The use of a county hospital emergency room by diabetic patients.

The use of a county hospital emergency room (ER) by diabetic patients was investigated by comparing ER visits for diabetes to a sample to total ER visits over a period of 1 yr. The major problems of ER use by diabetic patients were an excessive number of visits for diabetes complications, a high rate of hospital admissions from the ER, and the high cost of ER use. Approximately 20% of visits for diabetic patients were attributed to preventable complications of diabetes. The rate of hospital admissions from the ER was over four times greater for the diabetic patients than for the random sample. The median cost of an ER visit was nearly three times higher for diabetic patients than for the random sample. These problems may be best resolved through improved access to primary care and educational services that can assist the person with diabetes in self-management and prevention of the acute complications of the disease.