Demographic Analysis of Emergency Room Utilization in the Western Pennsylvania Service Area

• Activity Number: 400
• Type: Contributed
• Date/Time: Thursday, August 15, 2002 : 10:30 AM to 12:20 PM
• Sponsor: General Methodology
• Author(s): Andrea McAllister*+ and John Newell
• Affiliation(s): Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield and Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield
• Keywords: demographic ; data mining ; census ; decision tree

Abstract

This study was developed to examine demographic patterns of emergency room (ER) utilization, at an acute care facility, due to the increased frequency of emergency room usage and the accompanying increase in costs. Eleven-point-five percent of Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield's members aged 18 to 64 and living in the western Pennsylvania service visited the ER during 1998. Internal (utilization) and external (1990 U.S. Census) data were chosen as potential predictors of increased ER use in 3,776 U.S. Census block groups. Variable selection and stepwise multiple linear regression were applied to this data. Our results indicate that if a member lives in a block group containing members with a higher than average risk of elevated healthcare costs and percentage of single parent households, they are more likely to have a higher than average number of visits to the ER. Similarly, if a member lives in a block group containing members with a higher than average percentage of moderately cost housing and middle income families and number of years of education for the adults in the household, they are more likely to have a lower than average number of visits to the ER.