ER Visit Volume Increased 7% Between 2013 & 2014

Emergency department visit volume increased by about 7.7% between 2013 and 2014, from 130.4 million visits in 2013 to 141.4 million visits in 2014. The top reasons for emergency visits included chest pain, stomach pain, shortness of breath, injury, and pain. Chronic disease was a factor in many emergency visits, and about 8% of visits in 2014 were for depression. Only 4.3% (about 6 million) of the 141.4 million emergency department visits during 2014 were for non-emergency symptoms.

These findings were presented in "National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2014 Emergency Department Summary Tables . . .