CDC: Number of ED Visits Reached Record High in 2009

On Tuesday, CDC released estimates showing that emergency department visits in 2009 increased by 10% to a record high 136 million, up from 123.8 million visits in 2008. The increase is the largest since the government started tracking the figures in the early 1990s. Physicians attribute the uptick in ED visits to an increase in demand and improvements that allow EDs to treat patients faster. Jay Kaplan, an emergency physician at Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae, said the increase also could be a sign of difficult economic conditions because patients who lose health insurance coverage seek care at EDs.

• "Visits to Emergency Rooms Rise as Insurance Lost" (Colliver, San Francisco Chronicle, 10/17).
• "Emergency Room Use Reaches a Record High" (Robeznieks, Modern Healthcare, 10/18).