Author Interviews, Cost of Health Care, Emergency Care, JAMA, Kidney Disease / 22.08.2016
Dialysis Patients Use Emergency Rooms At Six Times Rate of General Population
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Rachel Patzer, PhD, MPH
Director of Health Services Research,
Emory Transplant Center
Assistant Professor
Emory University School of Medicine
Department of Surgery
Division of Transplantation
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Patients with End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) make up less than 1% of all Medicare patients, but account for more than 7% of all Medicare expenses. Patients with ESRD have the highest risk of hospitalization of any patient with a chronic disease, and while hospital admissions have decreased over the last several years, emergency department utilization for this patient population has increased by 3% in the last 3 years. The purpose of the study we conducted was to describe the clinical and demographic characteristics associated with emergency department utilization.
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