Abstract

This report analyzes healthcare in Hays, Travis, and Williamson counties based on 2003 Emergency Department (ED) information obtained from the Indigent Care Collaboration (ICC) and local demographic information. An overview of the spatial and temporal patterns of ED use, combined with demographic analysis of the population provides the basis for recommendations. The report will concentrate on five specific areas: Distribution of wealth compared to the uninsured population, service area for existing EDs, population growth, emergency department utilization, and variances in efficiency of travel to EDs. The final recommendations of the report will include an analysis of current efforts to reduce ED overcrowding through both augmentation of existing facilities and construction of new facilities, a discussion of possible applications for current methods of ED overcrowding reduction, correlations between uninsured population and income, an overview of uninsured hospitalization, and a general discussion on population change in the central Texas region.