From Texas A&M Today:
Freestanding emergency departments (EDs) — either satellite branches of hospitals or independently operated facilities — have popped up across the country. Texas has the most, with 338 freestanding EDs as of May 2023, and these facilities handle nearly one quarter of all emergency department visits in the state.
Now, a new study from the Texas A&M University School of Public Health is the first to compare the characteristics of visits to freestanding EDs with visits to traditional hospital-based emergency departments. The study, published in Health Services Research, was conducted by Daniel Marthey, Benjamin Ukert and a student from the Texas A&M School of Medicine.
“Freestanding health care facilities were intended to provide more cost-effective and convenient alternatives to hospital EDs, but this has not turned out to be the case, according to the existing research,” Marthey said. “The costs are about the same, as is the volume at hospital EDs.”
“In short, we found that nearly 24 percent of all ED visits occurred at satellite and independent freestanding EDs,” Ukert said. “These patients were younger, healthier and less likely to be identified as non-Hispanic Black or Hispanic. They also were more likely to have private insurance and their visits were more likely to be due to issues that could have been managed in a primary care setting.”
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