Resource use among patients admitted to general internal medicine by duration of stay
| Resource | Duration of stay; no. (%) of admissions* | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| < 24 h | 24–72 h | > 72 h | |
| Length of time in emergency department, h, mean ± SD | 14.8 ± 6.6 | 15.7 ± 9.0 | 16.4 ± 9.9 |
| Intravenously administered medication† | 2788 (65.7) | 10 722 (79.8) | 33 022 (86.1) |
| Radiography† | 2803 (66.0) | 10 013 (74.5) | 33 260 (86.7) |
| Computed tomography† | 1561 (36.8) | 5254 (39.1) | 21 772 (56.7) |
| Ultrasonography† | 418 (9.8) | 2363 (17.6) | 12 110 (31.6) |
| Magnetic resonance imaging† | 144 (3.4) | 842 (6.3) | 4983 (13.0) |
| Red blood cell transfusion† | 86 (2.0) | 593 (4.4) | 4522 (11.8) |
| Endoscopy† | 92 (2.2) | 1053 (7.8) | 4037 (10.5) |
| Bronchoscopy† | 1 (0.0) | 39 (0.3) | 965 (2.5) |
| Intensive care unit admission | 18 (0.4) | 101 (0.8) | 2509 (6.5) |
| No advanced interventions‡ | 779 (18.4) | 1146 (8.5) | 1347 (3.5) |
Note: SD = standard deviation.
↵* Except where noted otherwise.
↵† Number of admissions in which at least 1 of this test or treatment was used.
↵‡ Number of admissions in which none of the following tests or treatments were used: intravenous medication, computed tomography, ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging, endoscopy, bronchoscopy or intensive care unit admission.