ed visits news from FierceHealthcare

A new report from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics concludes that there were 119 million emergency room visits in 2006, up 36 percent over the last 10 years. (During the same period,... Read more...

While it hasn't been great for patients, the flu bug has done hospitals a favor. This year's crop of flu shots turned out to be less effective than expected for current strains of the virus, so more... Read more...

In recent years, the number of freestanding emergency departments has grown dramatically, climbing 23 percent from 2005 to 2006, according to the American Hospital Association. These EDs treat many... Read more...

Scottsdale, AZ-based Scottsdale Healthcare has taken an approach more common in the travel industry and put it to use in its emergency department. The health system has begun to post emergency... Read more...

A new study by the Massachusetts Hospital Association has concluded that the number of "free care" visits to hospitals have fallen dramatically over the past three years. Such visits declined 28... Read more...

With emergency departments under increasing strain, patients are waiting significantly longer for care than they did in the past, according to a new study by Harvard Medical School researchers.... Read more...

Evidence continues to mount up that emergency departments are facing an overcrowding crisis. According to a new report published this week in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, ED visits by people... Read more...

With hospital emergency departments already taxed enough, the following isn't reassuring. A new study concludes that the proportion of outpatient ED charges paid by both government and private... Read more...

Emergency rooms are crammed across the country--and what's happening in New Jersey is a perfect example. According to a new report, ED overcrowding and staff shortages are so severe, one ambulance an... Read more...

New research suggests that, at least in patients with chronic diseases, raising drug co-pays tends to cut drug use--but also raise the rate of patient hospitalizations and ED visits. The research, conducted by Dana Goldman, director of RAND Health's Bing Center on Health Economics, found that for every 10 percent increase in consumer cost-sharing, pharmacy spending drops 2 to 6 percent. However, in patients with conditions like congestive heart failure, high cholesterol, diabetes and …

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