Question

you went to a nearly hospital

Answer 1

In 2003, over 16 million patients entered the hospital through the emergency department—roughly 44 percent of all hospital stays or 55 percent of hospital stays excluding pregnancy and childbirth. Policymakers and health care professionals are concerned about potential overuse and inappropriate use of emergency rooms (EDs). There is also concern that emergency departments care for patients with chronic conditions who may not be receiving adequate outpatient follow-up to control their conditions.

This Statistical Brief presents data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) on the most common reasons in 2003 for all hospitalizations that began in the ED.

Findings
Highlights
Circulatory disorders (diseases of the heart and blood vessels) were the most frequent reason for admission to the hospital through the ED, accounting for 26.3 percent of all such admissions; injuries accounted for 11.4 percent.
The top 20 specific conditions accounted for more than half of all hospital admissions through the ED, with pneumonia as the single most common specific condition at nearly one million (5.7 percent) of all such admissions.
Complications of procedures, devices, implants, and grafts ranked as the ninth most common reason for admission through the ED and included postoperative infections, malfunction of orthopedic devices, and infection of arteriovenous fistulas used for dialysis.
The top 20 specific conditions admitted through the ED included several chronic conditions: chronic obstructive lung disease, asthma, diabetes, and mood disorders. Also included were fluid and electrolyte disorders; urinary, skin, and blood infections; gall bladder disease, gastrointestinal bleeding, and appendicitis; and hip fracture.
While up to 82 percent of the most frequent acute conditions were admitted through the ED, a large percentage of chronic conditions were also admitted through the ED; for example, 72 percent of cases with congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive lung disease, and asthma were such admissions.
Major reasons for admission to the hospital through the ED
Figure 1 shows the reasons for admission to the hospital through the emergency department, organized by body system, excluding pregnancy and childbirth. Circulatory disorders were the most frequent reason for admission to the hospital through the ED, accounting for 26.3 percent of all admissions through the ED. Respiratory and digestive disorders were the next most common category of conditions, respectively comprising 15.1 percent and 14.1 percent of all admissions through the ED. Injuries constituted 11.4 percent of all hospital admissions through the ED. Three other body systems each accounted for 5–6 percent of all admissions through the ED: mental health and substance abuse disorders (MHSA), endocrine disorders, and genitourinary disorders.

Figure 1. Reasons for hospitalizations admitted through the emergency department, 2003.
Figure 1
Reasons for hospitalizations admitted through the emergency department, 2003. Note: All other conditions include nervous system disorders, infections, neoplasms, musculoskeletal disorders, skin disorders, and blood disorders. Admissions for pregnancy, (more...)

Most frequent specific conditions
Table 1 contains the top 20 specific conditions admitted to the hospital through the ED. These 20 conditions accounted for over half of all admissions through the ED. Pneumonia was the single most common condition admitted to the hospital through the emergency department, with nearly one million hospital admissions or 5.7 percent of all admissions through the ED. This was followed by four conditions related to the heart—congestive heart failure, chest pain, hardening of the arteries, and heart attack—together accounting for over 15 percent of all admissions through the ED.