title: New research highlights misconceptions about frequent ED users, utilization patterns.
abstract: Several new studies presented at ACEP's scientific meeting in October poke holes in the conventional wisdom that frequent ED users are abusing the ED for routine health care needs. Instead, investigators say patients typically have urgent or emergent concerns, regardless of their insurance status. Experts suggest that rather than trying to keep patients out of the ED, cost-control efforts should focus on establishing better referral systems of care. The studies suggest that frequent users actually represent a small percentage of ED patients, ranging from 2.1% in one study to 20% on the high end in another. For frequent ED users, the distribution by payer type tends to reflect the community. Similarly, the most common diagnoses for frequent users are similar to that of occasional users. According to one study, while Medicaid patients use the ED roughly twice as often as patients with private insurance, the triage decisions for these patients show that they have urgent or emergent concerns.
mesh_terms: D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006300:Health Services Misuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D014218:Triage; D014481:United States