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4. EmergencyRoomandHospital Inpatient
Discharges amongAgingArizonans
4.1 Introduction
Hospital DischargeData (HDD) provides a useful source of information on a population?s
utilization of hospital emergency room (ER) and inpatient healthcare services. Among the uses
ofHDDdata are the surveillance of injury and chronic disease, allowing for informed planning
of public health policy and legislation.WhileHDDdata does not include other information on
healthcare utilization such as data from primary care physicians or urgent care clinics, HDDdoes
provide a snapshot ofArizona?s usage of emergencyhealth services aswell as treatment for
more complicated and severe health problems occurring in an inpatient setting. These healthcare
settings are especially important toArizona?s agingpopulation as the impact of accidents,
infectious diseases, and chronic diseases can become bothmore common and severewith age.
4.2Methodology
TheArizonaDepartment ofHealthServices (ADHS) collects hospital discharge records for
inpatient andER department visits from all Arizona licensed hospitals. This collection is
required byArizonaRevisedStatute (A.R.S.) ? 36-125-05, andArizonaAdministrativeCode
Title 9, Chapter 11, Articles 4 and 5. The records are collected twice each year based on patient
discharge date, January1 through June 30 discharges comprising the first data reporting and July
1 throughDecember 31 comprising the second. Approximately3million discharge records are
collected annually. Accuracy and completeness in reporting are required and enforced. All
Arizona licensed hospitals (i.e. regulated by theArizonaDepartment ofHealthServices) are
required to report. Therefore, hospitals such asVeteran?sAdministration, Department of
Defense, and those located on tribal land are not included in the reporting.
This report examines 2012HDDdata forArizona residents age 65 and older. Adischarge occurs
when a person admitted to a hospital ER or for inpatient care leaves that hospital. Aperson
admittedmore than once in a given calendar yearwill be countedmultiple times,meaning the
numbers in this report are for discharges, not persons. Discharge rateswere calculated as the
number of discharges for a given event divided byArizona?s populationwithin that age group.
All rates represent the number of discharges per 10,000 residents and the age group. The
population denominators used to calculate rates can be found at theADHSHealthStatus and
Vital Statisticswebsite (
).
Demographic characteristics including gender, race/ethnicity,marital status, and source of
payment were summarized for all ER and inpatient discharges occurring amongArizona
residents age 65 and older in 2012. The first-listed diagnosis reported for a dischargewas
categorized and reported by common condition,meaning that less-common disordersmaynot
have been summarized in this report. Counts are reported for all Arizona residents age 65 and
older aswell as by three age groups: 65 ? 74 years, 75 ? 84 years, and 85 years and older.
