Advance data
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This report presents data on hospice care discharges. Numbers and percents of discharges are shown by selected characteristics of the agencies from which the patients were discharged, by selected patient characteristics, by services provided, by types of personnel that provided the services, and by diagnoses of these discharged patients. ⋯ There were an estimated 328,000 discharges from hospice care from 1,300 hospices and home health agencies in 1993-94. Death was the reason for discharge for 88 percent of the discharges. Fifty-two percent of the discharges were for men, 73 percent were for patients 65 years of age and over, 79 percent were white, 49 percent were married, and 30 percent were widowed. Eighty-three percent of the discharged patients were living in a private or semiprivate residence during their care and 95 percent had a primary caregiver. During the last time service was provided prior to discharge, 67 percent received help from the agency with at least one activity of daily living (ADL), 53 percent with at least one instrumental activity of daily living (IADL), and 30 percent with walking. These discharges had an average of 2.2 diagnoses at admission; 69 percent had a primary diagnosis of a malignant neoplasm; and 8 percent had a primary diagnosis of heart disease.
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This report describes ambulatory care visits to hospital emergency departments in the United States. Statistics are presented on selected patient and visit characteristics. ⋯ During 1995, an estimated 96.5 million visits were made to hospital emergency departments (ED's) in the United States, about 36.9 visits per 100 persons. Persons 75 years and over the highest rate of emergency department visits. There were an estimated 37.2 million injury-related emergency department visits during 1995, or 14.2 visits per 100 persons. There were 225 thousand visits related to injuries caused by firearms, including 144 thousand visits for gunshot wounds. One-fifth of the injury visits were work-related for persons 18-64 years of age. Four-fifths of the ED visits involved medication therapy with pain relief drugs accounting for 30 percent of the medications mentioned. Acute upper respiratory infection was the leading illness-related diagnosis for ED visits.