[Visits to emergency rooms and hospital ownership categories]

Trends in emergency room (ER) visits in Israeli general hospitals were analyzed and differences were found according to category of hospital ownership, Data for 1986-90 were gathered from 23 hospitals which included 90% of the country's acute care beds. An upward trend in ER visits in the 1970's and early 1980's ended in 1987. Despite a 7% increase in population during 1987-90, total ER visits decreased by 4%. In Jerusalem's public hospitals ER visits decreased by 13%, in government and government-municipal hospitals by 7%, while in Kupat Holim Clalit hospitals there was a 2% increase. The proportion of ER visits resulting in hospital admissions also varied by hospital ownership and also among individual hospitals within any given ownership category. Factors which might influence ER visits include size and composition of populations, development of alternative sources of care in the communities, price of services, changes in hospital admission policies, nature of the competition between hospitals, supply of physicians, and the use of ER's for primary care.