Table 13_2_2-1

2010 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports

The National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR) is a comprehensive national overview of quality of health care in the United States. It is organized around four dimensions of quality of care: effectiveness, patient safety, timeliness, and patient centeredness.

Table 13_2_2.1
Emergency department visits where patients left without being seen,^a United States, 2007-2008
		2007-2008
Population group		Sample size	Number of visits (in thousands)	Percent	SE
Total		69,624	240,563	2.7	0.2
Age	0-17	15,367	54,772	2.7	0.2
	18-44	28,877	98,169	3.4	0.2
	45-64	15,023	50,827	2.6	0.2
	65 and over	10,357	36,796	0.7	0.1
Race^b	White only	48,830	174,576	2.3	0.2
	Black only	17,066	56,855	3.9	0.3
	Asian only	2,030	DSU	1.8	0.5
	NHOPI	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU
	AI/AN	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU
	Multiple races	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU
Gender	Male	32,267	110,374	2.7	0.2
Gender	Female	37,357	130,190	2.6	0.2
Payment source,^c under age 65	Private	23,383	84,078	1.9	0.1
	Public	19,518	60,183	2.9	0.2
	Uninsured	10,356	36,590	4.6	0.4
Payment source,^c over age 65	Medicare and private	4,589	16,402	0.6	0.1
	Medicare and Medicaid	DSU	DSU	DSU	DSU
	Medicare only	3,922	14,142	0.6	0.1
Location of hospital	Metropolitan	60,685	201,809	2.9	0.2
Location of hospital	Nonmetropolitan	8,939	38,755	1.3	0.2

^a Population used for rate calculation is U.S. Census Bureau estimated civilian noninstitutional population on July 1, 2007, and July 1, 2008.

^b Race data were missing for 15.5% of total visits. Missing race data were imputed. Standard errors for estimates by race were inflated as described in "2007 NAMCS Microdata File Documentation," ftp://ftp.cdc.gov/pub/Health_Statistics/NCHS/Dataset_Documentation/NAMCS/doc07.pdf.

^c Payment source classified by all expected payment sources. Public insurance includes Medicare, Medicaid, and State Children's Health Insurance program. No insurance is defined as having only "self-pay" or "no charge/charity" as payment sources.

DSU - Data do not meet the criteria for statistical reliability, data quality, or confidentiality.

Key: AI/AN: American Indian or Alaska Native; NHOPI: Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; SE: standard error.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.

Current as of February 2011

Internet Citation: Table 13_2_2-1: 2010 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. February 2011. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/findings/nhqrdr/nhqrdr10/13_timeliness/T13_2_2-1.html