Health care utilization among adults aged 55-64 years: how has it changed over the past 10 years?

KEY FINDINGS The percentage of physician office and hospital outpatient department (OPD) visits during which an MRI/CT/PET scan was ordered doubled, to 4%, and the percentage of hospital emergency department visits with an MRI/CT scan more than tripled, to 16%. The percentage of physician office and OPD visits with at least five drugs prescribed more than doubled, to 25%. Inpatient hospitalization rates were similar in 2006 and 1996, but the types of procedures and surgeries performed have changed. Hospitalization rates for coronary artery stent insertions, hip replacements, and knee replacements rose sharply, while rates for some other procedures declined. Ambulatory surgery visit rates were almost twice as high in 2006 as in 1994-1996, and for some types of ambulatory procedures, such as colonoscopies, the increase was even greater.