In 2009, there were an estimated 128 million ED visits, of which 1.8 million resulted in a transfer to another acute-care hospital.
Significant characteristics of the ED encounters that resulted in a transfer, according to the brief, were:
• More than 5 percent of those transferred were over the age of 65 years.
• 2.5 percent of those transferred were covered by Medicare, and 1.5 percent were covered by private insurance.
• 1.2 percent of those transferred lived in the suburbs.
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