Patients in the United States made an
estimated 1.1 billion visits to physician offices and hospital outpatient
and emergency departments in 2006, an annual rate of nearly 4 visits per
person annually, according to new health care statistics (NHSR
#8) released today by CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics
(NCHS).
Ambulatory Medical Care
Utilization Estimates for 2006.
NHSR Number 8. 32 pp.
![Click to open PDF file 617 KB](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090109204030im_/http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/images/pdf.jpg)
The data come from various
components of the CDC/NCHS National Health Care Survey and are featured in a
series of new National Health Statistics Reports (NHSR). Some of the
findings on ambulatory medical care in the U.S. include the following:
The
number of medical visits to physician offices and hospital outpatient and
emergency departments increased by 26 percent from 1996 to 2006, faster than
the growth of the U.S. population, which rose by 11 percent. The rise in
visits can be linked to both the aging of the population, as older persons
have higher visit rates than younger persons in general, and an increase in
utilization by older persons (NHSR
#8).
In
2006, 7 in 10 medical visits to these three settings had at least one
medication provided, prescribed, or continued, for a total of 2.6 billion
drugs overall. Analgesics were the most common therapeutic category,
accounting for 13.6 percent of all drugs prescribed, and were most often
utilized at primary care and emergency department visits (NHSR
#8).
Over
one-third of medical visits for African-American patients were to hospital
emergency and outpatient departments as opposed to physician offices -- 37.7
percent compared with 17.2 percent for white patients (NHSR
#8).
Hispanic
or Latino persons had a rate of preventive care services at hospital
outpatient departments that were twice the rate for non-Hispanic persons
(11.9 compared with 5.8 visits per 100 persons) (NHSR
#4).
The
emergency department served as the route of admission to hospital inpatient
services for one-half of nonobstetric hospital patients in 2006, a marked
increase from 36 percent in 1996 (NHSR
#7).
Patients
enrolled in Medicaid use the emergency department more frequently than
patients with private insurance -– 82 per 100 persons for Medicaid compared
with 21 per
100 for private insurance (NHSR #7).
Most
emergency department visits occurred after business hours (defined as 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m. on weekdays), when 63 percent of adults and 73 percent of children
younger than age 15 arrived (NHSR
#7).
On
average, the number of patient arrivals at the emergency department leveled
off at 10 a.m., but occupancy in the emergency department did not peak until
7 p.m., as new visits and admitted patients waiting for a hospital bed
accumulate (NHSR #7).
One-half
of physician office visits were made by patients with one or more chronic
conditions. Hypertension was the most frequent condition, followed by
arthritis, high cholesterol, diabetes, and depression. Since 1996, visits by
adults with diabetes, hypertension, and depression have all significantly
increased (NHSR #3).
Between
1996 and 2006, the percentage of visits to hospital outpatient departments
made by adults 18 years and over with chronic diabetes increased by 43%, and
visits with chronic hypertension increased by 51% (NHSR
#4).
One of the new reports focuses
on hospitalization rates and inpatient characteristics and includes the
following findings:
Over
the past 36 years, the percentage of hospital inpatients who were 65 years of
age and over grew from 20 percent in 1970 to 38 percent in 2006. Over the
same time period, the percentage of inpatients who were 75 years of age and
over grew from 9 percent to over 24 percent (NHSR
#5).
The
rate of knee replacement for those aged 65 years and over increased 46
percent between 2000-2006 whereas the rate doubled among those aged 45-64
years during the same time period (NHSR
#5).
The
rate of coronary atherosclerosis more than doubled during the 1990s, but
since 2002 declined for all age groups, particularly for those aged 65 years and
over (NHSR #5).
Ambulatory Medical Care
Utilization Estimates for 2006.
NHSR Number 8. 32 pp.
![Click to open PDF file 617 KB](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090109204030im_/http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/images/pdf.jpg)
National Hospital
Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2006 Emergency Department Summary.
NHSR Number 7. 39 pp.
![Click to open PDF file 697 KB](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090109204030im_/http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/images/pdf.jpg)
2006 National Hospital
Discharge Survey.
NHSR Number 5. 20 pp.
![Click to open PDF file 770 KB](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090109204030im_/http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/images/pdf.jpg)
National Hospital
Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2006 Outpatient Department Summary.
NHSR Number 4. 32 pp.
![Click to open PDF file 617 KB](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090109204030im_/http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/images/pdf.jpg)
National Ambulatory Medical
Care Survey: 2006 Summary.
NHSR Number 3. 40 pp.
![Click to open PDF file 617 KB](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090109204030im_/http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/images/pdf.jpg)