ED physicians’ admission decisions vary widely: 3 study findings

Becker's Healthcare December 23, 2024
Erica Carbajal

Emergency department physicians vary widely in their decisions about whether to admit a patient, and individuals hospitalized by physicians with higher readmission rates are more likely to be discharged within 24 hours, according to a new study led by researchers at Los Angeles-based UCLA Health.

While previous research highlighted differences in emergency department physicians’ likelihood of admitting patients, this study is among the first to link those variations to patient outcomes.

The study analyzed EHRs from U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs patients between 2011 and 2019. Researchers reviewed data from 2,100 physicians at 105 EDs, covering over 2.1 million visits for conditions such as chest pain, shortness of breath and abdominal pain.

Three key findings:

• About 41%...

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