Annals of emergency medicine
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With implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, 30 million individuals are predicted to gain access to health insurance. The experience in Massachusetts, which implemented a similar reform beginning in 2006, should provide important lessons about the effect of health care reform on emergency department (ED) utilization. Our objective is to understand the extent to which Massachusetts health care reform was associated with changes in ED utilization. ⋯ The implementation of health care reform in Massachusetts was associated with a small but consistent increase in the use of the ED across the state. Whether this was due to the elimination of financial barriers to seeking care in the ED, a persistent shortage in access to primary care for those with insurance, or some other cause is not entirely clear and will need to be addressed in future research.
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We aimed to determine the association between scalp hematoma characteristics and traumatic brain injuries in young children with blunt head trauma who have no other symptoms or signs suggestive of traumatic brain injuries (defined as "isolated scalp hematomas"). ⋯ In patients younger than 24 months with isolated scalp hematomas, a minority received CTs. Despite the occasional presence of traumatic brain injuries on CT, the prevalence of clinically important traumatic brain injuries was very low, with no patient requiring neurosurgery. Clinicians should use patient age, scalp hematoma location and size, and injury mechanism to help determine which otherwise asymptomatic children should undergo neuroimaging after minor head trauma.