According
to the National Hospital
Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS), an emergency
department
is a hospital
facility for the provision of unscheduled outpatient services to
patients whose conditions require immediate care and is staffed 24 hours
a day. Off-site emergency departments open less than 24 hours are included
if staffed by the hospital’s emergency department.
Emergency
department visit
Starting with the 1997 National Health Interview Survey,
respondents to the sample adult and sample child
questionnaires are asked about the number of visits to hospital emergency
rooms during the past 12 months. In the National
Hospital Ambulatory
Medical Care Survey
an emergency department visit is a direct personal exchange
between a patient and a physician or other health care providers
working under the physician’s supervision, for the purpose of
seeking care and receiving personal health services.