cb6d6f0725f7e072cbc56b7fd06a0716dffb3774d91eb9c58ee498b5734e7c4e9af5671de13e327be6c747d2f43633e57b