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Written by Richard Scott
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Wednesday, 01 September 2010 19:48 |
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The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality released a report on emergency department utilization and found that, in 2007, 12.5 percent of ED admissions were caused by or related to behavioral health issues or substance abuse. Of the expenditures related to these visits, 30 percent were billed to Medicare and nearly 20 percent were billed to Medicaid. According to the report, which was released in July, behavioral health-related ED visits were two and a half times more likely to result in a hospital admission than other causes. A total of 41 percent of all behavioral health-related ED visits resulted in a hospital admission.
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