Level of uncompensated care delivered by emergency physicians in Florida.
OBJECTIVE
To determine selected characteristics of patients who present for care in emergency departments in Florida, the proportion who appear to be uninsured or underinsured, and the magnitude of uncompensated care provided by the emergency physicians in selected EDs in Florida.


METHODS
Retrospective analysis of billing data.


METHODS
Twenty-five EDs in Florida.


RESULTS
Uninsured patients comprised 20.6% of the sample. Emergency and urgent patients were 39.9% of the sample. The overall collection ratio was 59.2%.


CONCLUSIONS
Emergency physicians provide substantial amounts of uncompensated care.
Mitchell
T A
TA
Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa.
Remmel
R J
RJ
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000191:economics*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005251:Fees, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D006801:Humans; D007349:Insurance, Health, Reimbursement / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors