Emergency Department Access During COVID-19 Disparities in Utilization by RaceEthnicity Insurance and Income

The authors reviewed electronic health records (EHR) for a two-ED healthcare system in Northern California from March–June 2020 to compare weekly absolute number of visits and proportional change in visits in 2019 focusing on race/ethnicity, insurance, household income, and acuity. They found that those from historically vulnerable populations such as Hispanics, those from lower socioeconomic areas, and Medicaid users presented at disproportionately lower rates and numbers than other groups while stay-at-home orders were in place and presented with higher acuity illness than other groups as the pandemic went on.