AHRQ: Too Many Patients with Chronic Illness Enter ER

ROCKVILLE, Md.–A large portion of emergency room admissions
include patients with chronic conditions that should have been
managed outside of the hospital, according to a new statistical
brief from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

According to the report, 72 percent of hospital admission cases
with congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive lung disease and
asthma were admitted through the ER. AHRQ said these were “chronic
conditions that should be controlled on an outpatient basis with
good primary care.”

The report said “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.”

In 2003, more than 16 million patients entered the hospital
through ERs, about 55 percent of hospital stays excluding pregnancy
and childbirth. The average hospital stay for a patient admitted
through the ER cost $7,400, according to the AHRQ, with Medicare
and Medicaid covering 66 percent of all admissions.

Circulatory disorders were the most frequent reason for
admission to the hospital through emergency rooms, accounting for
26.3 percent of ER admissions. Respiratory and digestive disorders
were the next most common at 15.1 and 14.1 percent, and injuries
made up 11.4 percent of admissions through the ER.

The report was issued as health care professionals voice concern
about the overuse and inappropriate use of emergency rooms. Home
care advocates have recently predicted that emergency room visits
by home-based oxygen patients will increase because of a provision
in the Deficit Reduction Act that caps oxygen rental at 36 months
and transfers equipment ownership to the beneficiary (see HomeCare
Monday, Feb. 27).

To view the AHRQ report, click
here.

The American Association for Homecare is urging providers to take
advantage of the House and Senate’s two-week recess today through
April 21 to educate their members of Congress about the value and
benefits of home care–and to oppose a provision in the Bush
administration’s 2007 budget proposal that would transfer ownership
of oxygen equipment to beneficiaries after 13 months. To find your
member of Congress, click here.