ABSTRACT
Though Americans make 1.8 million asthma-related outpatient visits to the emergency department (ED) annually, little is known about the episodic charges for asthma care in the ED. We therefore sought to assess the bills patients could face for acute asthma incidents by examining hospital charges for asthma-related outpatient ED visits. We performed a nationwide, cross-sectional study of 2.9 million weighted asthma-related outpatient ED visits from 2006-2008 using data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. We found that the average charge for an outpatient ED visit was $1,502 (95% CI $1,493-$1,511). The charges did not vary significantly by insurance group but did increase significantly with age. Our results indicate that the financial burden of ED care for asthma may take a severe toll on low-income populations who have limited ability to pay, especially patients who must pay undiscounted charges, including the uninsured and those on high-deductible health plans.
Subject(s)
Asthma/epidemiology , Emergency Service, Hospital/economics , Hospital Charges/statistics & numerical data , Insurance, Health/statistics & numerical data , Medically Uninsured/statistics & numerical data , Adolescent , Adult , Age Factors , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Child , Child, Preschool , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Health Care Surveys , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Middle Aged , United States/epidemiology , Young AdultSubject(s)
Emergency Service, Hospital/statistics & numerical data , Insurance Coverage/trends , Medicaid/statistics & numerical data , Medically Uninsured , Adult , California , Female , Health Care Reform , Humans , Insurance Coverage/statistics & numerical data , Male , Middle Aged , Patient Discharge/statistics & numerical data , Retrospective Studies , United States , Young AdultABSTRACT
Clinics funded by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Department of Defense's Military Health System (MHS), and Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) all play a role in serving the military, veterans, and their families. Publicly available location data on federal health care clinics was merged, analyzed, and geographically overlaid using GIS. Results showed that 20% of U.S. counties contain both HRSA and VA sites, and 5% contain HRSA and MHS facilities. Additionally, 80% of VA and 76% of MHS clinics are within 10 miles of a HRSA clinic. Specific clinic types of interest also overlay; for instance, 90% of HRSA homeless clinics are in the same county as a VA facility. This demonstrated geographic proximity of health care sites may indicate prime opportunities for collaboration between HRSA, VA, and MHS systems to improve quality of care for the military, veterans, and their families.
