Table 1. Patient and Hospital Characteristics for ED Visits Among Medicare Beneficiaries From 2011 to 2016a.
| Characteristic | No. (%) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| All ED visits (N = 9 470 626) | Visits with follow-up in 30 d | ||
| No (n = 2 725 341)b | Yes (n = 6 601 306) | ||
| Patient characteristics | |||
| Age, y | |||
| 65-74 | 4 082 280 (43.1) | 1 205 203 (44.2) | 2 810 364 (42.6) |
| 75-84 | 3 267 146 (34.5) | 850 481 (31.2) | 2 368 856 (35.9) |
| ≥85 | 2 121 200 (22.4) | 669 657 (24.6) | 1 422 086 (21.5) |
| Sex | |||
| Women | 5 776 501 (61.0) | 1 618 158 (59.4) | 4 072 674 (61.7) |
| Men | 3 694 124 (39.0) | 1 107 183 (40.6) | 2 528 631 (38.3) |
| Race/ethnicity | |||
| White | 7 883 933 (83.2) | 2 192 244 (80.4) | 5 572 191 (84.4) |
| Black | 1 059 996 (11.2) | 367 751 (13.5) | 676 618 (10.3) |
| Hispanic | 194 370 (2.1) | 64 955 (2.4) | 126 614 (1.9) |
| Otherc | 282 530 (3.0) | 85 621 (3.1) | 192 281 (2.9) |
| Missing | 49 797 (0.5) | 14 770 (0.5) | 33 602 (0.5) |
| Medicaid eligible | |||
| Yes | 2 119 365 (22.4) | 772 768 (28.4) | 1 317 475 (20.0) |
| No | 7 351 261 (77.6) | 1 952 573 (71.7) | 5 283 831 (80.0) |
| 5 Most frequent principal diagnosis categories | |||
| Other injuries | 1 462 292 (15.5) | 495 991 (18.2) | 946 202 (14.3) |
| Disease of the musculoskeletal system | 999 721 (10.6) | 272 730 (10.0) | 711 465 (10.8) |
| Minor injuries | 731 871 (7.7) | 179 423 (6.6) | 541 529 (8.2) |
| Gastrointestinal system disease | 631 705 (6.7) | 186 194 (6.8) | 436 105 (6.6) |
| Other symptoms | 408 548 (4.3) | 120 783 (4.4) | 282 262 (4.3) |
| Missing | 3992 (0.04) | 719 (0.03) | 1892 (0.03) |
| Hospital characteristics | |||
| Size, No. of beds | |||
| Small, 1-99 | 2 202 319 (23.3) | 786 882 (28.9) | 1 383 127 (21.0) |
| Medium, 100-399 | 5 025 977 (53.1) | 1 344 495 (49.3) | 3 604 495 (54.6) |
| Large, ≥400 | 2 133 234 (22.5) | 560 091 (20.5) | 1 540 156 (23.3) |
| Missing | 109 096 (1.2) | 33 873 (1.2) | 73 528 (1.1) |
| Region | |||
| Northeast | 1 616 295 (17.1) | 432 750 (15.9) | 1 160 225 (17.6) |
| Midwest | 2 142 256 (22.6) | 638 092 (23.4) | 1473061 (22.3) |
| South | 3 869 165 (40.9) | 1 110 967 (40.8) | 2 698 910 (40.9) |
| West | 1 733 814 (18.3) | 509 659 (18.7) | 1 195 582 (18.1) |
| Missing | 109 096 (1.2) | 33 873 (1.2) | 73 528 (1.1) |
| Teaching status | |||
| Major | 931 479 (9.8) | 247 566 (9.1) | 669 319 (10.1) |
| Minor | 2 883 941 (30.5) | 775 429 (28.5) | 2 064 487 (31.3) |
| Nonteaching | 5 546 110 (58.6) | 1668 473 (61.2) | 3 793 972 (57.5) |
| Missing | 109 096 (1.2) | 33 873 (1.2) | 73 528 (1.1) |
| Control type | |||
| For profit | 1 355 092 (14.3) | 380 902 (14.0) | 953 093 (14.4) |
| Nonprofit | 6 692 762 (70.7) | 1 861 508 (68.3) | 4 729 714 (71.7) |
| Government, nonfederal | 1 313 676 (13.9) | 449 058 (16.5) | 844 971 (12.8) |
| Missing | 109 096 (1.2) | 33 873 (1.2) | 73 528 (1.1) |
| Urban or rural | |||
| Rural | 830 580 (8.8) | 356 259 (13.1) | 462 888 (7.0) |
| Urban | 8 530 950(90.1) | 2 335 209 (85.7) | 6 064 890 (91.9) |
| Missing | 109 096 (1.2) | 33 873 (1.2) | 73 528 (1.1) |
| Safety net | |||
| Yes | 1 740 115 (18.4) | 543 145 (19.9) | 1 170 888 (17.7) |
| No | 7 730 511 (81.6) | 2 182 196 (80.1) | 5 430 418 (82.3) |
Abbreviation: ED, emergency department.
a
20% sample of visits among Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years and older who were enrolled in traditional Medicare to the ED at US acute care hospitals in 2011 to 2016.
b
We present unadjusted patient and hospital characteristics among the subset of visits through December 2, 2016, to ensure a full 30 days of follow-up (n = 9 326 647).
c
This group includes individuals who self-reported race/ethnicity as Asian, Hispanic, North American Native, and other.