A new study, published online on June 19, in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, a peer-reviewed scientific journal produced for the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), entitled “National Tends in Emergency Department Occupancy, 2001-2008: Impact of Inpatient Admissions Versus Emergency Department Practice Intensity,” details that, “Visits to emergence departments increased 60 percent faster than population growth over an 8-year period, and occupancy – or crowding -  grew even more rapidly, due to diagnostic tests and treatment intensity.”

In the study, “Researchers analyzed patient data for emergency department visits from 2001 through 2008. ER visits increased by 1.9 percent per year. Mean occupancy – or crowding – grew by 3.1 percent per year. Visits during traditional office hours increased significantly more than visits after hours. Visits for Medicare patients and adult ages 45 to 64 grew faster than any other group.”

The study’s lead author Stephen Pitts, MD, MPH, of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, said, “A rapidly rising tide of older, sicker patients combined with an increasingly interventionist practice style is putting enormous pressure on a shrinking supply of emergency departments. This has ominous implications for patient safety and access to emergency care in the U.S.”

Co-author Jesse M. Pines, MD, MPH, of the Departments of Emergency Medicine and Health Policy at George Washington University in Washington, DC, said, “Lengthy work-ups in the emergency department are not always a bad thing if they prevent a costly hospitalization. The problem is that more and more demands are being placed on emergency departments and the mood in the health policy community is to shrink emergency departments, not grow them. While everyone would agree that preventing emergencies is ideal, policies designed to pinch off an already overwhelmed emergency health care system are not.”