Data analyzed by

State Health Compare

Percent who visited an emergency department in the past year

Measure Overview

Emergency department (ED) visits are costly and, in many cases, preventable when the patient’s health condition could have been treated in a non-emergency setting or avoided altogether if the patient had received adequate preventive care prior to the ED visit. Preventable ED visits may indicate poor access to regular preventive care, limited understanding about the health care system, lack of health insurance, or inadequate care management. By monitoring trends in ED visits across different regions and populations, policymakers and public health practitioners can compare rates of ED utilization and investigate the underlying reasons for higher rates among certain groups.

State Health Compare provides state-level estimates of individuals who had any visit to the emergency department during the past twelve months. This measure is based on SHADAC’s analysis of data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS).

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