Weekend emergency department visits in Nebraska: higher utilization, lower acuity.
BACKGROUND
We know very little about differences in Emergency Department (ED) utilization and acuity on weekends compared with weekdays. Understanding such differences may help elucidate the role of the ED in the health care delivery system.


OBJECTIVE
To compare patterns of ED use on weekends with weekdays and analyze the differences between these two groups.


METHODS
The Health Care Utilization Project (HCUP) is a national state-by-state billing database from acute-care, non-federal hospitals. Data from Nebraska in 2004 was used to compare ED-only patient visits (patients discharged home or transferred to another health care facility) and ED-admitted visits (patients admitted to the same hospital after an ED visit) for weekend vs. weekday frequency, billed charges, sex, age, and primary payer.


RESULTS
Of all non-admitted patients who visited the ED, 34.5% came in on weekends. This yielded ED utilization rates of 25 visits/1,000 people on weekdays and 33 visits/1,000 people on weekends, an increase of 32% on weekends. Weekend-only ED patients of all ages and payer categories were charged lower hospital facility fees than weekday-only ED patients; USD 777 vs. USD 921, respectively (p < 0.001). Weekend ED patients were less likely to be admitted and less likely to die while in the ED (2 deaths/1000 ED visits for weekend-only patients vs. 3 deaths/1000 ED visits for weekday-only [p < 0.001]).


CONCLUSIONS
In Nebraska, EDs care for a greater number of low-acuity patients on weekends than on weekdays. This highlights the important role EDs play within the ambulatory care delivery system.
Schoenfeld
Elizabeth M
EM
Department of Emergency Medicine, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20037, USA.
McKay
Mary Pat
MP
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009329:Nebraska / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult