LAKE WORTH, Fla. /CitizenWire/ — The Pew Center on the States on Monday reported tremendous nationwide growth in emergency room visits for many easily prevented dental problems. In Florida, emergency room visits doubled between 2008 and 2010, totaling more than 115,000 visits and generating more than $88 million in medical charges. Pew obtained its Florida information from a Florida Public Health Institute (FPHI) study released in December 2011.
In addition to statewide data, FPHI also broke down the number of visits and charges for each of Florida's 67 counties, including visits by hospital and by payor source.
Media interested in localizing this national issue may retrieve the Florida report and county-level information by visiting www.oralhealthflorida.com – or by contacting Martha Kurth Harbin at mharbin@policywisdom.com or (850) 251-2803.
About The Florida Public Health Institute:
The Florida Public Health Institute (FPHI), a free standing private non-profit organization, is currently funded by six regional and national foundations and/or organizations. The mission of the Institute is to "advance the knowledge and practice of public health to promote, protect and improve the health of all."
FPHI accomplishes this by promoting improvements in health through health education, health policy, evaluating the health workforce, and applied research. Research on the ER data was supported through a grant from the DentaQuest Foundation.
More information: http://www.oralhealthflorida.com .
Copyright © 2012 CitizenWire™; and Neotrope®. CitizenWire is a publication of the Neotrope News Network.