Emergency care episodes: an economic profile.
A new "episode of care" definition of emergency care was developed, consisting of the emergency department encounter and all subsequent, related care delivered within 48 hrs from the initial contact. Data were analyzed by ICD-9-CM Major Diagnostic Category (MDC) and surgical intervention using 1.6 million episodes generated by 809,145 separate patients from a national claims database. Secondary/adjunct services were a major component of episode charges. For several MDCs, hospitalization and/or surgical procedures were also major determinants of overall episodic charges. Results support the premise that economic analysis and reimbursement of emergency care benefits from the use of episodic data.
Army Medical Department Center and School, Fort Sam Houston, TX.
S A
SA
Optenberg
P
P
Jacobs
K
K
Bay
D J
DJ
Barer
E M
EM
Hall
D000720:Ancillary Services, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups / Q000145:classification / Q000191:economics; D004630:Emergencies / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017050:Episode of Care; D006264:Health Benefit Plans, Employee / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017722:Hospital Charges / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D016526:Workload / Q000706:statistics & numerical data