Higher Rate of ED Visits in Mental Illness Patients Explained

Higher Rate of ED Visits in Mental Illness Patients Explained

Posted on October 22, 2018

Discusses new research results that show individuals with mental health diagnoses make 25 percent more visits to the emergency department (ED) than those without mental illness; increases in frequency correspond to illness severity. Investigators analyzed data on more than 3.5 million individuals. They found that patients with mental illnesses visited the ED more frequently and that the increase correlated with illness severity, prior patient visit patterns, previous hospitalization, and high rates of lagged ED visits.