Patient Characteristics of Opioid-Related Inpatient Stays and Emergency Department Visits Nationally and by State, 2014   [open pdf - 345KB]

"Between 2005 and 2014 there was a dramatic increase nationally in hospitalizations involving opioids: the rate of opioid-related inpatient stays increased 64 percent, and the rate of opioid-related emergency department (ED) visits nearly doubled. In a series of Statistical Briefs, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is providing descriptive information on opioid-related hospitalizations nationally and at the State level, based on data from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Fast Stats online tool. In a previous Statistical Brief, AHRQ reported that across States in 2014 the rate of opioid-related inpatient stays varied more than five-fold and the rate of opioid-related ED visits varied more than ten-fold. Rates were reported for each State at the overall State level."