Mental health and substance abuse very frequent in ER
According to a new government statistics, in 2007, 12 million (12.5%) of the 95 million visits to emergency rooms made by adults had to do with mental disorders and substance abuse problems.
Of these visits, about two thirds involved patients with a mental disorder, one quarter was for patients with a substance abuse problem and the rest involved patients dealing with both a mental disorder and substance abuse.
* 41 percent of these patients were hospitalized for their condition.
* 43 percent of the visits involved depression and other mood disorders, while 26 percent were for anxiety disorders and 23 percent involved alcohol-related problems.
* Hospitals billed Medicare for 30 percent of these visits and private insurance for 26 percent; 21 percent were uninsured; and 20 percent were Medicaid patients.