| August 25th, 2008 Emergency Department Care in California-Who Uses It and Why has been published by the Public Policy Institute of California. This publication by the Public Policy Institute of California looks at trends in emergency department usage throughout the state and implications for public safety and policy. The report analyzed trends by geography ( California regions including Los Angeles County); race/ethnicity; health insurance status (uninsured, private coverage, Medi-Cal); rates of visits (and overcrowding); types and severity of patient visits (injury, psychiatric, chest pains), physicians per population and more. General policy recommendations and conclusions on increasing access, reducing overcrowding are also given. Selected Findings: - Since 2003, Los Angeles County has lost 10 emergency departments (pg. 4).
- Among California emergency departments that report the highest rates of patients leaving without seeing a physician, 39% were in Los Angeles County (pg. 17).
- Los Angeles County has a higher uninsured rate (16.5%) than the state of California as a whole (13.5%) (pg. 16).
- Los Angeles County Medi-Cal beneficiaries visit emergency rooms at a rate of 26 per 100 (pg. 16).
- Hispanic foreign-born residents in California are less likely to visit an emergency department than Hispanic native-born residents, African-Americans, White foreign-born residents or White native-born residents (pg. 18).
- California Medi-Cal recipients are more likely to use emergency departments than the uninsured and are almost twice as likely to use emergency departments as those who have health insurance (pg. 17).
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