Media Advisory

CDC Issues New Patient Visit Report

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention today issued a new report, “Ambulatory Medical Care Utilization Estimates for 2005,” which contains information on patient visits to emergency departments, outpatient centers and hospitals.

Highlights of the report include:

• The emergency department visit rate for patients with no insurance was about twice that of those with private insurance.
• Patient visits to physician offices were higher for individuals with private health insurance compared to uninsured persons.
• More than 29 percent of all ambulatory care visits were for chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, and one in four were for preventive care, including check-ups, prenatal care, and post-surgical care.
• There were 2.4 billion medications prescribed or administered at these visits.

The full report is available at www.cdc.gov/nchs.

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES