Background: Little is known about regional differences regarding the utilization and costs of emergency medical services (EMS) in Germany. Evidence on characteristics of repeated use of EMS is also scarce.
Objectives: To compare German federal states regarding the utilization and costs of EMS and to analyze characteristics of repeated EMS use.
Materials And Methods: We used BARMER health insurance data on more than 1.4 million German EMS cases in 2022. We estimated EMS use rates (per 1000 inhabitants) and median reimbursements and costs by EMS type (ground transport with/without emergency physician (EP); helicopter emergency medical services), hospitalization status, and federal state. We applied Poisson regression to estimate incidence rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI), capturing relationships between repeated use of EMS and individual characteristics, including care degree and income level.
Results: Ground transport EMS use rates varied between federal states by more than 2.6-fold without EP (Bavaria: 84.6; Berlin: 223.2) and 2.1-fold with EP (Bremen: 19.1; Saxony: 41.3). Median reimbursement of ground transport with EP was 132% higher in Schleswig-Holstein (€ 1530) compared with Berlin (€ 660). Approximately one-third of all persons used EMS more than once and accounted for two-thirds of all EMS cases. Repeated EMS use was strongly related to care degree (IRR of care degree 5: 3084; 95% CI 3.012-3.158) and low income (IRR: 1.174; 95% CI 1.161-1.189).
Conclusions: The substantial regional heterogeneity in terms of utilization and costs of EMS calls for a nationwide, consistent regulation of EMS in Germany. Additionally, (outpatient) primary nursing care of persons with severe health impairments and health literacy should be strengthened.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00063-024-01189-x | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
1-year data on patient-reported outcome is enough after surgery for degenerative cervical myelopathy: a cohort study from the Swedish Spine register.
Acta Orthop
January 2025
Department of Orthopaedics and Hand Surgery, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala; Department of Surgical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Background And Purpose: Degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) is the most common cause of spinal cord dysfunction in adults. Repeated follow-ups after surgery are resource consuming. The aim was to examine whether patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) change after the first year.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNutritional risk screening by the emergency medical services: Agreement with in-hospital assessment.
Int Emerg Nurs
December 2024
Department of Emergency Medicine and Services, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
Introduction: Early recognition of nutritional risk is important to prevent the adverse consequences of malnutrition. However, nutritional risk screening is often disregarded in hospitals.
Purpose: To evaluate the agreement of nutritional risk screening results between screening performed by emergency medical services (EMS) and at the hospital ward.
ELECTROMAGNETIC STIMULATION REGULATES BLOOD CORTICOSTERONE LEVELS IN IMMOBILIZED RATS: GENDER DIFFERENCES.
Georgian Med News
September 2024
3Tbilisi State University, Georgia.
A mental disorder is a condition that affects an individual's cognition, emotional regulation, or behavior, causing distress or impairing main areas of functioning. The effects of electromagnetic stimulation (EMS) and oxytocin (OXY) on blood corticosterone (CORT) levels in immobilized (10 days, 2 hours a day or one time, 2 hours) male and female rats while accounting for their sex hormone levels were studied. The experiments were conducted on intact and gonadectomized rats.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSecular Trends in Airway Management of Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest in the National Emergency Medical Services Information System (NEMSIS) Dataset.
Resuscitation
October 2023
National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians, Columbus, Ohio; Division of Epidemiology, The Ohio State University College of Public Health, Columbus, Ohio; Department of Emergency Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio. Electronic address:
Article Synopsis
- Prehospital airway management is crucial for resuscitating patients experiencing out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), and this study examined trends in the use of endotracheal intubation (ETI) and supraglottic airway (SGA) devices from 2013 to 2022 in the U.S.
- The analysis of data from the National EMS Information System revealed that while ETI was the primary method used, its frequency decreased over time, with a notable increase in SGA use, especially in urban areas.
- The findings suggest a shift in airway management practices and highlight potential disparities in care based on location, indicating a need for further research on patient outcomes related to these methods.
An examination of Black-White disparities in repeat nonfatal opioid overdose incidents, fatal drug overdose, and all-cause mortality in Detroit, Michigan.
Drug Alcohol Depend
December 2024
Department of Counseling and Human Development Services, Mary Frances Early College of Education University of Georgia, 110 Carlton St, Athens, GA 30602, United States.
Background: There has been an approximately 38 percent increase in overdose deaths for Black men since 2015 yet estimates vary between major metropolitan areas. It is crucial to examine local data to inform community-driven harm reduction and overdose prevention services. We used administrative data to examine the effect of demographic characteristics and repeated nonfatal opioid overdoses (NFOO) on drug-related and all-cause mortality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!