1. Private insurance was listed as an expected source of payment for 39.9 percent of HOPD visits. Medicaid or SCHIP was listed as an expected source of payment for 33.2 percent of HOPD visits, and Medicare was listed as an expected source of payment for 17.6 percent of HOPD visits.
2. Patients saw a physician at 74.4 percent of visits. They saw a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse at 47.4 percent of visits. Patients were attended by a mental health provider at 3.6 percent of visits. No physician was seen at 22.7 million HOPD visits.
3. Patients were attended by a nonphysician clinician (physician assistant or nurse practitioner/ midwife) at 17.5 percent of visits (data not shown). Since 1997, the percentage of visits attended solely by a physician has not changed, but the percentage of visits attended solely by a nonphysician clinician increased by 145 percent, from 5.6 percent to 13.7 percent in 2007.
4. Established patients (those with previous visits to the HOPD clinic) made 82.9 percent of HOPD visits. Only 43.1 percent of visits by these patients were to their PCPs. New patients accounted for 17.1 percent of visits to HOPD clinics
5. General medicine clinics, including internal medicine, family practice and primary care clinics, represented 54.7 percent of all HOPD visits.
6. About 69.1 percent of HOPD visits were made to voluntary nonprofit hospitals, while 28.4 percent of visits occurred in nonfederal government (i.e., state, county, or city) hospitals. About 48.4 percent of HOPD visits occurred in teaching hospitals.
7. From the patient’s perspective, the most frequently mentioned principal reason for the visit was to monitor the progress of ongoing treatment or followup not otherwise specified (7.0 percent), followed by general medical examination (5.9 percent). The most frequently mentioned reasons related to a symptomatic problem were cough (2.2 percent) or throat symptoms (1.8 percent). Diabetes mellitus (1.7 percent) and hypertension (1.1 percent) were the most frequent reasons related to a specific disease.
8. The six most frequently recorded diagnoses were essential hypertension (3.8 percent); routine infant or child health check (3.7 percent); diabetes mellitus (3.4 percent); malignant neoplasms (3.1 percent); normal pregnancy (2.9 percent); and acute upper respiratory infection, excluding pharyngitis (2.7 percent).
9. Diagnostic or screening services were ordered or provided by hospital staff during 89.1 percent of HOPD visits in 2007. Weight (68.8 percent) and blood pressure (64.8 percent) were the most frequent vital signs recorded. Complete blood count (CBC) (13.2 percent), lipids or cholesterol (7.0 percent) and glucose (6.1 percent) were the most frequently ordered blood tests. Urinalysis was ordered or provided at 9.2 percent of visits and imaging at 18.2 percent of visits.
10. Health education was documented at 44.1 percent of HOPD visits during 2007. Counseling or education related to diet or nutrition (13.5 percent) and exercise (7.9 percent) was documented most frequently.
Source: CDC.
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