Contact: CDC
National Center for Health Statistics Office of
Communication (301) 458-4800
E-mail: nchsquery@cdc.gov
Ambulatory Medical
Care Utilization Estimates for 2005.
Advance Data Number 388. 15 pp. (PHS)2007-1250.
The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention today issued a new report, “Ambulatory Medical Care
Utilization Estimates for 2005,” which contains information on patient
visits to emergency departments, outpatient clinics, and physician offices.
Highlights of the report:
There
were over 1.2 billion patient visits to physician offices, hospital
outpatient clinics, and emergency rooms in 2005. Over the past decade,
rates of visits per population increased for all types of health care
settings studied.
In
the
emergency department, the visit rate for patients with no insurance was about
twice that of those with private insurance.
Conversely,
patient
visits to physician offices were higher for individuals with private health
insurance compared with uninsured persons.
Over
29 percent of all ambulatory care visits were for chronic diseases such as
heart disease and diabetes, and one in four were for preventive care,
including check-ups, prenatal care, and post-surgical care.
There
were 2.4 billion medications prescribed or administered at these visits.