Emergency Department Visits by Persons Recently Discharged from U.S. Hospitals

Emergency department (ED) visits are frequently used as an outcome of care in the ambulatory setting, but are rarely used as an outcome of prior hospitalization. Instead, inpatient hospital care has commonly used re-admission as an outcome (1,2). Visiting an ED after hospital discharge may indicate poor care or follow-up planning during the inpatient stay. Investigation into the epidemiology of returning to an ED shortly after hospitalization may assist in identifying potential shortcomings of prior inpatient care, as well as evaluating the economic burden that results from these shortcomings.